Skip to content
Contact Latest News

So far in 2025…

McKinney York Architects is recognized by the Zweig Group as one of the Best Firms to Work For 2025!

 

Austin ISD Sánchez Elementary School featured on America ByDesign!

Writer’s Retreat wins HBA Max Award for Custom Home/Project Design, 2025!

Bookshelf's surrounding the central window of a white room.

Texas Facilities Commission, Groundbreaking for a new Archival and Records Storage Facility

St. Julian of Norwich Parish Hall wins Outstanding Construction Award, Associated General Contractors’, 2024!

We are excited to announce the elevation of Navvab Taylor, AIA, RID, LEED AP BD+C to Associate Principal and Lauren Gamboa to Associate. Navvab exhibits design excellence and employs strong communication and project management skills to build and maintain rewarding client relationships. She is a champion for sustainable design and will serve as the firm’s Sustainability Leader, working collaboratively with clients to develop environmentally responsible solutions and ensuring the firm’s practices align with rigorous standards. Lauren demonstrates skillful management of the marketing department and a remarkable ability to execute with precision, creativity, and efficiency. Her expertise and attention to detail has driven successful campaigns and streamlined the firm’s marketing processes. We value the leadership and knowledge of these team members and are thrilled to spotlight their advancement!

Looking Back at 2024…

AIA Austin WiA Profiles 2024 featuring our Associate Navvab Taylor!

Hogg Memorial Auditorium achieves LEED Platinum Certification!

View along curved rows of seats in an auditorium, facing a series of windows.

AISD Sánchez Elementary School wins TxA Design Award 2024!

straight on view of stairway that also functions as a social gathering space in elementary school, books are displayed on the levels and children and teachers are in the foreground

Comedor wins AIA Austin Design Award of Merit 2024!

People seated at bar and high tables of a nice restaurant.

River Ranch County Park wins a Texas Travel Award  and gets featured in Parks and Recreation Business Magazine! Have you been there yet?

Outdoor pavilion in a field of wildflowers.

 

Back to Top

Comedor

scroll View Project Description
  • People seated at bar and high tables of a nice restaurant.
  • Industrial garage door crank system.
  • Central dining room of a restaurant .
  • lit candles in a dark metal room.
  • Up close glass brick wall.
  • View of black wall from sidewalk.
  • An outdoor patio and dining area of a restaurant.
  • Black exteriors of two floors building downtown.

This Restuarant was recognized by AIA Austin in 2024 with a Design Award of Merit.

“I really admire the austerity of Comedor in its form and building materials. There is clarity to it, there’s discipline to it. The detailing is exquisite, as you walk into the main dining area on the one side has totally open to this inner courtyard, which really had the sense of discovery and delight, and that’s something we felt is very special about this project.”

– Casey Huang, AIA

Project Details

The design for this modern Mexican restaurant in downtown Austin establishes a protected urban sanctuary for Comedor’s progressive dining experience. Located on Fifth and Colorado, a busy intersection in Austin’s central business district, the new building takes a strong corner position to leave space for a protected open-air inner courtyard.

Quiet from the outside, inside visitors are transported to an urban oasis in the heart of Austin. A façade of dark brick interspersed with glass brick glows at night, piquing curiosity from the street, while screening interior spaces from direct view. The heart of Comedor is the interior courtyard which contains Palo Verde and Acacia trees and a small fountain. Over one-hundred-year-old exposed brick from the adjacent historical McGarrah Jessee Building lends texture and context to the courtyard, which opens to the elements to take advantage of Austin’s climate. The interior double-height, glass-wrapped dining space adjoins to the courtyard via four retractable guillotine window walls operated by hand cranks, allowing Comedor to open completely to the outdoors.

McKinney York Architects worked as architect of record in collaboration with design architect Olson Kundig.

Recognition

  • AIA Austin Design Award for Merit, 2024
  • LIV Hospitality Design Awards, Architectural Design of the Year – Eating Space, 2022
  • The Architect’s Newspaper Awards, Honorable Mention: Commercial Hospitality, 2020
  • The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, American Architecture Award, 2022

Publications

  • Global Design News, Seattle-based Olson Kundig’s Comedor Restaurant structure is an urban oasis with its atrium protecting its visitors in this bustling Austin area, Jan 2023

You Are Exiting Our Website

McKinney York Architects is committed to making our website accessible to all individuals with disabilities. Our website may link to or incorporate third-party websites and resources which are not owned or controlled by McKinney York Architects. McKinney York Architects is not responsible for the accessibility of third-party content, and we shall not be liable if the content is inaccessible to individuals with disabilities.

Proceed to External Website Return to MckinneyYork.com