At the confluence of the San Pedro Creek and San Antonio River just south of downtown, a sculptural new pavilion is rising from the banks. Commissioned by the nonprofit San Antonio River Foundation (SARF) and slated to open at the end of 2017, the threeacre Confluence Park will serve as an educational outpost for teaching schoolchildren about the watershed, and as a recreational facility for the wider community. The total project budget of $12.8 million, raised primarily through private donors but with some public funding, includes a maintenance and education endowment, which—in response to local educators’ needs—will allow for transportation for students to and from the park.

Local architectural firm Lake|Flato was selected for the project in 2014 and engaged Andrew Kudless of San Francisco–based office Matsys—known for its work in material research and computational design—to consult on the pavilion. “Andrew’s work is formally much different from that of our firm, but it’s not form for the sake of form,” says Lake|Flato associate partner Tenna Florian. Kudless developed a scheme for a 30-foot-high canopy of enormous cast-on-site concrete panels that will capture and funnel rainwater into a 100,000-gallon underground storage tank, to be used later for irrigation and toilets. The park will also include a classroom building, native-plant gardens designed by Rialto Studio, and a bike-share station.