Downtown Austin Condo Interior Design: Why a High-Rise Is the Best Canvas

They also, by definition, limit the scope. You don't have to think much about the exterior, whether to expand the footprint, or even very much about the systems. A condo is contained, boxed in, and those constraints allow the perfect amount of freedom to create something really special. And they typically come with wonderful views.

Downtown Austin high-rise living is LSD Studio's specialty, and we know Four Seasons and Seaholm best. Here is how we think about designing a condo, and what the building itself decides for you.

A high-rise lets you design the arrival

High-rise homes give you the opportunity to build a journey really deliberately. There's typically one entrance from the outside, at most two: formal and resident. That means you can create a choreographed sequence of spaces, with a discipline you don't always have in a single-family home.

The entry sets the tone for the whole space, so we almost always pick a special sconce or light fixture for it. On a current project, we're using beautiful alabaster sconces. Artwork matters here too.

So does what you don't see. Many homes don't want shoes displayed by the door, and in a condo there's no back entrance for everyday comings and goings. A place to tuck shoes away matters more here than it would in a house.

Frame the view, don't compete with it

When a room has an incredible view, we pay close attention to the framing, starting with the window treatment. To give the view as much of a moment as we can, we stack drapery back off the glazed area. We also choose materials that look beautiful without stealing the show, which usually means not too much bold pattern.

We are very careful with chandeliers and larger fixtures. We generally prefer a pendant, or something that will float in the view rather than clutter it. Sight lines across the space are so important. If you're pulling a fixture down in front of a skyline, you have the chance to make that a romantic moment. If you want the room to be more about the view than the fixture, keep the light close to the ceiling.

Give the room a personality beyond the view

The view is part of the room, but it can't be the whole personality. When the drapery is closed and it's a more private, intimate moment, what is the personality of the space? We design for that answer too.

The vast windows in newer buildings help here. They make textiles a major part of the space, where in homes with less glass the window treatments can become an afterthought. And because condos commonly have open living spaces, you have to pick your moments for drama and let everything else complement them.

What does the building decide?

It's very building-dependent here. Neither Four Seasons nor Seaholm allows work on the weekend, and their loading dock and site policies differ a little. Both have wonderful staff who have been so helpful and supportive of our work in units there. We also make very sure to check the freight elevator's capacity and length limits. Curtain rods are notorious; they may need splicing to make it up.

Sometimes the building knows what's behind a wall, and sometimes it doesn't. So we demo slowly and gently, to avoid disturbing structural elements that may be shared. We use a Walabot scanner to see not only studs but the pipes and wires behind walls. During intake, we note the locations of shutoffs so we can take every precaution during construction.

Many buildings downtown have had flood or water damage that spanned multiple units, and we never want to be the cause of it. We're well insured and ready if something goes wrong, but the goal is to be very careful and considerate of adjacent units.

Know your building: renovated before, or developer finishes?

Building age changes what we walk into. Four Seasons is older, so most units there have already been renovated a time or two and have their own personalities, much like units at the Austonian and 360. Newer buildings like Seaholm and The Independent mostly still have the developer's finishes. That makes it much easier to predict what we'll find when we get a call from one of those.

Get in touch

If you live in a downtown Austin high-rise and are ready to make it yours, book an intro call. You can also see the materials and makers we love in person at LSD Gallery, 417 W 2nd Street.

(Image Credit: Austin American-Statesman)