L. S. Johnston
20 YEARS OF SUCCESS AND COUNTING Providing well-crafted and pleasing architectural designs the firm of L.S. Johnston has been pleasing its customers and racking up awards for 20 years and counting.
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L.S. JOHNSTON ARCHITECTS
WORKING TO PROVIDE ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTIONS THAT BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER by Joan Tupponce
All photos courtesy of L.S. Johnston Architects.
L. S. Johnston Architects strives to provide its clients region of Central Texas. A current project under conwith well-crafted and aesthetically pleasing architectural struction is a large scale project for the city of Killeen designs. Over the years, that passion has produced that will redevelop an 80,000 sq. ft. inner-city church numerous awards for outstanding design. into a multi-use building. The building will contain Based in Austin, Texas, the firm excels in its use of many unique elements such as a charter school, a Building Information Modeling (BIM) in each of its performing arts studio and auditorium, a broadcast projects. The company has been working with a CAD studio, a daycare center and city offices. system since its inception in 1990. Johnston and her team recently completed a mixed-use “Everything we do is three dimensional, from incep- project in Austin that has been a tremendous benefit tion through construction,” said company President to the community. Linda Johnston. “We look at the whole project in three “It was the redevelopment of a two-block area that dimensions, which gives us a leg up on the design ele- was a center for crime,” Johnston said. “The project ments of each project. The three-dimensional project contains residences, retail, offices and restaurants. It’s modeling gives clients a better understanding of the really an asset to the community and helped to turn the proposed solutions offered by our team. Dimensional neighborhood around. The first project acted as a seed modeling shapes projects through an analysis of the for the redevelopment of the entire street, a five-block urban fabric, site microclimate and solar energy considerations.” Johnston and her staff do the majority of their Jamail & Smith Construction is a general contractor with nearly 30 work with developers, commercial and otherwise. They have also begun taking on many adaptive years of experience. They are an extension of your team. Their expertise as a Design Builder, JOC Contractor and Construction Manager allows reuse projects. Company projects are focused mainly in the
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expanse across the freeway from the state capitol.” The company is also involved in another inner-city project in Austin that will turn an old warehouse that backs up to a commuter rail stop into a market that specializes in local foods and crafts. The approximately 13,000 sq. ft. Saltillo Market will have around 15 different shops. “It faces onto the Saltillo Plaza Project which was built in the 1990s but never really took off because it had nothing around it to give life to it,” Johnston said. “We hope this will revitalize the plaza and create a gathering place for the East Austin neighborhood.” Johnston and her team are dedicated to having their projects as sustainable and energy efficient as possible. “The farmer’s market and park we are working on Killeen, for example, will have a rainwater system to provide water to the park,” Johnston said. “As a firm, we approach each project from the user’s point of view. We make it as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. I think that gives us a different angle on design.” Fall 2010 3
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