Evolving Lunch and Happy Hour

Bar and Wooden Ceiling

Lunch couldn’t get any better than eating at Fare Ground, one of the trendiest culinary spots in Austin.  Not only because of its amazing food choices and a great variety of local brews, but also for its exquisite design and attention to detail in every space.

Fareground is on the subterranean floor located at 111 South Congress Ave. and Second Street.  It is curated and managed by ELM Restaurant Group and was designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.  The ground level of the One Eleven Building was re-purposed as the first food hall of its kind in Austin, TX, serving the downtown tourist and business areas.  The space also functions as the lobby for the business center, accommodates events with a semi-private space, and has a conference room for large private meetings.  It is also a place that many freelancers and remote workers conveniently utilize while enjoying the comfortable mid-contemporary soft seating areas.

THE INDEPENDENT – A Site Visit

A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to visit The Independent, the tallest skyscraper in Austin, Texas.  Located on West 5th by the Seaholm District, we were able to get a quick deep-dive into its development and how this building will evolve Austin’s skyline.  Special thanks to Tim FitzGerald, Quality Control Manager for Balfour Beatty US, for giving us a site tour.

Striving for LEED Gold this residential high-rise will be home of 370 high-end condos with amenities that include: infinity edge heated pool, ‘sky’ fitness center, yoga and barre studio, 25-person theater, business center, board room, conference rooms, owner’s lounge, chef’s and catering kitchen, private dining space, children’s activity room and playground, dog park with grooming station and lounge, club room and coffee bar, landscaped outdoor lounge with fireplace, and even guest suites for those unexpected out of town family visits.

WHEN COLONIAL MEETS CONTEMPORARY

In our most recent Whole Foods Market store opening in Bridgewater, NY, we had the opportunity to design eclectic details that embrace the township’s colonial architecture with a contemporary touch that resembles our modern world.

Entering the store one can be captivated by the floor to ceiling brick store facade that invites you into WFM’s ‘Plant & Plate’ store within in a store concept.  The natural brick ‘store’ is a home and garden concept that sells planters and plants, kitchen ware, bath, and home decor.

DIY: USB Wall Outlet

 

Since almost all of our devices are now charged by USB cables, it seems like wall outlets should start including USB ports as well.  Here’s a DIY tutorial on how to add them to your existing outlets.

Upgrade a Wall Outlet to Charge USB Devices [Lifehacker]

Dog House by Frank Lloyd Wright

I saw this article about a dog house that Frank Lloyd Wright designed in 1956 and couldn’t help but think about the Barkitecture competition coming up this summer.

The Dog House Frank Lloyd Wright Built [Gizmodo]

IKEA Hacks

IKEA Hackers is a great website showcasing many cool ideas involving re-purposed IKEA furniture.  I’ll admit some of the pieces aren’t the greatest looking but I enjoy seeing the design intent of each project and how they attempted to build it.

IKEA Hackers

Smart Thermostat for the iGeneration

As today’s generation grows accustomed to the increasingly popular trend of simple-to-use, touch-screen devices, archaic hardware such as home thermostats look more and more out of place.  Thankfully Tony Fadell, the original iPod designer, has taken it upon himself to make a next-gen thermostat called Nest that is much more pleasing to the eye as well as crazy easy to use.  Wired.com has a great piece about Fadell’s Nest project which describes all of it’s great features and showcases it’s great design.  Who thought saving the planet could look so good?  Price: $250

[Wired]

80/20 Rule

Getting things done in 2012