Barton Hills Residence / Alterstudio Architecture

Architects: Alterstudio Architecture
Area: 7,200 ft²
Year: 2024
Photography: Casey Dunn
Lead Architects: Kevin Alter
Architects Team: Ernesto Cragnolino, Tim Whitehill, Michael Woodland, Matt Slusarek, Haifa Hammami
Design Team: Alterstudio Architecture
Contractor: Clean Tag
Structural Engineering: MJ Structures
MEP: Positive Energy
Landscape: Wood + Carr
Materials: Wood; Corten Steel; Board-formed Concrete; Native Stone; Glass
City: Austin
Country: United States

The Barton Hills Residence is a hilltop family home in central Austin that responds to steep terrain, expansive views, and environmental constraints through a carefully calibrated architectural and landscape strategy. Oriented along an east–west axis, the house maximizes solar performance and prevailing breezes while framing two contrasting conditions: open views toward the Barton Creek greenbelt and a more sheltered courtyard to the north. A steel-clad linear volume is elevated above the slope, allowing the landscape to pass beneath and creating shaded outdoor spaces below. The project replaces a structurally failing house, reusing the existing footprint and driveway to limit site disturbance and reduce landslide risk. Materials including wood, Corten steel, board-formed concrete, native stone, and glass were selected for their durability and capacity to weather over time, reinforcing a long-term dialogue between architecture and site while supporting a family-oriented lifestyle closely tied to outdoor living.

The built environment is a ubiquitous presence in the serendipity of social occasions, both public and private, and we were excited to imagine the ways in which we might contribute something that has such a consequence.
Interview with Kevin Alter of Alterstudio Architecture

Barton hills residence / alterstudio architecture

Rather than asserting dominance over its elevated site, the Barton Hills Residence establishes a precise architectural datum that allows the hilltop landscape to remain visually and spatially foregrounded. The design treats the slope as an active generator of experience, shaping arrival, movement, and perception. Visitors descend along a sculpted concrete wall that withholds expansive views until entry, when the main living space opens abruptly to a panoramic outlook across the greenbelt, suspended well above the terrain.

The primary living areas and bedrooms are organized within a horizontal steel-clad volume lifted on board-formed concrete stanchions. This strategy gives the house a measured sense of lightness while enabling a series of sheltered exterior rooms below, including a family room that extends to the pool and outdoor dining terrace. While the composition suggests modernist restraint, the structure is not rigidly dogmatic; steel is used selectively for structural agility, allowing portions of the building to cantilever and visually “take flight” over the hillside.

Family life and childhood exploration were central to the project’s conception. Interior spaces are closely linked to one another and to the outdoors, encouraging daily interaction and movement. Moments of play are embedded within the architecture through elements such as a recessed, double-sided reading nook carved into the concrete structure and a concealed playroom accessed by a climbing wall, introducing discovery without disrupting the home’s disciplined material language.

Environmental responsibility informed decisions at every scale. By reusing the existing footprint, construction minimized disruption to surrounding vegetation, while a newly engineered foundation establishes stability in challenging soils. Terraced landscapes with native planting manage stormwater, stabilize the hillside, and extend greenbelt habitat upward toward the residence. Together, these strategies position the Barton Hills Residence as a measured response to site, climate, and family life, demonstrating how architectural precision and ecological sensitivity can be mutually reinforcing.