The Cypress Lounge at Frost Bank Tower in San Antonio began with a phone call from architect Michael Imber. The building's developer, who had commissioned Imber to design his own home, wanted a tenant amenity lounge that felt nothing like a corporate amenity space. Imber called Cravotta. "I don't really do this kind of thing," he said, "but if you'll do it with me, I'll say yes." What followed was a collaboration that neither would have arrived at alone.

The sinker cypress that defines the space comes from logs that spent over a hundred years on the bed of Texas rivers after falling from logging barges. Absorbing minerals over decades, the wood developed a greenish cast before being recovered and milled. It is structural and atmospheric, a material with a full history embedded in its grain.

Every piece of art was sourced from San Antonio artists. The developer wanted his tenants to feel at home. They do.

Featured in Hive and AWI Design Solutions.

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