Pollen opened it’s office to vendors for the  12th St. Healthy Living Walk hosted by Pegasus Planning and Development.  The event featured various cooking demos and movie showings throughout the day promoting healthy living.  It was great fun making new friends with sponsors that included individuals from Ingredients, The Homegrown Revival, and Re-Connect Austin.  All wonderful people and organizations with inspiring ideas about local food and development.

Pollen was recently commissioned to design+build workspace for Blackboard Co., a bold and innovative advertising agency, within a staid commercial office building.

We designed workspace to suit their hard-working yet laid-back attitude–one that fits small teams working together and has lots of spaces for people who don’t sit at desks.  Team offices wrap the perimeter, where executive suites typically go.  The translucent sliding doors on team offices filter light into the center of the space, which has an open kitchen and ‘living room’.  And of course it has a giant BLACKBOARD.

Custom furniture and a huge pine conference table were designed and fabricated by Pollen.  These work with the clients’ own carefully selected furniture, artwork and bricolage of sign parts.  Together, these create a balance of professionalism and playfulness that suits this fast-growing creative force.

Photos by Bill Sallans

See the Balcones House featured in Nov. 2012 Issue of Texas Architect

Open House Article flip forward to pg. 27

Check out the Balcones House which was featured in the October 2012 issue of Dwell Magazine

Image from October 2012 issue of Dwell Magazine photo by Brent Humphries

We are putting the final touches on a garden project in North Central Austin.  The small L-shaped 1800 sq.ft. garden site is situated in the context of a tall 3 story townhouse.  Surrounding buildings and limited sun exposure required precise placement of steel planter boxes and careful selection of plantings and native species.  Access to the garden is through a new thin, steel, perforated entry gate.  The perforated gate provides a veiled view from the exterior into the newly renovated space.  A raised platform set just off of the existing concrete porch is outfitted with a custom built steel table and benches, and delineates a space for shaded outdoor dining and gathering.

We designed and built the Bunglegym, a playscape constructed primarily of galvanized steel pipe and bungee cords, for the Playscape Project to raise money for rebuilding paly areas in Bastrop, TX destroyed by the recent fires. We had a ball creating a labyrinthine tangle of elastic cords for kids to navigate through and wedge themselves within. It was a big hit with the “clients!” Watch the video link below to see how it was put to use.

Tribeza did a nice article on the Balcones House in its annual architecture issue. Click on the image and jump to page 46 to read the article.

Pollen is thrilled that the Balcones House will be part of this tour featuring some of the best modern design in Austin. Come out February 4th, 2012 to say “hi” and see some terrific houses. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

Pollen has won a competition for a major commission at St. Edward’s University. The project is for a remodel of the university’s Chapel, a new building for campus ministry offices, and a meditative garden. Pollen built a fantastic team, featuring Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, Architectural Engineers Collaborative, EEA Consulting Engineers, Lumen Architecture, Macek Furniture Company, and Structura in proposing a design which integrates the three program elements into a feature that will define the gateway to campus.

This project is one of three currently on the boards at St. Edward’s, and part of a larger push the university has made over the past several years to bring a new wave of design excellence to its beautiful and historic  campus. Other projects currently underway at St. Edwards include a natural sciences center designed by Moore Ruble Yudell and a library expansion by Sasaki and Associates. With work also completed in recent years by Alejandro Aravena, Andersson-Wise and Specht Harpman, the University has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to design.

Read more in the Austin Business Journal.

We were invited to submit a design proposal for a remodel of the chapel, new ministry offices and a contemplative garden at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. St. Edward’s has a wonderful campus with beautiful old trees and great buildings, so this was an exciting project for us. We partnered with an excellent team including Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, Architectural Engineers Collaborative, EEA Consulting Engineers, Lumen Architecture, Macek Furniture Company, and Structura in an integrated design process.