Awards
Cinema Parking Garage Addition
By Lauren Boyd
Architecture Design 6 Intermediate | John Blood and YVonne BoudrEaux
This current parking structure is on the busy intersection of West MLK BLVD and North Lamar. It has a very distinct greenscape trellis facade connecting the garage with the steep, green hilly slope of the site. The garage has a helical structure which is celebrated with an open central atrium enclosed by vertical cables.
In thinking about the residual space on the “inbetween”... the spaces in architecture that are usually overlooked and underutilized - the interstitial places that underperform within a design. This guided what my project would be centered on, and led to wanting to charge these unkept areas of architecture with performance and gathering.
To maintain the integrity of the landscape lattice facade, my design is to scatter theaters on the opposing side to demarcate a new space for the public. Between the existing street facade and new structure will be a communal space where people can gather, eat and drink, watch performances, or gaze at the vista beyond. Community members can access the building from West MLK BLVD or from the newly designed footpath connecting North Lamar to the site. The first two floors will stay as parking and the next two will be converted for the theater.
Movie-goers can go to the main floor to dine at the bar and cafe while they wait for their movie. Once it is showtime, they will enter into their theater to sit either in general seating or in the private viewing suite in the back for a more “at home” feel. Once their movie is over they can exit to the rooftop to catch a live performance or just sit and survey the hilly horizon of West Austin in the amphitheater-style seating.
