On the plus side, the renovation and expansion of the Austin Convention Center resulted in a near doubling of the facility's meeting and exhibit space. On the down side, it made finding an empty parking spot in the downtown area a lot more difficult. As a solution to that problem, Barnes Cromatzky Kosarek Architects of Austin suggested linking the construction of a new five-story, 685-space parking garage with a cooling plant project already in the works. Functionally, the two projects were about as different as they could be. But visually, they are completely compatible thanks to the inclusion of brick, concrete and architectural metal mesh in their construction. "The metal fabric brings the two buildings together, but still gives each its own identity," says Carl Cromatzky, a partner at BGKA.
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