The Austin Centre is a 16-story mixed-use hi-rise in Downtown

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. The building, notable for its large enclosed glass atrium, contains office space, retail space, and Omni Austin Hotel Downtown; the hotel component of the complex contains a rooftop pool and bar, and several conference rooms. The building is headquarters to companies like the Capital Factory, a

startup incubator A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend t ...

. The building's lobby is home to many large events, including the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Startup Crawl.

History

The ground was broken for the Austin Centre in August 1984; the land once contained the home of Mirabeau B. Lamar, although the house burned down in 1847. To accommodate the 700-space underground parking garage, builders had to drill through a solid chunk of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and "quarry" their way 55 feet to the bottom. The building opened in September 1986; the opening was marked with a series of lavish parties and an all-expense-paid tour for 35 writers from various trade publications. Upon its opening, the building touted innovative technological features such as computerized communications, energy management, and its very own on-site telephone company called "EntelCom". In 1988, a chemical reaction in the exterior glass paneling caused panes to break and fall to the street below, prompting a $2 million replacement. The hotel component, which was originally a

Radisson Radisson Hotels is a multi-brand hotel chain with a worldwide presence. Its brands include several using the Radisson name, as well as other brands like Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Country Inn & Suites. In June 2022, Radisson Hotel Group ...

Plaza, became an Omni Hotel in June 1992. On the top five floors of the hotel are now hotel suites but were once condominiums; the residences were initially added to accommodate corporations needing "business entertainment headquarters" or temporary living accommodations for visiting executives or clients, or for government

lobbyists Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

while the

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was in session.

Architecture

The Austin Centre was designed by famous

Modernist architect Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architecture was ...

Victor A. Lundy and

HKS, Inc. HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas (US). History The firm was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith. In 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mexi ...

The complex consists of two separate hi-rises connected by a 200 foot atrium containing 1 acre of glass. The complex does not have any street-facing activity, instead, the building's ground floor tenants are accessible from the inside. The exterior of the building contains 150,000 square feet of granite from

Adoni Adoni or Adavani is a city in the Kurnool district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Adoni mandal, administered under the Adoni Revenue Division. In the 2011 census of India, Adoni had a popul ...

, India, which was cut in Italy, then boated to Houston before being trucked to Dallas and Austin. The red granite is contrasted by bands of light-grey glass and accents of lighter, flame-finished granite. The building's north face features a full-height

space frame In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure (Three-dimensional space, 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometry, geometric pattern. Space frames can ...

and glass wall, providing a view of the

Texas State Capitol The Texas State Capitol is the capitol and seat of government of the U.S. state of Texas. Located in downtown Austin, Texas, the structure houses the offices and chambers of the Texas Legislature and of the Governor of Texas. Designed in 188 ...

from inside.

In popular culture

The Austin Centre's lobby and glass elevators were featured in the 2001 film, ''

Spy Kids ''Spy Kids'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of spy action comedy films created by Robert Rodriguez. The plot follows children siblings, who discover that their respective parents are spies and become involved in an espionag ...

''.

Gallery

File:OmniAustin-2010-08-a.JPG, Austin Centre entrance on 7th Street and Brazos Street File:OmniAustin-Apr2008.JPG, Austin Centre exterior

References

External links

{{Downtown Austin Skyscraper office buildings in Austin, Texas Office buildings completed in 1986 Skyscraper hotels in Austin, Texas