Austin

Paul Rudolph Inspires a Hotel Design in Texas

Image: Specht Architects

Image: Specht Architects

Paul Rudolph’s design of the Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York may not have been appreciated by some in the local community, but its influence can be felt in a hotel designed by Specht Architects.

Click on one of the images below to see Specht Architect’s design for a hotel in Austin, Texas:

Images: Specht Architects

According to their website:

The Lamar Boulevard Hotel is a 150 room hotel, designed for a site just blocks from downtown Austin, TX. It features a large internal courtyard, and a series of stacked, terraced room modules that produce an almost organic cliff-like facade. Each room has a unique view, and a unique outdoor terrace.

Its form was inspired by the experimental metabolist architecture of the 1960’s that produced iconic works such as Habitat ’67 in Montreal, and the urban designs of Paul Rudolph.

Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York. Photo: Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York. Photo: Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York. Photo: Kelvin Dickinson, Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

Paul Rudolph's Orange County Government Center in Goshen, New York. Photo: Kelvin Dickinson, Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

Both the hotel and Rudolph’s design for the Orange County Government Center take a cue from Rudolph’s interpretation of Mies’ use of space. Regarding the government center, Rudolph said,

The building is divided into three areas… These three areas are subdivided but closely grouped around a court, allowing the light to enter through a rather elaborate series of clerestories made possible by higher ceiling heights for the more important and larger rooms. In the interior, the enclosed volume of one room often penetrates the adjacent room, giving a sense of implied space beyond but allowing acoustical insulation. The resulting fragmented scale seems appropriate, since the building will be set in a small park and surrounded by residences relatively small in scale.

Rudolph’s rendering of the Orange County Government Center facade. Image: Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation

Rudolph’s rendering of the Orange County Government Center facade. Image: Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation