Lady Bird Lake Civic Boardwalk
The Austin Civic Boardwalk & Cultural Forum is conceived as a public landscape rather than a singular architectural object. The project reimagines the traditional boardwalk as a civic interior and exterior promenade, where circulation, gathering, and cultural activity unfold within a continuous spatial experience.
Client
Conceptual Design
Category & Year
Creative Team
YCD Studio
A sculpted roof canopy rises from the ground to create shaded public plazas, elevated walkways, and open concourses beneath. The architecture emphasizes movement and visual connection, with ramps and bridges weaving through a large, daylit volume that functions as a civic forum for exhibitions, performances, and informal public use.
The central forum acts as the project’s social and spatial anchor. A large, open floor plate accommodates informal gathering, exhibitions, and everyday civic use, while layered walkways above create visual connections across the space. The roof structure spans the forum as a lightweight canopy, filtering daylight and reinforcing the building’s role as a public interior landscape rather than a closed civic hall.
Interior civic promenade with continuous ramps and elevated walkways organized beneath a shaded roof canopy overlooking Lady Bird Lake.
