Step Inside Austin's Design-Savvy Carpenter Hotel

On Austin, Texas' bustling South Lamar boulevard, developers The Mighty Union and Austin- and New York- based Specht Architects reinvented a 1948 union hall as the Carpenter Hotel, a new local destination that's designed to welcome both visitors and city dwellers into its restaurant, bar, café, event pavilion, and rooms.

Tucked between the Barton Springs swimming hole and downtown in Zilker, the 93-room hotel's façade—clad with pecan wood repurposed from the site's removed trees—is framed by exposed concrete, clay, and steel-pipe frame that blends with the surrounding landscape, and gives way to a raw, minimalist aesthetic inside.

"The design was driven by a sense of place; the desire to create something that is natural to its location, neighborhood, and the city as a whole," says the firm. “It's a new take on the idea of adaptive re-use that doesn't mimic what was existing, or create a bright line between the 'old' and the 'new'—but rather a stealth approach that merges all the parts into a collage that feels effortless and authentic."

Alongside a shaded courtyard and swimming pool, the refreshed “midcentury-utilitarian" compound, as dubbed by the designers, contains the hotel's different spaces.

At the main entrance, Hot L Coffee greets visitors with blends by Merit Coffee, as well as kombucha, beer, and wine on tap. An abbreviated menu from the hotel's main draw, Carpenters Hall, is offered in the lobby or outdoor communal tables.

"At Carpenters Hall, we want a local to become a regular and a visitor to feel a sense of place," says Mighty Union, which is led by Jack Barron, a co-founder and partner at the Ace Hotel Portland. "We wanted Carpenters Hall to be the answer to 'where do you want to eat tonight?’"

The menu at the restaurant is not rooted in a particular cuisine, and rather pays homage to the culinary influences of German, Czech, and Mexican settlers who influenced what's considered Texas cuisine today. The eatery is meant to be a neighborhood restaurant, preparing dishes that are honest, comforting, and unpretentious. Ingredients are sourced locally whenever possible, and its dishes are prepared simply to highlight regional flavors.

Carpenters Hall's beverage program is designed with the same ethos; a concise wine list highlights natural and low-intervention wines from around the world, selected for their simplicity, accessibility and affordability. The cocktail menu offers a full spectrum of drinks—from "porch pounders" to "nightcaps"—that celebrate seasonal ingredients.