Prolific texas philanthropists Mickey and Jeanne Klein are also avid art collectors — meaning these are folks who appreciate a creative concept. So when they approached Lake Flato (the same San Antonio–based firm that designed their house) with a simple enough ask — two beloved long-time employees wanted to relocate from Midland to Marble Falls and needed an office from which to run the Kleins’ day-to-day business — there was an implicit understanding that the project had the potential to become more than just a place for paperclips.

1

The Brief

Ted Flato, the architecture firm’s partner and founder, working alongside Grace Boudewyns, a senior associate and lead designer on the project, suggested looking for a site in the walkable, boutique-filled heart of town. (Marble Falls is a day-trip destination on a sparkling crystal lake located about an hour outside Austin.) It was over lunch at the circa-1929 Blue Bonnet Cafe — a mecca for pie lovers — that a plan started to take shape. What if the Kleins could share their world-class art in an inviting space open to the community? “You can only do that with long-term clients, where there’s a lot of trust and mutual respect,” Flato says of the project’s evolution. Soon, an office brief became a 372-square-metre gallery building called Arthouse — still with a private workspace, now tucked away on a second level.

2

The Site

With the help of a local contractor, the team secured a compact infill site on Main Street, right next to a post office built in 1910. While the relatively narrow site posed design challenges around accessibility, the long-enduring post office made a helpful reference point for scale. Lake Flato drew further inspiration from design elements and materials common to this part of Texas Hill Country: stone facades, metal roofs, and porches that open a place up to the whole town.

3

The Design

From the street, Arthouse feels clean and serene, like a big alabaster box. “We knew the building wanted to have a quiet elegance, to support the beautiful art that was going to go in the space,” Boudewyns says. Honed Lueders limestone, sourced from a quarry about three hours north, lends an unmistakably Texan character, while off-the-shelf metal siding (used as both cladding and, less conventionally, as an evocative architectural awning) reinforces a sense of approachability. For another inviting touch, the team worked with Sadafumi Uchiyama, curator emeritus of Portland Japanese Garden, to envision a petite Japanese-style courtyard, about 4.5 metres deep, on the other side of the pivoting front door. Functioning like an anteroom, it transitions visitors from the buzzing downtown into a peaceful artistic experience. Black basalt stones were carefully laid in the ground, introducing a splash of contrast among the ubiquitous lighter tones. The courtyard also set the building farther back on the site, thus avoiding an incongruous two-storey facade on Main Street.

4

The Details

Inside, the Kleins asked for a simple, open gallery. Downstairs is awash in white-painted surfaces, with plain metal trusses but otherwise few adornments. A large movable showcase wall in the middle of the space allows for easy layout changes when exhibits rotate out. To make the art pop, natural light pours in through a skylight that runs the length of the ceiling. Lake Flato carefully considered the frit applied to the glass, getting the proper diffusion effect to avoid harsh shadows. In another smart solar strategy, the second-floor private workspace (with floors and cabinetry in matching oak) is set back under a shady overhang.

5

The Scene

All the works in Arthouse’s inaugural exhibit, “Words Matter,” play with text in their composition. The Kleins treat every piece on display like a memento from an old friend. Works by Ed Ruscha and Terry Allen trigger first-name-basis stories from Mickey. A colourful blanket made by Jeffrey Gibson that hangs near the back of the gallery usually sits on the Kleins’ bed. “The great architecture makes the art look better,” Jeanne Klein says, “and the great art makes the architecture look better.”