Adaptive Reuse Puts Austin Office Building Back To Work

An iconic Austin, Texas office building that harkens back to the 1960s has undergone a complete transformation, one that preserved the mid-century character of the original building while updating it to meet the needs of a modern business.

While it's a relatively small space—just 3,000 square feet—the building is a local landmark. Cantilevering toward North Lamar Blvd., a major Austin thoroughfare, the mid-century modern building is a fixture in the city's midtown park district. Today, it is the home of BKCW, a 65-year-old insurance agency. The life of the building, which began as the home for a life insurance company when it was first built, has now come full circle.

Local architecture firm Mark Odom Studio led the renovation design, aiming to return the building to its original style. The structure was designed in the 1960s by architects Pendley & Day.

Odom, a native of Waxahachie, Texas, has worked on a number of adaptive reuse projects in the Austin area, including the headquarters for the online dating app Bumble—a former carpet store from the 1960s that Odom transformed into a modern workspace that reflected the app's brand.

Odom also converted part of an old power plant into the home for Generator Athletic Lab, a training and physical therapy company in Austin. That project included the reuse of part of the city's historic Seaholm Power Plant.

The studio's self-described intention is to challenge expectations through form and space and an imaginative use of material—and it delivered on the BKCW project, carefully considering every detail in order to create moments of delight, discovery, and functionality within the completed building. The BKCW project challenged the design team to restore the light, space, and energy flow to a 60-year-old building.

“The most exciting part of this design process was treating this more like an adaptive reuse project rather than just a renovation," says the firm's founding principal Mark Odom. "Preserving this iconic building was, of course, a must—but tricky to pull off. Raising the roof and ceiling, opening the interior, and finding vintage brick were just a few of the big design choices that helped it really come to life."

Working in collaboration with local firm Franklin Alan, the builder, and interior designers at Austin-based The Renner Project, Odom had to reverse-engineer years of modifications. The interior, for example, had been internally subdivided multiple times over the years.

One of the keys to the renovation was restoring the space to reflect the open layout reminiscent of insurance and advertising companies in the 1960s. If you've seen the TV series "Mad Men," then you might have an idea of how the original space was configured.

Opening up the interior made the building feel larger, and allowed the prominent glass facades to flood the inside space with natural light. The new design added even more space by raising the original low ceiling by one foot to achieve eight-foot ceiling heights throughout the building.

The renovation was accomplished with a combination of existing infrastructure and new materials. Much of the existing brick, for instance, was salvaged. But the classic storefront windows were replaced with energy-efficient glazing and then framed with steel mullions to match the original window pattern. In addition to brick, other mid-century materials that were given new life included stained wood paneling and cork flooring.

The renovation was accomplished with a combination of existing infrastructure and new materials. Much of the existing brick, for instance, was salvaged. But the classic storefront windows were replaced with energy-efficient glazing and then framed with steel mullions to match the original window pattern. In addition to brick, other mid-century materials that were given new life included stained wood paneling and cork flooring.

The project design was also careful to preserve south- and west-facing views toward downtown Austin and Pease District Park. In addition, an updated subterranean back courtyard provided new views from the building's east-facing windows, and provided a quiet haven from the traffic on North Lamar Street. The design also included more prominent exterior decks to facilitate access to the building, with wider entryways and an added buffer to muffle noise from the street.

The result speaks for itself. Renovation of the building promises to give this mid-20th Century gem another century or more of productive use.