At the bend of a Lake Austin tributary, something fascinating rises from the water. The Roost replaces what was once a crumbling boathouse with an illegal apartment tucked inside. Furman & Keil Architects saw an opportunity where others might see problems. Their 880-square-foot pavilion floats on a steel frame, dancing above flood waters that regularly sweep through this protected wetland. The two-story structure feels weightless against the landscape, as if it had grown from the water itself. Every detail speaks to living with nature rather than fighting it.
Getting there becomes part of the experience. You can wind your way through the forest on a stairway that gradually reveals the pavilion through the trees. Or paddle up by canoe, approaching from the water like the birds that call this place home. Each route offers its own revelation, its own way of understanding how the building sits in its world. The architects understood that arrival shapes everything about how you feel in a space. They designed multiple ways to discover what they’d created.
Designer: Furman & Keil Architects
Building here meant working within strict wetland protections. Everything arrived by flat-bottom boat, from lumber to workers to coffee cups. The demolished boathouse left the same way, piece by piece, across the water. These constraints could have killed the project, but they made it better. The steel frame touches the ground lightly, disturbing almost nothing. What seemed like limitations became the design’s greatest strengths.
Materials tell the story of place and purpose. Ipe wood wraps the structure in warm browns that shift with the light. The Brazilian hardwood laughs at moisture and temperature swings that would destroy lesser materials. Screens wrap the living spaces, keeping bugs out while letting breezes flow through. Ceiling fans from Modern Fan Company keep air moving on still summer days. Everything chosen for this specific place, this particular way of being outdoors.
The spaces work for watching and waiting. Birdwatchers find different perches for different moods and different species. The upper level surveys the broader waterway, perfect for spotting herons and egrets. Down below, you’re closer to the water’s surface, watching for turtles and fish. Some moments call for solitude, others for sharing discoveries with friends. The pavilion accommodates both, flexible enough for whatever the day brings.
When the 2024 Residential Design Architect Awards judges called The Roost “a beautiful pavilion,” they recognized something special. Troy Miller, Phillip Keil, Gary Furman, Maanasa Nathan, and Dawson Williams created architecture that feels inevitable, like it was always meant to be here. Working with builder Crowell and landscape architects Word + Carr, they navigated regulations that stop most projects cold. The result proves that working with environmental constraints often produces the most beautiful solutions. The Roost doesn’t just sit on the water—it belongs there.
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