Glass Helps Converted Recycling Center Earn Green Building Award
Transforming an opaque recycling center into a hip, daylit-filled creative office space, Gensler chose Solarban® 70 glass to glaze large windows, clerestories and skylights for UPCycle in East Austin, Texas, a 2020 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE®) Top Ten Award winner.
Preserving the neighborhood character of Austin’s vibrant 6th Street corridor, Gensler focused this adaptive reuse project on enhancing the street-level experience with deep, inset porches framed by large operable glass doors. The fenestration, fabricated with Solarban® 70 glass, creates inviting indoor/outdoor residential-style porches on the building’s east façade, while large, covered patios on the north and south further enhance outdoor connections.