2007 ICSC International Design and Development Award – Worldwide The Shops at La Cantera, San Antonio A Contemporary Take on Luxury Retail Neiman Marcus at the Domain, Austin Main Street ambience creates a shopping destination in far west Texas. West End Center, Lubbock Created a dining destination and “third place.” The Rim Commons Authentic connection: linking retail to community walking trails. La Cantera Heights Work in Progress: Cultivating a sense of discovery in a retail plaza. Southtown Aldea

Retail and mixed-use development play directly to our core strength: a highly collaborative process.

Great placemaking for retail is more than the sum of its parts. Starting with a strong partnership among leasing, marketing, and branding, we add architectural and landscape design to create a cohesive, memorable whole. A compelling retail mix – shopping, dining, and other uses – marks the project as an engaging, repeat destination. We know how to make these places.

Southtown Aldea

Southtown Aldea, now in pre-construction phase, is a residential development sited at the northern edge of the popular Southtown arts district; also adjacent to historic Downtown San Antonio and Hemisfair and its new Civic Park. The one-of-a-kind development is made up of three midrise buildings arranged around plazas and courtyards, situated between a wide boulevard and the shaded historic streets of neighboring Lavaca. Its rich architectural expression is drawn from the eclectic local vernacular, in a composed harmony of historicist and contemporary design. In material quality and experiential delight, the development is designed to become both a unique enclave for a residential community, and an attractive addition to a desirable downtown neighborhood.
Southtown Aldea is two blocks from my house in Lavaca, so I know this beautiful, diverse neighborhood well. The project will fit its unique site and place in the city. Like the River Walk, the interior paseo connects the project to its surroundings, offering a constantly changing view and sense of discovery.

— Irby Hightower, FAIA
Lush landscaping at the Neiman Marcus courtyard.

The Shops at La Cantera

The Shops at La Cantera blends the visual heritage of San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country with the fashion edge necessary to support a setting for high-end retailers, incorporating lush gardens of native landscaping, detailed handcrafting and artisanal materials alongside crisply detailed steel and cut stone.
Shaded paseos connect parking with the interior shopping street.

West End Center

Distance in Texas measures differently. Our shopping center in Lubbock proves the point: patrons regularly drive more than a hundred miles from 26 neighboring counties to get there. Our design strategy created an attractive destination – a lively mix of national retailers, big box shopping and dining options make West End Center a strong regional draw.
Neiman Marcus Austin – The Domain

Neiman Marcus Stores

Design savvy is in the DNA of Neiman Marcus, both as a luxury retailer and as an architecture client. We tapped into this keen understanding, developing a strong rapport that supported exploration. As a result, our stores in Fort Worth and Austin are innovative and uniquely part of their contexts, but both express the sophisticated personality of this venerable brand.
The curvilinear bench creates a meetup spot and focal point.

The Rim Commons

The Rim Commons is a favorite “before and after” placemaking case study for a few reasons: it drew on our decades of retail experience; we found a planning solution to a development problem; and it showcases the economic potential of good placemaking.

A memorable public realm creates a destination. Wrapping the retail with interactivity, sociability, and comfort, the public realm adds uniqueness and marketable place identity. Ease and walkability are an created through an authentic response to context, climate, and culture. Successful retail placemaking creates an enduring environment that is both memorable and resilient, growing into itself as it develops its own history.

Lush landscaping at the Neiman Marcus courtyard.

The Shops at La Cantera

The Shops at La Cantera blends the visual heritage of San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country with the fashion edge necessary to support a setting for high-end retailers, incorporating lush gardens of native landscaping, detailed handcrafting and artisanal materials alongside crisply detailed steel and cut stone.

Southtown Aldea

Southtown Aldea, now in pre-construction phase, is a residential development sited at the northern edge of the popular Southtown arts district; also adjacent to historic Downtown San Antonio and Hemisfair and its new Civic Park. The one-of-a-kind development is made up of three midrise buildings arranged around plazas and courtyards, situated between a wide boulevard and the shaded historic streets of neighboring Lavaca. Its rich architectural expression is drawn from the eclectic local vernacular, in a composed harmony of historicist and contemporary design. In material quality and experiential delight, the development is designed to become both a unique enclave for a residential community, and an attractive addition to a desirable downtown neighborhood.
Southtown Aldea is two blocks from my house in Lavaca, so I know this beautiful, diverse neighborhood well. The project will fit its unique site and place in the city. Like the River Walk, the interior paseo connects the project to its surroundings, offering a constantly changing view and sense of discovery.

— Irby Hightower, FAIA

Specialized expertise in a multidisciplinary team. We enjoy a high level of trust among our retail clients, earned over years of highly responsive engagement in our collaborative process. We bring a singular level of focus, imagination and seasoned perspective to planning, architectural design, visualization, and place identity.

Billy Lawrence, AIA Billy’s gift for placemaking resides in an innate feel for what makes a “people place” in planning and architecture. In an award-winning example, The Shops at La Cantera brought the convenience and conviviality of the traditional shopping mall to an open-air landscape – the first of its kind for premier developer The Rouse Company. The center proved the value of embracing context and prioritizing experience. A common denominator across many successful national retail centers and civic buildings is an elevated, memorable public realm – a key piece of the formula for durable retail success.

Billy has led design for premier developer clients Simon Properties, The Rouse Company, Affinius Capital, General Growth Properties, Brookfield Properties, and Hines. His direct work with venerable retailer Neiman Marcus represents the luxury tier of retail department stores nationwide. His work in regional retail design includes The Shops at La Cantera in San Antonio, Texas, The RIM Commons Park, and new Neiman Marcus stores in Austin and Fort Worth, Texas.

Irby Hightower, FAIA Over decades, Irby Hightower has shaped the firm’s core approach to urban design: effective multidisciplinary collaboration yields innovative results. He honed his collaborative skills in his role as Co-Chairman of the San Antonio River Oversight Committee. Working alongside (the late) former Mayor Lila Cockrell to mobilize a multi-agency task force to develop long-neglected sections of the San Antonio River, the Committee led the massive Museum Reach and Mission Reach revitalization projects. A visionary initiative and now a signature feature of San Antonio’s central metro area, the River Walk Expansions are a keystone of Irby’s planning legacy.

Irby is identified with the firm’s award-winning historic preservation, retail, multi-family, and planning projects, and is a sought-after speaker and thought leader in urban and economic development.

Michael Clancy A staff designer with the firm, Michael credits his late father — a salesman with a local millwork company — with shaping his appreciation for local craftsmanship and his understanding of the built environment. He brings professional dedication to creating places rooted in the greater community and grounded in an authentic response to context. Michael lends his architectural expertise and sophisticated ability to visualize design concepts to collaborations throughout the firm.

Mo Verdecanna, RAS Bryan “Mo” Verdecanna is a seasoned project manager, bringing his depth of construction knowledge to the firm’s multifamily, retail placemaking, and PreK – 12 business sectors. Over 20 years of experience in design and construction plus an extraordinary attention to detail make him an effective design team leader in complex commercial projects. We count on his technical knowledge to help hammer vision into reality. Additionally, Mo Verdecanna is a Registered Accessibility Specialist in Texas, an onboard resource for the consistent application of Universal Design standards.

Fernando Ortega, RA | With over thirty years of practice across a diverse, comprehensive range of building typologies, Fernando brings insight and creativity to the design process. A collaborative leader, he brings clarity to our work and synthesizes a range of ideas and input. His idea that architecture is “most meaningful when design responds directly and intentionally in the form of a dialogue between a project’s vision, expectations, and its context and community” is resonant with our design philosophy and collaborative working process.