Iconic, Sustainable, and Urban

Iconic

As a landmark building in the City of Austin, the Planetarium will be readily recognizable and have a strong visual presence.  Its design will entice and invite the public to enter, and will express the facility’s threefold focus on astronomy, science, and technology.

Sustainable

Austin City Hall's Green Roof

The Austin Planetarium will be designed according to the most current principles of sustainability.  The proposed downtown site, is ideal from the point of view of sustainability.  Development on a previously developed urban site preserves existing undeveloped land, provides opportunities for pedestrian access and the use of public transportation, encourages community connectivity, and is an opportunity both to create meaningful urban space and improve the neighborhood microclimate.

Planned sustainable strategies include access to views, ample provision for shaded and covered outdoor spaces, rainwater collection, solar shading devices, landscaping with native and adapted plants, and the use of daylighting as appropriate.  The provision of underground parking and the use of white reflective and vegetated roofing will reduce heat island effects thereby improving the neighborhood microclimate.  The design team will also investigate use of onsite renewable energy technologies such as solar cells and wind turbines.

The Austin Planetarium will be an international example of the future in responsible development.

Urban

As a defining element of an Austin Museum District, the Planetarium will relate spatially to its neighbors. The surrounding buildings will work together to frame and define an open museum courtyard that will be a welcoming public space for visitors to circulate.

The open space will include covered seating and walking areas, landscaping, and refreshments.

The open courtyard will also serve as a collection point for visitors entering or leaving the area. In order to encourage visitors, fit into the urban fabric and the walkable University and Museum area, and encourage pedestrian traffic in order to support sustainability, the Planetarium, like, for example the Blanton and the Bullock Museum, will relate to the street, and through articulation, to pedestrian scale.  While the building will be dramatic and readily recognizable, the street level facades will be articulated, welcoming, and inviting.

Planetarium & Science Museum, Valencia, Spain