The American Institute of Architects’ highest annual honor is bestowed on individuals “whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.” Meeting that demanding requirement this year are two men who lead a distinguished and widely accomplished Texas firm: David Lake and Ted Flato.
Both partners grew up in Texas. Lake earned his Bachelor degree in architecture at the University of Texas at Austin in 1976, and Flato received his at Stanford in 1977. They founded the firm Lake|Flato in San Antonio in 1984 and opened a second office in Austin in 2016.
From the outset Lake and Flato have identified sustainability as a key objective in their practice. It is a major factor in the commissions the firm takes on, which range from individual houses to campus buildings to public open spaces. In the words of the AIA announcement, in all their work these partners are consistently “pushing the limits of design while easing the burdens on our planet.”
That objective is addressed not only in the works these architects produce, but in the way their firm itself is housed and operates. Lake|Flato is proud that its offices produce a minimal amount of waste and offset 100 percent of their office- and travel-related carbon dioxide emissions.
The firm has also addressed sustainability in the vicinity of its own offices. In 2014 it began a bi-monthly “Bike for Breakfast” ritual, serving waffles to those biking to work. Among its own staff, 47 percent now commute to work by foot, bicycle, or public transit.
The works completed by Lake|Flato range from ranch houses — among their earliest commissions – to a variety of civic and campus buildings, to public open spaces – inside and outside of cities. Renewal of existing buildings has also been a significant part of the firm’s practice, repurposing some three million square feet of space for multifamily housing, hotels, and offices. While all their works are located in North America – the great majority in Texas – they contain lessons applicable worldwide.
Confluence Park in San Antonio was created to allow visitors to learn about local ecosystems while enjoying a restored natural environment. Pavilions providing shade and shelter are constructed of precast concrete “petals” emulating the forms of plants that funnel dew and rainwater to their roots. A catchment system throughout the park is its primary source of water. Its education center has a green roof whose thermal mass provides heating and cooling. A photovoltaic array over the site’s parking area meets 100 percent of the park’s power needs on a yearly basis. Lake/Flato collaborated with Matsys Design on this project.
The Pearl is an adaptive reuse of a 1900s brewery as the core of 26-acre mixed-use “village” and social hub in San Antonio. Its master plan organizes buildings with a variety of scales and uses – commercial and residential — around open spaces that can accommodate a variety of markets, performances, and fairs. Lake|Flato were master planners for the whole development and architects for six projects within it. Working with the city and the local river authority, the architects were able to revitalize some 7,000 feet of river frontage within the development.
The Marine Education Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, replaces a previous facility that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. It contains laboratories, office, assembly and exhibition spaces, and outdoor classrooms. The design team consulted with ecologists and biologists in determining which zones of the site would include flora and fauna favorable to the project, while also determining which areas were least subjected to rising storm waters. The selected site has a dense canopy of existing trees that will serve as a natural wind buffer. The building’s foundations are supported by helical piers that minimize disturbance of the site’s drainage patterns and tree roots.
The Austin Central Library was conceived to be the most day-lit public library in the nation. It occupies a site with broad views and exposures at the edge of the city’s downtown, where Shoal Creek meets Lady Bird Lake. The 198,000-square-foot structure sets standards for sustainability and efficient use of library space, while offering generous indoor and outdoor spaces for social contact, including a 350-seat auditorium, an art gallery, a café, a bookstore, and a rooftop garden. Its primary source of interior daylight is a dramatic six-story skylighted atrium. The design was a joint venture of Lake/Flato and Shepley Bullfinch.
