Civil Engineering Beneath a Landmark
Some buildings announce themselves before you ever walk inside. Ruby City, the award-winning contemporary art center on San Antonio’s Southside designed by Sir David Adjaye, is one of them. Born from a dream sketch by the late philanthropist and artist Linda Pace, the 14,000-square-foot museum is clad in red precast concrete embedded with glass and mica that shimmers under the Texas sun. It houses nearly 800 works of contemporary art and has been recognized by Time Magazine, the Chicago Athenaeum, and Wallpaper* Design Awards since opening in 2019. Free and open to the public, Ruby City is exactly what Pace envisioned: a gift to San Antonio’s creative community.
Our team served as civil engineer for the development, preparing civil plans that included schematic design, grading, utility, and paving plans. We developed a stormwater management plan, a stormwater pollution prevention plan, and a traffic impact analysis report, and assisted the project team in compiling a complete building permit package. Preliminary fieldwork included staking proposed boring locations for the geotechnical consultant.
Building Next to the Creek, Building Within the Rules
The site’s proximity to San Pedro Creek, now home to the San Pedro Creek Culture Park that weaves directly into Ruby City’s red plaza, required both pre- and post-construction floodplain development permits from the City. Our team prepared and secured those permits, ensuring regulatory compliance while supporting the timely advancement of a project where architecture, art, and public space were inseparable.
When a building this significant is rising on a site this sensitive, the civil work has to be invisible and flawless. That was the standard, and that’s what we delivered.