East Austin Biergarten
Austin, Texas
Planned for an industrial area in the busy neighborhood of East Austin, a new shade pavilion will bridge the life of a popular biergarten, currently sitting deep into the property, to its primary street address. In essence a playful, oversized landscape folly, the slender pavilion will increase the biergarten’s seating capacity by providing both a covered outdoor space to shelter patrons during brutally hot Texas summer days and an area able to hold heat during colder winter days.
The weathering-steel structure will serve as an elegant and flexible armature to the existing facility. It can become more or less transparent as rolling winterization screens protect patrons during inclement weather. The broad surface of the overhanging roof is designed to harvest rainwater for landscape irrigation and to host a photovoltaic array, enabling onsite power generation.
The steel frame incorporates weathering-structural steel members and reclaimed oil-field drill stem pipe, working in combination with a set of simple, locally-sourced resilient materials. The flat weathering-steel panels, charred wood, and concrete and brick pavers all lend a clear and authentic material expression to the pavilion, celebrating both the character of the existing building and its industrial surroundings.
