Four Seasons Residence

This 23rd-floor residence at the Four Seasons Residences was fully renovated for clients who came to us after earlier design attempts had fallen short. Their brief was specific: a contemporary home grounded in mid-century Italian design, with Carlo Scarpa as the main reference. Condo renovations usually stop at new finishes over the developer layout. Working with Escobedo Construction, we reconfigured the floor plan and designed custom details throughout, treating the building's constraints as design opportunities. Fixed plumbing stacks in the kitchen could not be moved or concealed, so we wrapped them in a brass detail and made them a deliberate feature. Scarpa's stepped profile became a recurring motif, repeated at the column, the kitchen island's stone edge and the door frames. Flush brass inlays mark each transition between materials, so the details read as one continuous language from room to room. Henry Built produced the cabinetry in the kitchen and primary bath to match. The clients' collection shaped the plan as much as the architecture did. They buy at Italian auctions and own rare pieces by Angelo Lelii, Gio Ponti, Franco Albini and Carlo de Carli. We planned rooms around specific pieces, then added modern artwork and furniture from Arflex and Tacchini so the vintage work reads as part of a home people live in, not a display. Where nothing on the market fit, we designed it, including an oversized custom bed built for the clients' needs. As more people choose to live in Austin's downtown towers, this project makes the case that a condo can hold the same depth of architecture, craft and personal history as a custom house.