Since the 1970s, Austin PBS, birthplace of the Austin City Limits TV series, has been based inside the communications building on the University of Texas campus—a space it has long outgrown. In 2017, the design and planning began for a new state-of-the-art facility located in Austin Community College’s Highland Campus, a former shopping mall.
Designed by Austin architecture firm Studio Steinbomer, the roughly 70,000-square-foot facility, opening this year, has three TV studios. One studio serves as a live audience and community outreach venue. This 6,500-square-foot space has retractable seats and can be reconfigured for live music, town halls, and other productions with live audiences. The other two studios accommodate non-audience programming.
The three studios share walls with workspaces, so the design team placed prime importance on acoustics and sound deadening. The live-audience studio has a floating slab, a silent air conditioner, and highly absorptive materials. So a meeting in the next-door conference room would be undisturbed by a live music performance on the other side of its walls.
Austin PBS’s new home is the first 12-gig digital broadcast network facility for any public television in the US, according to a statement. To highlight the state-of-the art tech, the architects kept much of the 300 miles of cable fully exposed, housing it in custom channels cut out of the ceiling.
A large portion of the building is partially subgrade. So to mitigate the feeling of being underground, the lighting quality mimics skylights and the sun’s movement, creating circadian rhythms that allow people to sense the time by the quality of light. Interior finishes include a mix of bright colors, natural warm wood tones, and nature-simulating colors. And whimsical, industry-specific details include On-Air lights indicating occupied bathrooms.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Austin Community College
Developer: RedLeaf Properties
Design Architect - Exterior: Gensler Austin
Design Architect, Architect of Record - Interiors: Studio Steinbomer (interior remodel level one, and interior of addition)
MEP engineer: Bay & Associates Inc.
Structural engineers: Cardno and Tsen Engineering
General contractor: Rogers-O’Brien Construction
Construction manager: PMA (Project Management Advisors)
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
REDD and Corcoran Group Real Estate developing eco-friendly boutique condos in Brooklyn's Vinegar Hill
REDD and Corcoran Group Real Estate are developing 100 Gold, a 10-unit boutique condominium complex in Brooklyn's Vinegar Hill that consists of (6) one bedrooms, (2) duplex studios—one with a private yard, and (2) penthouses—duplex apartments with one bedroom and loft, and private terraces.
| Aug 11, 2010
Installation work begins on Minnesota's largest green roof
Installation of the 2.5 acre green roof vegetation on the City-owned Target Center begins today. Over the course of two days a 165 ton crane will hoist five truckloads of plant material, which includes 900 rolls of pre-grown vegetated mats of sedum and native plants for installation on top of the arena's main roof.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Holder Construction top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 50 largest industrial building contractors
A ranking of the Top 50 Industrial Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
AASHE releases annual review of sustainability in higher education
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has announced the release of AASHE Digest 2008, which documents the continued rapid growth of campus sustainability in the U.S. and Canada. The 356-page report, available as a free download on the AASHE website, includes over 1,350 stories that appeared in the weekly AASHE Bulletin last year.
| Aug 11, 2010
AECOM, Arup, Gensler most active in commercial building design, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Commercial Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council Program Place Project
Houston, Texas
The Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council Program Place is the headquarters for the largest Girl Scout Council in the U.S., with 63,000 scouts. The building houses the council’s administrative offices, a Girl Scout museum, and activity space. When an adjacent two-story office building became available, the council jumped at the chance to expand its museum and program space.
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA approves Sika Sarnafil’s continuing education courses offering sustainable design credits
Two continuing education courses offered by Sika Sarnafil have been approved by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and are now certified to fulfill the AIA’s new Sustainable Design continuing education requirements.
| Aug 11, 2010
HNTB, Arup, Walter P Moore among SMPS National Marketing Communications Awards winners
The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) is pleased to announce the 2009 recipients of the 32nd Annual National Marketing Communications Awards (MCA). This annual competition is the longest-standing, most prestigious awards program recognizing excellence in marketing and communications by professional services firms in the design and building industry.
