Austin Community College Highland Campus Phase II, is a landmark project for sustainable architecture and adaptive reuse and has been honored with a 2022 ULI Austin’s Impact Award. Adaptive reuse is a growing trend in architecture as it allows architects to breathe fresh life into underutilized spaces – and offers an inherently sustainable alternative when choosing new construction.

Perkins&Will sees Austin Community College as a national model for how adaptive reuse can be done well, and this award shows that the experts at ULI agree.

The site of a massive, empty mall is now a magnet for Texans pursuing the region’s hottest careers. Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects (BGKA) and Perkins&Will transformed 400,000 square feet of a 1970s-era shopping mall into an innovative learning center featuring world-class interdisciplinary specialty programs. The project exemplifies the power of adaptive reuse and sustainable strategies to revitalize a community and transform a local economy through educational environments.