The Mueller Community, a 700-acre development in Central Austin, is one of the largest urban, mixed-use communities in the country. As the designer of AMLI Mueller, the LEED Platinum-certified multifamily residential project that was a cornerstone of the development, Page was tapped for AMLI Mueller Phase II. Twice the size of its predecessor, this newest multifamily project has been designed with special consideration to make sure it feels in scale with both the single-family and commercial zones of the vibrant and growing mixed-use walkable neighborhood.
Situated between a public park, a major commercial thoroughfare, mid-rise commercial and residential buildings as well as single family residences, this project’s critical role is to link together these community elements. The pair of four-story buildings comprise 571,600 sf, including the concealed parking garage designed to accommodate 561 cars. They utilize three composition strategies of simple, well-known materials in order to provide variety, scale and liveliness to Phase II.
Going for the Green
In keeping with the client’s commitment to sustainable development and green living, this project is designed to target LEED Platinum standards. Residents have pedestrian access to amenities and public transportation and the project includes bicycle facilities along with a dedicated repair room to encourage riding over driving.
The project has been conceived as two separate buildings with three distinctive façade types which share a common material language. A paseo runs east-west through the site, creating two buildings and two drought-tolerant landscaped courtyards – one open to the neighborhood and one exclusive to resident use.
Adding Vibrancy to the Community
The structures are taut-skinned stucco and are layered with a partial second skin of brick to provide variety and interest. They were designed to enable installation of solar energy systems. Additionally, brightly-colored projecting shading structures integral to the architecture help further enliven the façades as well as provide passive solar control at many of the windows.
The two buildings clad with varied strategies help give a sense of place to 318 individual apartment units within the complex. The bold colors of the shading elements as well as the leasing and amenity spaces, which Page also designed, lend the development a modern, forward-looking ethos that will be attractive not only to future tenants but will serve as a colorful backdrop to the park and a continuation of the vibrancy of Aldrich Street, the adjacent community town center.
Aldrich Multifamily Residences at Mueller is currently under construction and completion is scheduled for Winter 2017/2018.
