Overland Partners, an architecture, planning and urban design firm based in Texas renowned for its human-centered and sustainable design projects, announced today that Sebastian Ortiz has joined the company as Vice President of Business Operations. The El Salvador native has more than 20 years of experience in the strategic growth and optimization of organizations, ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to large corporations, and has a strong track record of success in business strategy and operations across multiple industries.

In his new role, Ortiz will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s financial, administrative, and operational functions, working closely with the leadership team to ensure exceptional delivery of sustainable design solutions to clients, while also maintaining a strong focus on operational efficiency, profitability, and growth.

Prior to joining Overland Partners, Ortiz led a restaurant group where he built the company from a solo operation to more than 100 restaurants in three countries over the course of 12 years.

“Sebastian’s brilliant business acumen will help us strategically expand and grow, while remaining true to our brand promise of unlocking the embedded potential of people and places with a deep respect for the environment,” said Overland President Adam Bush, AIA.

Ortiz holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s College and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, an educational foundation that fosters a unique approach to problem-solving with a well-rounded and creative mindset.

“Overland’s actions consistently reflect their core values,” said Ortiz. “The firm’s focus on sustainable design, dedication to exceptional client outcomes, coupled with their unwavering integrity and accountability sets them apart in the industry and is a key reason why I joined the firm,” he said.

According to Ortiz, Overland is well positioned for expansion, both in terms of new market sector growth and geographic reach. The firm established a Dallas design practice in 2021 with the newly formed Sports & Entertainment practice group led by Bryan Trubey, FAIA.

Overland provides comprehensive architectural, master planning and urban design services to clients worldwide through its team of 90 employees located in San Antonio, Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City and New York City and is known for integrating technology, materials, art, and craft to create places that care for the earth, promote well-being and lead to measurable human transformation.

An Architect Top 50 Firm, Overland has received more than 200 international and national design awards and has been widely published at home and abroad.

Good architecture requires that architects seek a deep understanding of the site. A careful climate analysis allows designers to do just that. The findings from a climate analysis provide the information needed to leverage the sun, wind, land, and vegetation that surround a project to create better buildings. But what about the people? What are the health and equity considerations? What values and risks surround a project’s site? How can viewing a site as part of a community inform designs to create better communities?  

Literature surrounding social science, public policy, public health, architecture, and urban design contend that building and community design decisions can have long lasting impacts. So how can an architect be better and do better?  

Architects can be more and do more by leveraging and learning from data such as that provided by governmental agencies like the US Census, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Environmental Protection Agency in the form of an environmental justice (EJ) tool.  Tools such as Building EJ Tool, EJScreen, Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and Spark Map are online websites that allow architects and urban planners to gather social, economic, and environmental data on surrounding communities to inform design. Understanding local conditions can have positive impacts on the health, safety, and welfare of local communities. 

Building EJ Tool 

Developed by Autocase, the Building EJ Tool is a free online tool that provides local community data, data sources and resources on local communities. This tool is great for residential and multi-family projects. Users can create a “Project” with basic cost, size, location and use. Information is displayed in graphic tiles via a Data Dashboard which gives a broad overview of the socioeconomic, environmental, climate change, amenity, and demographic indicators. Project information can remain private or be shared publicly across the Building EJ Tool community. In addition to informing good sustainable design, the Building EJ Tool summary can also be used towards LEED Social Equity Pilot Credits.  

EJ Screen 

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently developed the EJ Screen, a free web-based tool, that combines environmental and demographic indicators allowing users to compare environmental justice indicators for their design location to state, regional, and national averages.  This EJ tool is great for firms and project teams that want to understand the local climate, climate risks, and surrounding community. Users simply enter their project address to display graphic mapping information by percentiles for environmental justice indexes, supplemental indexes, pollution, socioeconomic indicators, health disparities, climate change data, critical service gaps and additional demographic data. Users can also download the full EJ Screen Data as a CSV file that can be used in conjunction with other software such as GIS or statistical software for more advanced analysis. While the EJ Screen tool does not capture all the environmental, social, and economic risks for things such as water quality or indoor air quality, it is an easy-to-use screening tool that helps users understand some of the risks and limitations of a community. If architects want to know more to do more, EJ Screen is a good place to start. 

Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool 

This EJ tool was developed as part of an executive order under the Biden administration as part of the Justice-40 Initiative which seeks to deliver 40% of overall benefits of investments towards climate, clean energy, and related areas to disadvantage communities. This EJ tool is great for project teams and firms working on commercial projects, specifically civic, cultural, institutional, and office projects. The tool is a web-based graphic map display requiring no sign-up and is free. While this tool is not as comprehensive as EJ Screen or Spark Map, it’s a super-fast easy way to access climate, environmental, health, housing, water and wastewater, as well as workforce development.  

Spark Map 

Of all the EJ tools discussed Spark Map is the most comprehensive. It has a wide range of indicators from environmental, income and economics, housing and families, to healthcare outcomes This EJ tool is a comprehensive catch all that is great at the designer, design team, firm level for all project typologies. User registration is required. While there is a free version which gives users access to 80+ indicators, the premium level is worth considering if projects are public facing. The report has in-depth summaries below each graphic map that benchmarks design community percentages with local, state, and national data (when available). A full Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) can be exported as a PDF or displayed as high-level graphical tiles.  

The bottom line is this. Each of these EJ tools is useful. They all, to some extent, cover the three pillars of sustainability with indicators across economic, social, and environmental issues. They’re all free or offer some free version. While there are plenty of tutorials to offer guidance, no training is needed. They’re all web-based which means there is no software download or installation required. They’re all somewhat intuitive and simple enough to get graphics, maps and/or reports for project community within minutes. Small residential projects might choose the Building EJ tool which gives broad indicators that can help inform design. Small and large commercial projects will find Spark Map and the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool super helpful. The challenge for architects is taking the time to swim in the data and really make efforts to understand the community and its history while designing for its future. Architects thrive within constraints but using EJ tools can help identify issues and reveal opportunities. These EJ tools are useful, practical, and give architects a greater understanding on which to base design.  

Sandra Montalbo, Assoc, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, LFA, is Design Performance Manager at Overland Partners Architecture. Sandra has a BA in Communication and Public Relations (The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2006 [UTSA]), an MA in Global Leadership and Sustainable Development (Hawaii Pacific University, 2010) and a MArch (The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2015). She was the lead researcher and primary author of “The Habits of High-Performance Firms. Sandra was awarded the AIA San Antonio’s Rising Star Award and served on the NCARB Experience and Advisory Committee in 2018.  She helped develop The City of San Antonio’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) and served on the USGBC South Texas Regional Council.  In 2019, she was awarded the Texas Society of Architect’s Associate Member of the Year Award, and UTSA’s CACP – Distinguished Alumni Award, and was a recipient of the AIA National’s 2019 Jason Pettigrew Scholarship.  In 2020, she led a research team for “Intersections: Climate Change, Racial Justice & the Pandemic” for AIA National. In 2022, she was recognized by the Design Future’s Council as an Emerging Leader at the 2022 Annual Leadership Summit “The Future of Environmental Responsibility.” Sandra is currently a Design Performance Manager at Overland Partners Architecture and a PhD Student in the Land Use Planning Management and Design (LPMD) at Texas Tech University. 

Read the original article on AIA KnowledgeNet.

“We are so honored to be selected once again as a TxN 20 firm. It affirms the work Overland is doing to conserve the beauty of Texas and empowers us to realize an even more vibrant and equitable future for our state.”
– Rick Archer, FAIA, Founding Principal

Companies Operating Across the State of Texas Recognized in the TxN 20 for Their Leadership in Conservation & Sustainability

AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Texan by Nature (TxN), a Texas-led conservation non-profit founded by former First Lady Laura Bush, today announced 20 honorees of the 4th annual Texan by Nature 20 (TxN 20) – an official ranking of companies with Texas operations that have made a demonstrative commitment to conservation.

The TxN 20 recognizes the best and most innovative work in conservation coming from business based and operating in Texas. As part of the TxN 20, Texan by Nature honors companies across 12 industries in the Lone Star State whose ingenuity cultivates impactful programs and forges new, beneficial paths in conservation. With 168 million acres of land and global leadership across multiple industries, Texas is fortunate to have industry leaders who see the value in partnering with conservation initiatives while also developing innovative, environmentally sustainable methods and processes within their business.

“We believe in building an environmentally sustainable future through actions, collaborations and innovative models in conservation,” said Joni Carswell, CEO & President of Texan by Nature. “It is an honor to celebrate the Texas-based industry leaders that share these values and demonstrate the benefits of pairing business resources with conservation efforts to impact the globe.” 

A catalyst for thought leadership, innovative partnerships, and community-led solutions, Texan by Nature has been working with the Texas business community to implement Texas-led conservation practices. The TxN 20 provides not only recognition to honorees, but a catalogue of best practices and metrics to industry peers. The honoree’s commitment to conservation, their projects and programs, best practices, and lessons learned are examples and inspiration for us all.

“I’m thrilled to celebrate this year’s TxN 20! They are pioneers, collaborators, and changemakers.  I encourage other companies to follow their example and engage in conservation. Together, we can set the standard for sustaining a prosperous economy, rich natural resources, and a secure future for the next generation,” said former First Lady and Texan by Nature Founder, Laura Bush.

To select the 2022 TxN 20, company data submissions were evaluated and independent research across 2,000+ of Texas’ publicly traded and private companies was conducted for 12 industry sectors. All companies were evaluated on key criteria through a 17-point scoring system to narrow down the list to the top 60 companies in Texas. Key scoring criteria included: stated commitment to conservation; reported metrics related to conservation; measured investment in conservation; reported Return on Conservation; positive conservation impact on land, water, wildlife, people, waste, energy, and more; and activities such as infrastructure, production and supply chain, employee engagement, and more. Each year, an esteemed selection committee of top industry leaders is formed to evaluate the top 60 companies and select the final honorees for the TxN 20.

2022 TxN 20 HONOREES INCLUDE:

1. Austin Parks and Recreation Department
2. Cap Metro
3. CEMEX
4. Cirrus Logic
5. Comerica
6. Darling Ingredients
7. Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
8. Farmer Brothers
9. HOLT CAT
10. IBM
11. North American Development Bank
12. NRG Energy
13. Overland Partners
14. Sanderson Farms
15. Stantec
16. Sysco
17. Texas Health Resources
18. Vistra Corp
19. Vital Farms
20. Yeti

To read more about each 2022 TxN 20 honoree, please visit: www.TxN20.org/2022-Honorees/ 

The TxN 20 2022 Selection Committee members included:

• Rick Archer, Founding Principal – Overland Partners
• Andrejs E. Avots-Avotins, MD, PhD, The Elizabeth & Drayton McLane, Jr. Chair in Health & Wellness Vice President of Medical Affairs – Baylor Scott & White Health – Temple
• Lucia Athens,  Chief Sustainability Officer – City of Austin
• Tracee Bentley, President & CEO – Permian Strategic Partnership
• Garrett Boone, Cofounder – The Container Store, Board – Green Space Dallas, Trinity Park Conservancy, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, Perot Museum
• Stoney Burke, Founder/CEO, Aquia Group, TxN Advisory Council
• Wayne Craig, Vice President & Director of Information Technology – Cactus Feeders
• Edward Craner, Sr. Vice President – HOLT CAT
• Matthew Crommett, Director – LH Capital, Inc, Lyda Hill Philanthropies
• Michael Dorff, Communications and Public Affairs  – Raytheon
• Trey Dyer, Director of Land and Fixed Assets  – The East Foundation
• Smith Getterman, Director of Sustainability and Special Projects – Baylor University
• Robert Horton, Vice President, Environmental Affairs & Sustainability – Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, TxN Board
• Devin Hotzel, Manager, Government Relations – Enbridge
• Tyler Lowe, Director, Governmental Affairs – Vulcan Materials Company
• Bob Malone, Chairman, President & CEO – Sonora Bank
• Richard McDonald, Corporate Director, Environmental Affairs & Sustainability – H-E-B
• Ashley Nelson, Director, ESG & Sustainability – Phillips 66
• Julia Murphy, Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer – City of San Antonio Office of Sustainability
• Angelica Rosales, Business Development – Sundt, TxN Advisory Council
• VJ Smith, Manager, ESG and Stakeholder Engagement – Marathon Petroleum
• Audrey Templeton, Enterprise Risk Manager – Molson Coors

Activating new investments, amplifying and accelerating innovations, and connecting partners to the resources they need to succeed, Texan by Nature offers select programs to help engage Texans in stewardship of the state’s rich land and diverse communities including the Conservation Wrangler program, TxN Certification, the Conservation Summit, Symposia series,the TxN 20, and select statewide initiatives. For more information on TxN partnerships and programs, or to learn how to get involved, please visit www.texanbynature.org.

ABOUT TxN:

Texan by Nature (TxN) brings conservation and business together to advance conservation – positively impacting natural resources, prosperity, and health across Texas and beyond. TxN partners deeply with conservation groups and business, acting as an accelerator for conservation groups and a strategic partner for business. Their projects and programs have impacted 7M+ people, 19.5M acres, and all of Texas’ 254 counties over the last 2 years. Get involved and learn more at www.texanbynature.org and follow on Facebook @TexanbyNature, Twitter @TexanbyNature, and Instagram @texanbynature.

We’ve said this before, but the upcoming redevelopment of the 37-acre Brodie Oaks shopping center into a new mixed-use community for South Austin is the sort of large-scale urban planning even the city’s most change-averse citizens ought to celebrate. Try telling us the “after” image doesn’t look like an upgrade:

Taking a sprawling 1980s strip mall-style shopping center and replacing its large parking lots and storefronts with denser housing — including approximately 200 affordable homes — alongside offices, hotels, and retail allows the development team of Barshop & Oles Company and Lionstone Investments to lower the existing impervious cover of the site and increase its open green space by more than 30 percent, providing nearly 12 acres of new city parkland, 10 of those acres adjacent to the Barton Creek Greenbelt. Due to its location inside the regulatory area of the city’s Save Our Springs water quality initiative, the Brodie redevelopment is likely the most environmentally sensitive project of its scale currently planned in the city, and should provide a roadmap for future upgrades of similar underutilized and overpaved shopping centers throughout the outskirts of the urban core.

The trick to this sort of sprawl-busting density is extra height, and the development hopes to attain its allowances of 160 feet adjacent to parkland and up to 275 feet on the sides of the tract facing Loop 360 and South Lamar Boulevard through the city’s Planned Unit Development (PUD) process, which is currently headed for a new round of public hearings — after securing the approval of the Parks Board earlier this summer, the PUD heads for the Environmental and Planning Commissions next month, with the first reading at City Council scheduled for its December 1 meeting.

Once the PUD is finalized, the project should enter the permitting phase by 2024, with the first phase of construction tentatively scheduled for groundbreaking sometime in 2025. With this final stage of approvals now approaching, the project’s development team has recently launched a new website for the plan, which is simply going by the name Brodie — that’s where we’re finding all these incredible before and after pictures of the shopping center, and you ought to check it out for yourself.

Brodie will be a destination landmark for South Austin reflecting the unique character of South Austin through its creative design and the incorporation of public art and performance venues. A focus on biophilic design, energy and water conservation, and the use of regional architectural styles and materials will all help contribute to the South Austin character.

The project will reserve prominent areas with views of Downtown and the Hill Country as publicly-accessible open space. The project is planning for approximately 1,700 residential units, 1.2 million square feet of office, 200 hotel rooms, 140 thousand square feet of activated ground floor retail and restaurant uses. A central green will be developed and programmed for events and entertainment acting as the central core of food and beverage options. This central green will connect from the core of the development to a festival street that can host farmers markets and events and terminate at a new trailhead to the Barton Creek Greenbelt.

The restoration of over 25 percent of the site to open space adjacent to the Barton Creek Greenbelt is made possible through heights of up to 160’ adjacent to parkland and 220’ to 275’ along Loop 360 and S. Lamar Boulevard frontage. The project is partnering with Foundation Communities to include a project of approximately 130 family-oriented units, serving families between 40% and 60% of median family income. Approximately 70 additional units of affordable housing for households earning up to 60% of median family income will be dispersed throughout the project, along with affordable retail and artist spaces. Finally, repositioning the retail environment from single-use, auto-oriented to mixed-use and walkable will align the physical environment with social and environmental trends.

— Brodie Site

We’ve already made it clear why we think this sort of project is precisely the way Austin ought to grow, since it’s obvious by now that our city’s expansion is inevitable and trying to stop it doesn’t do favors for anyone. Despite some petty complaints by distant homeowners about the new buildings mildly altering the views from their backyards, no serious person could effectively argue that the Brodie plan as laid out here is not a better deal than what’s sitting at this property now — building up, not out, should be our local mantra for the next generation, and we can think of nearly a dozen shopping centers around town that could use the Brodie treatment. Perhaps consider sending your representative on Council an email supporting this plan?

Read the original article on Austin Towers.

RENDERING CREATED FOR OVERLAND PARTNERS ARCHITECTURE & URBAN DESIGN, WHO SERVED AS A CASE STUDY FOR THE 2030 BY THE NUMBERS REPORT (2022)

Key Takeaways

Renewable Energy

Use either on-site or off-site renewable energy

As the pEUI target of the 2030 Commitment has ramped up, the need to add renewable energy to projects has crystallized. Once projects have reduced predicted energy use intensity (pEUI)as much as possible, renewables are necessary to reach net zero or net positive terrain. And we’ll need more and more renewables as 2030, with its net zero target, approaches.

Additionally, buildings that have renewable energy paired with electric or thermal energy storage can actually help clean up the grid. That’s because they can reduce grid stress during peak times, preventing the need for utility companies to power up dirty “peaker plants.”

Even if a building owner isn’t interested in, or can’t afford, renewables right away, it’s vital to ensure they can be added later. A “renewable-ready” building has design elements that make it easy to add renewables after construction. For example, optimizing building orientation, roof design, and electrical systems can ease the cost of adding solar photovoltaics (PV) and can improve PV performance in the future.

Fortunately, there are multiple ways to add and pay for renewable energy.

• On-site options include solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind turbine, heat pump, geothermal, micro-hydroelectric, and biomass.
• Off-site options include virtual power purchase agreements, direct ownership of an off-site system, purchase of unbundled renewable energy certificates (RECs), joining a long-term community renewable program, renewable energy investment fund, direct access to wholesale markets, and green retail tariffs. But buyer, beware! It’s important to verify additionality, meaning that the building owner is purchasing renewable power that would not have existed otherwise.

PV isn’t the only game in town, and the DDx also allows users to report on wind, micro-hydro, and several other renewable energy sources. Yet, today, solar remains the most commonly reported type of renewable energy, with on-site solar PV representing 88.7% of the projects reporting renewable energy in 2021.

In 2021, 1,405 projects totaling 300 million square feet reported using renewable energy, a 81.2% increase in the number of projects and 108.1% increase in gross square footage . Of these, 1,335 projects used on-site renewables, 143 projects used off-site renewables, and 87 used both.

Case Study

Sustainability for everyone: Overland Partners

“We didn’t know exactly how we were going to get there, but there was a values alignment,” said John Byrd, AIA, of Overland Partners’ decision to sign on to the 2030 Commitment in 2014. As director of design performance at the firm, Byrd takes the 2030 Commitment very seriously.

“The first couple years were very influential,” Byrd noted. “It forced us to adopt energy modeling across the office; this challenged our intuitions and made us better designers and architects all around.” – John Byrd, AIA, Director of Design Performance

But as the thresholds went up over time, “we realized that efficiency alone wasn’t going to get us there: we were going to need renewables in as many projects as possible.” Since that realization, the firm has pushed for net zero and net positive performance on a large number of projects.

Sometimes that has meant convincing clients whose values may not fully align with the 2030 Commitment.

On one residential project, the client expressed skepticism about climate change. “This was not the obvious client for pitching solar or any other traditional sustainability criteria,” said Byrd. “But if we believe it’s for everybody, it needs truly to be for everybody.” Thus, the conversation focused on things the client cared about—energy independence and return on investment. “We were able to make it one of the most sustainable private residences we’ve ever designed,” Byrd noted.

“With regard to sustainability, we truly believe there’s something for everyone,” Byrd added. “The earlier on you start, the better. Make it integral to what your clients are trying to accomplish.”

Resources

• Explore the Architect’s Primer on Renewable Energy for a starter guide on how to leverage on-site and off-site renewable energy in your projects.
• Learn how to employ renewable energy at the project and portfolio-scale in Course 8 of the AIA+2030 Online Certificate Program focused on the role of renewable energy.
• Browse through the Framework for Design Excellence’s Design for Energy principle to understand how projects can integrate renewable energy and why renewable-ready design can be pursued for future on-site renewables.’

 

Read the original article on AIA.org.

WASHINGTON – October 6, 2022 – The American Institute of Architects (AIA) By the Numbers report for 2021 showcases the annual performance of the architecture and engineering firm signatories of the 2030 Commitment. The By the Numbers report can be explored on AIA’s website.

With buildings contributing almost 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, architecture and design firms have the opportunity to transform their practice and contribute to significant emission reductions. The AIA 2030 Commitment offers architects and engineers a way to publicly show their dedication and track progress toward a carbon-neutral future by working toward the goal of carbon-neutral buildings by 2030.

The By the Numbers report for 2021 amalgamates predicted energy use data in completed projects by 2030 Commitment signatories, including 20,652 projects reporting an overall 50.3 percent reduction in predicted energy use intensity (pEUI). Other key findings in the report include:

• 5.5 percent of whole building gross square footage reported in 2021 met the 80 percent target, an increase from 4.3 percent in 2020. This represents 161,625,553 gross square feet and 748 projects.
• In 2021, 2030 Commitment signatories reported 505 all-electric buildings, up 67 percent from 2020.
• 276 whole building projects were reported as net-zero in 2021, representing both 2.1 percent of projects and gross square footage. 67,399,844 gross square feet were reported as net-zero in total in 2021.

“The progress made by the 2030 Commitment participants is commendable and gives us hope the building sector can pivot away from being such a large carbon emission contributor,” said 2022 President of The American Institute of Architects Dan Hart, FAIA. “However, the need for more firms to participate and actively work toward reducing energy use in their projects remains crucial.”

Visit AIA’s website to learn more about how architects are impacting climate action initiatives.

About AIA

Founded in 1857, AIA consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through more than 200 international, state and local chapters, AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public wellbeing.

AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as engaging civic and government leaders and the public to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation, and world. Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards.

Read the original article on AIA.org.

Dynamic Architecture Captures Dude Perfect’s Big Trick Shots and Playful Personalities

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — In the biggest trick shot yet, Dude Perfect , the global YouTube phenomenon of five guys widely known for their family-friendly comedy and epic sports tricks, has enlisted the team of Overland Partners to manifest their digital brand into a new ten-acre Dude Perfect sports and entertainment destination and headquarters. A year in the making, Dude Perfect is unveiling the concept for their first physical destination offering their fans the opportunity to be part of the Dude Perfect brand experience.

“The Dudes have been amazing collaborators. From a creative standpoint, I would put them up against anybody that we’ve worked with,” said Overland Senior Principal Bryan Trubey. “Their creative genius is behind all of this. We’ve been fortunate enough to design a physical representation of their vision for their future imbued with all of the activations and experiences they are known for.”

Destined to redefine the city skyline, the dynamic 330-foot “Impossible Shot” tower projects from the site as a vertical expression of the Dude Perfect brand known for impossible shots. An iconic gesture to the very stunt that launched Dude Perfect’s following in 2009 while all were attending Texas A & M University, the Dudes continue the transformation of their brand, creating a physical dimension to their YouTube platform with over 58 million subscribers. Inside, fully activated and themed attractions immerse fans of all ages in Dude Perfect action, where they can try their hand at the games and stunts made famous by the Dudes and ascend through a series of floors leading up five stories to the top of the tower for the Impossible Shot.

“Capturing the unique Dude Perfect energy and enthusiasm into physical architecture led us to a one-of-a-kind project for a one-of-a-kind brand,” said Austin Ash, Senior Architect, who, along with Bryan Trubey, John Hutchings, and Trip Boswell sought to bring a wildly popular digital brand to life. With their proven track record of collaboration on world-class sports and entertainment venues including SoFi Stadium, AT&T Stadium, and U.S. Bank Stadium during their time together at HKS Architects, this team knows how to create unique, transformational fan experiences that bring people together.

Ash added that the architects were initially inspired by breaking down a trick shot into: The Origin, The Path, The Anticipation and The Unfiltered Reaction. “These key drivers generated a form that appears to always be moving and sweeping past visitors as they play their way through the experience. We want every visitor to step into the world of Dude Perfect and feel like they might just experience the impossible.”

Outdoors, the five-acre, park-like outdoor entertainment area will be a destination in and of itself. An expansive canopy will provide shade along with trees, landscaping, water features and a great lawn. Throughout the year, the area will be a hub of activity where concerts, Dude Perfect shows, community events and seasonal attractions create a high energy entertainment destination.

“Our biggest dream yet is to bring families together in a fun-filled, memory-making destination unlike any other. A place not just to come and see, but a place to come and do,” said the Dudes. “Overland is bringing that dream to life.”

Dude Perfect has not established a permanent location for the destination, but in the weeks ahead will focus on a process to short-list the municipalities across the country who have expressed an interest in bringing the Dude Perfect entertainment and headquarters to their respective cities. The Dudes look forward to announcing the official location of this unprecedented project soon.

Dude Perfect team members are Tyler Toney, twins Cory and Coby Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, and Cody Jones, all of whom are former college roommates at Texas A&M University in College Station. Their YouTube channel has more than 58 million subscribers and is the second most-subscribed sports channel on the platform. Dude Perfect predominantly create videos showing complex trick shots, stereotypes, and stunts.

Overland Partners, an acclaimed architecture and master planning firm, brings together diverse talents to deliver dynamic, comprehensive design services in architecture, master planning, and urban design throughout the world. With a notable spirit of collaboration, Overland thoughtfully integrates technology, art, and craft to create world-class, innovative, and sustainable solutions for highly complex projects. For more information, visit overlandpartners.com.

Read the original press release on PR Newswire.

Oak Cliff native Bryan Trubey is behind many of our favorite sports and entertainment venues around the world. Now working with Overland Partners (overlandpartners.com) in San Antonio, the architect launched his sports career over 30 years ago and has worked on large-scale projects like the National Stadium in Hong Kong, the recently completed SoFi stadium in L.A. and AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field right here in Texas. We recently caught up with Trubey to give us some insight into the biz and what we can expect from him next.
BY ERIN KAIN

How do you start to tackle a big project like an arena?
Research! When we started working with the Cowboys, the Rams, the Vikings, the Colts, we always do superdeep research into the history of those franchises. That starts to give us what is essentially a personality, and that allows us to create a physical thing that looks like them and no one else.

Can you give us an example?
Every brand is totally unique, and that’s part of the reason we do the really deep research. The Vikings are a really good example. A lot of people look at the final building— which has won quite a few design awards—and some see a Viking ship, some see a Viking longhouse and some see an ice shard. All those things skew positive. And the fact that you can see all those things is proof that we took some symbols, some patterns, some shapes that were a part of that culture, and we were able to imbue that into the building itself in a way that makes it feel perfect for that team.

How do these venues add to the cities they’re housed in?
The Vikings arena, much like the Colts arena, is built literally in the foreground of downtown. So you have all the existing assets—a few billion dollars’ worth of built skyline—right behind the site. The buildings we were doing for both of those cities and teams were even more definitive in terms of the perceived city after that. On television you see the Vikings’ venue and the downtown in the background, and the same with the Colts, so it became really a redefining element for their entire city.

What are some of your biggest influences?
I think I’ve always been focused on interpretive or abstract thinking. I’ve never had a personal style; I think that’s a thing that our profession has kind of been working through. There’s plenty of architects that have a very distinctive style, and when you go to hire that architect, you’re buying into their view rather than hiring them to help you. It’s always more interesting to me to do the research and understand how to produce something totally and absolutely unique. Context is what it’s called in the architectural community. It’s understanding context and then building something that’s responsive to or expansive to the context.

Tell us about some of your current projects. I know you’re working on Fair Park.
We are—talk about an amazing project! Fair Park is one of those that I think people are going to come to understand the real value of shortly. There’s nothing like it anywhere on the planet. It’s 277 acres of park that has a whole series of venues in it—some are exhibit halls, performance spaces, the Cotton Bowl, the Coliseum, the Band Shell. I think when we are able to renovate a significant amount of those venues, we’re going to see Fair Park emerge as one of our most visible national and international attractions for the whole region. AT&T Stadium was just announced as the host for the World Cup in 2026.

That’s got to be pretty exciting.
It is. We’re hoping Fair Park plays a large part in that too. We’re trying to get the International Broadcast Center in Fair Park in addition to getting the game in AT&T indoors, and maybe a game
at the Cotton Bowl.

Any predictions for future architecture trends?
I think we’re going to be setting them as we have the last 20 years. Because that’s something we’re junkies for, innovation. We’re not shy about putting our ideas out there, and I’m lucky enough to work with some of the most visionary owners in sports and entertainment. That’s always a great combination when you can work with guys like Stan Kroenke, Jerry Jones, Ray Davis and Dallas’ own Lamar Hunt, now gone but one of the most visionary owners in sport I think ever lived.

I know you grew up in Dallas and you’ve had a heavy hand in both hospitality and sports, but who do you root for?
This is a very delicate question. I’m a very broad sports fan—it’s hard not to be a fan of any team that you work with. It’s similar to asking me my favorite project; it’s sort of like choosing between your children. So I always say the next one, because we’re always going to do a better job on the next one.

Read the original article in Modern Luxury Dallas.

The nonprofit that manages Fair Park released artwork showing the wanted changes to the park and the Cotton Bowl.

Dallas voters will decide on Nov. 8 whether to fund $2 billion in improvements to Fair Park, the Cotton Bowl and expansion of the Downtown convention center.

A 2% hotel tax increase, paid by hotel, motel and short-term rental guests, would fund the improvements, if voters approve the proposal.

The Fair Park and Cotton Bowl renovations are estimated to cost about $300 million, “the largest investment in Fair Park since construction for the Texas Centennial Exhibition in 1936,” according to a media release.

Fair Park First and architecture firm Overland Partners released these artist renderings of the plans, which would renovate the Automobile Building, Centennial Hall, the Fair Park Band Shell, the Music Hall at Fair Park, the stadium and Fair Park Coliseum.

“Fair Park has the potential to be one of the most significant, iconic, monumental, urban entertainment and sports destination environments anywhere in the world,” Bryan Trubey of Overland Partners stated in the media release. “And ultimately, this once-in-a-lifetime project is much bigger than a quantified economic impact.”

Read the original article on The Preston Hollow Lifestyle.

A developer’s request to the city’s design review panel is providing a first look at a hotel tower planned for Hemisfair.

Six years in the making and forged through an agreement between the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation (HPARC) and Zachry Hospitality, the hotel is part of the developer’s plans for a mixed-use development within Civic Park.

The Historic and Design Review Commission on Wednesday granted conceptual approval for what’s being called the Hemisfair Hotel, the first step in the process for new development in the downtown area.

Construction on the hotel is expected to start in December, according to a timeline in the developer’s request to the commission, and open to guests in February 2025.

Situated in the northwestern corner of Hemisfair, Civic Park is under construction and, like the hotel, is also expected to be completed in time for the NCAA Men’s Final Four to be hosted in San Antonio on April 5 and 7, 2025.

Design plans for the hotel, by the San Antonio-based architecture firm Overland Partners, show a 17-story tower at 222 S. Alamo St. with street-level retail space and 200 hotel rooms above. The tower is shaped in a curve with either end designed to be situated near planned office and residential developments within the 5-acre section of the park.

The city’s Unified Development Code does not limit the number of stories for structures in the River Improvement Overlay 3, where the hotel will be located, as long as the height is consistent with other buildings in the vicinity and it does not block sunshine from reaching the River Walk.

The Hilton Palacio del Rio, built just before the 1968 World’s Fair, is 21 stories and the nearby San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk is 30 stories. The Grand Hyatt has 34 stories and is 425 feet tall, while the Tower of Americas is 750 feet from ground to tip.

Lisa Garza, representing the Conservation Society of San Antonio at a design review meeting on Aug. 23, said the design plans are “very compelling,” and “does not seem to overpower the site.”

In April, City Council voted to approve a revised agreement between Zachry Hospitality and HPARC that would move the project forward after delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Changing market conditions pushed the developer to cut the amount of commercial office space within the development.

The new agreement extended the project’s completion date by four years, to 2025. It also allows HPARC to defer payment to the city for the project through 2029 in order to give the park developer time to raise the needed funds. HPARC will reimburse the city with interest starting with an $8.8 million payment due in September 2029.

The city will collect all San Antonio hotel occupancy taxes and city sales taxes, and rebate all state hotel occupancy sales taxes to HPARC, according to the agreement, which will in turn rebate the taxes to Zachry to help offset parking costs and other public improvements at Hemisfair.

“Each day Hemisfair is one step closer to creating one of the world’s great public places, and a hotel … helps us reach our goal,” stated Andres Andujar, Hemsifair CEO. “While a majority of the built area in the Hemisfair District will be mixed-income residential, a hotel delivers on the strategy that a mix of uses is vital to the long-term sustainability of the Hemisfair neighborhood.”

Read the original article on the San Antonio Report.