The building’s envelope intensifies exchanges between the city and Arthouse. The entry lounge is wrapped in glass, maximizing sidewalk exposure and allowing glimpses into both floors of galleries. The 1950s awning is functionally enhanced by not only creating shade and capturing sidewalk territory outside, but also extending into the building in which visitors enter Arthouse beneath its name. The southern and eastern elevations are perforated by 177 glass blocks, which are lodged in the existing masonry. The quantity of perforations is increased where more light is needed—offices, studios, meeting rooms—and decreased where light is less desired, as in the galleries and lecture room. The central stair provides the primary spatial connection between the entry lobby and the second-floor gallery. Its lower three treads are cast-in-place concrete while the upper twenty-one ipe treads are suspended from above, connected visually and physically to a skylight in the roof deck. In the main gallery, a thirteen-foot-high by fifty-five-foot-long wall is suspended from I-beams that were required to stiffen the bottom chords of the existing steel trusses. Using motorized trollies, the gallery can be quickly reconfigured from a single space that reveals the textured southern wall to a more conventional white wall gallery. The roof deck is constructed as a large, integrated piece of millwork, with benches that morph into a vertical enclosure, defining a space for gathering. The deck can host a range of events, from outdoor film screening and music performances to informal dinners and formal weddings, all outside yet embedded within the heart of downtown Austin. ​