University of Texas Liberal Arts Building

Co’design is the landscape architect for a new Liberal Arts Building on the East Mall of the University of Texas Campus. In collaboration with Overland Partners Architects, Co’design is designing three ground level courtyard spaces along with green roofs on three levels of the building. Given the site’s premier location adjacent to Waller Creek and at the gateway to the East Mall, the landscape design weaves together more fluid concepts of a riparian corridor with the more rigid grid of the UT Campus. A key design strategy is to blur the lines between inside and outside so that one feels contiguous with the other. Landscape courtyards and green roof spaces directly relate to interior gathering spaces and provide exterior garden-like settings for building users. The project will be designed to meet LEED certification standards and incorporates several innovative strategies to do so. Through green roofs and rain gardens, storm water will be captured and slowly released to minimize excessive run-off. Rainwater will be collected and used for irrigation along with HVAC condensation water and reclaimed water from the City of Austin. *Drawings provided by Overland Partners Architects