Easton Park is a new residential master-planned community inspired by parks in Austin, Texas. Located 12 miles from downtown, the community is made up of 1,500 acres connecting residents through parks, state-of-the-art amenities and a neighborhood lifestyle. Once completed, the community will have more than 300 acres of planned pathways, parks, green space and 13.1 miles of trail systems.
Community’s new amenity center celebrates everything about Austin
Photo: Dror Baldinger
The master-planned community, a Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based Brookfield Residential Properties’ development, has a focus on the outdoors with an emphasis on public art. Peter E. Chalfant, AIA, studio director at Gensler, says the communal gathering space, known as The Union, was central to the concept. “It needed to be open and inviting to both current and future residents, as well as connected to the outdoors and surrounding neighborhood.”
The 14,000-square-foot amenity center opened in Summer 2019 and is a celebration of everything about Austin. “The design features trail connections and a resort-style pool with sections for families and for adults,” Chalfant says. “Other amenities include deep-shaded patios for the summer and fire pits for the winter, an event lawn with places for food trucks, a coffee bar and listening lounge, as well as a full fitness studio.”
In Central Texas, Chalfant says it is important to design with solar exposure in mind whenever you are looking for broad engagement with the outdoors. “To that end,” he says, “the design employs deep patios to the west and a gathering of more solid blocks of the building to the south. We added vertical fins to provide solar protection for the offices and event rooms—areas where we maintained southern glazing. At the pool house, we designed a large steel trellis to provide a mottled shade zone nearby.”
Photo courtesy of Gensler
Key to the Union’s design was reflecting Austin and the surrounding environment. The extensive use of glazing around the building helps the architecture open itself up to the natural environment. And, each room has that visual connection on at least two sides. To provide adequate protection from the elements, the aluminum fins and steel trellis are incorporated, which also offers a visual rhythm across the site.
For the project, independent Guardian Select fabricator TriStar Glass Products, Houston, utilized 6,800 square feet of Guardian SunGuard SNX 51/23 coated glass from Guardian Glass, Auburn Hills, Mich. Independent Glazier Connection member Floyd’s Glass Co., Taylor, Texas, installed the insulating glass units (IGUs). The structural glazing, which uses Dallas-based Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope’s Reliance curtainwall, included large profile, 10-foot IGUs on the first floor, while the top pieces were customized to follow the steel profile of the roof.
Additionally, the steel trellis was custom-fabricated by Construction Metal Products, Kyle, Texas, while the vertical aluminum shade fins were made from aluminum extrusions from Non-Ferrous Extrusion & Scrap Metal Inc., Houston, and fabricated and installed by 07 Specialties Inc., East Bernard, Texas.
“We aimed for simplicity in both form and material,” Chalfant says. “The result is a straight-forward pavilion, which is very honest about its steel structure and glass walls. The steel work allows for very slender columns, maximizing the benefits of the high-performance glazing.”