Chapter 9. SAN ANTONIO RIVER WALK  

The San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río) is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath the streets of Downtown San Antonio. The River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist destination lined with taverns, shops and restaurants.

The River Walk winds and loops connecting major tourist attractions from the Alamo to the Rivercenter Mall, Arneson River Theatre to La Villita, HemisFair Park, Tower Life Building, San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Pearl Brewery. The River Walk is an enormously successful pedestrian street that has maintained and integrated new construction by addressing architectural character, mass and scale, height, materials, and façade composition to the existing River Walk fabric. Additional River Improvement Overlay District-3 characteristics can be found in the Unified Development Code (Chapter 35 Section 670.)

General Goals along the River Walk

• Encourage high-density, mixed-use developments as extensions of the downtown core.

• Extend the urban character of downtown, as perceived from a river perspective, throughout so that it becomes a high density, mixed-use area.

• Encourage neighborhood and cultural tourism-oriented uses, as well as those that provide additional housing for downtown workers.

• Link the public River Walk with street edges to maintain adequate pedestrian circulation and views of both the street and the river.

• Maximize usable open space to provide opportunities for passive recreation and community gathering.

• Enhance the pedestrian experience with high-quality building features that include balconies facing the river and primary entrances facing the street.

• Design buildings to maintain a human scale.

• Ensure proper solar access on the River Walk.

• Encourage the reuse of existing buildings and design new innovative solutions that enhance the area, and help establish distinct identities.

• When a new building is constructed, it will be designed in a manner that reinforces the basic character-defining features of the area.

A. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

The objective for architectural design along the River Walk is to encourage new infill construction through innovative designs that enhance the area, and help to establish distinct identities for each of the zone districts.

1.

When a property is situated in such a manner as to appear to be the terminus at the end of a street or at a prominent curve in the river, the building shall incorporate into its design an architectural feature that will provide a focal point at the end of the view.

2.

Buildings should be sited to help define active spaces for area users, between sites, help animate the streetscape and define street edges.

B. MASS AND SCALE

All buildings should appear to have a "human scale", by using familiar forms and elements interpreted in human dimensions. Exterior wall designs help pedestrians establish a sense of scale with relation to each building. Articulating the number of floors in a building can help to establish a building's scale.

1.

Treatment of architectural facades shall contain a discernable pattern of mass to void, or windows and doors to solid walls. Openings shall appear in a regular pattern, or be clustered to form a cohesive design. Architectural elements such as columns, lintels, sills, canopies, windows and doors shall align with other architectural features on the adjacent facades.

2.

Align at least one (1) horizontal building element with another horizontal building element on the same block face. It will be considered to be within alignment if it is within three (3) feet, measured vertically, of the existing architectural element.

3.

Building massing shall be so designed as to provide direct sunlight to vegetation in the river channel.

4.

Develop the river floor of the building as primarily transparent. The building facade facing the river shall have at least 50 percent of the river level facade area devoted to display windows and/or windows affording some view into the interior areas. Multi-family residential buildings with no retail or office space are exempt from this guideline.

5.

Where a building facade faces the street or river and exceeds the maximum facade length allowed in River Improvement Overlay Districts (RIO) RIO-3, 30 foot length divide the facade of building into modules that express traditional dimensions by changing:

a.

Materials with each building module to reduce its perceived mass.

b.

The height with each building module of a wall plane.

c.

The roof form of each building module to help express the different modules of the building mass.

d.

The arrangement of windows and other facade articulation features, such as, columns, pilasters or strap work, which divides large planes into smaller components.

6.

Express the distinction between upper and lower floors.

C. HEIGHT

Building heights vary along the River Walk, from one-story houses to high-rise hotels and apartments. Within each zone, a general similarity in building heights should be encouraged in order to help establish a sense of visual continuity. In addition, building heights will be configured such that a comfortable human scale is established along the edges of properties and views to the river and other significant landmarks are provided while allowing the appropriate density for an area.

1.

No height limits in RIO-3.

2.

Organize the mass of a building to provide solar access to the river:

a.

One method of doing so is to step the building down toward the river when it is located in a position that would cast a shadow there.

b.

Another method is to set the building back from the river a distance sufficient to avoid shading the water.

3.

Designation of a development node provides for the ability to increase the building height by fifty (50) percent from the RIO requirements.

4.

Solar access standards for the River Walk can be found in the Unified Development Code (Chapter 35 subsection 673(a)).

D. MATERIALS AND FINISHES

Masonry materials are well established as the primary features along the River Walk and their use should be continued. Stucco that is detailed to provide a texture and pattern, which conveys a human scale, is also part of the tradition. In general, materials and finishes that provide a sense of human scale reduce the perceived mass of a building and appear to blend with the natural setting of the river should be used.

1.

Utilize local materials and traditional building materials for primary wall surfaces. A minimum of seventy-five (75) percent of walls (excluding window fenestrations) must be composed of the following:

a.

Modular masonry materials including brick, stone, and rusticated masonry block, tile, terra-cotta, structural clay tile and cast stone. Concrete masonry units (CMU) are not allowed as a finished material.

b.

Other new materials that convey the texture, scale, and finish similar to traditional building materials.

c.

Stucco and painted concrete when detailed to express visual interest and convey a sense of scale.

d.

Painted or stained wood in a lap or shingle pattern.

2.

The following materials are not permitted as primary building materials and may be used as a secondary material only:

a.

Large expanses of high gloss or shiny metal panels.

b.

Mirror glass panels. Glass curtain wall buildings are allowed in RIO-3 as long as the river and street levels comply with statement 1 above.

c.

Chain link fences are not allowed on properties abutting the river.

3.

The use of decorative surfaces for paving and other landscape structures is a defining element along the River Walk. Paving materials and patterns should be carefully chosen to preserve and enhance the pedestrian experience.

4.

Paint or Finish Colors:

a.

Use historic colors of indigenous building materials for properties that abut the Riverwalk area.

b.

Use matte finishes instead of high glossy finishes on wall surfaces. Wood trim and metal trim may be painted with gloss enamel.

c.

Bright colors may highlight entrances or architectural features.

E. FACADE COMPOSITION

Traditionally, many commercial and multi family buildings in the core of downtown San Antonio have had facade designs that are organized into three (3) distinct segments: First, a "base" exists, which establishes a scale at the river level; second a "mid-section", or shaft is used, which may include several floors. Finally a "cap" finishes the composition. The cap may take the form of an ornamental roof form or decorative molding and may also include the top floors of the building. This organization helps to give a sense of scale to a building and its use is encouraged.

Street Facade

1.

Street Building façades that are taller than the street wall (60 feet) shall be articulated at the top of the street wall or stepped back in order to maintain the rhythm of the street wall.

2.

Roof forms shall be used to conceal all mechanical equipment and to add architectural interest to the structure.

3.

High rise buildings, more than 100 feet tall, shall terminate with a distinctive top or cap. This can be accomplished by:

a.

Reducing the bulk of the top 20 percent of the building by 10 percent.

b.

By stepping back the top 20 percent of the building.

c.

Changing the material of the cap.

4.

Buildings should be composed to include a base, middle and a cap.

5.

Roof surfaces should include strategies to reduce heat island effects such as use of green roofs, photo voltaic panels, and/or the use of roof materials with high solar reflectivity.

Fenestration

6.

Windows shall be recessed at least 2 inches within solid walls (not part of a curtain wall system).

7.

Windows shall be used in hierarchy to articulate features on the façade and grouped to establish rhythms.

8.

Curtain wall systems shall be designed with modulating features such as projecting horizontal and/or vertical mullions.

9.

Windows should relate in design and scale to the spaces behind them.

Storefront Entrances

10.

Entrances shall be equally prominent on the street side as on the river side.

11.

Entrances shall be placed so as to be highly visible.

12.

Entrances shall have a change in material and/or wall plane.

13.

Secondary entrances shall have architectural features that are subordinate to the primary entrance in scale and detail.

14.

Entrances should not use excessive storefront systems.

15.

Any project along the river should employ a public lateral access at street level in addition to the River Walk level as seen in Figure 9.9.

Riverside Façade

16.

Stone detailing shall be rough hewn, and chiseled faced. Smooth faced stone is not desirable as the primary building material, but can be used as accent pieces.

17.

Facades on the riverside shall be asymmetrical, pedestrian scale, and not give the appearance of the "back of a building" but designed with simpler details, and appear less formal than the street facades.

18.

If awnings, arcades and canopies are to be used they should accentuate the character-defining features of a building.

19.

The awning, arcade or canopy shall be located in relationship to the openings of a building. That is, if there are a series of awnings or canopies, they shall be located at the window or door openings.

20.

The maximum wall plane length within RIO-3 shall be 30 feet and buildings shall employ at least two of the following techniques:

a.

Change materials with each building module to reduce the perceived mass; or

b.

Change the height of a wall plane or building module. The change in height shall be at least 10 percent of the vertical height; or

c.

Change roof form to help express the different modules of the building mass; or

d.

Change the arrangement of windows and other façade articulation features, such as columns or strap work, which divides large wall planes into smaller components.

Automobile Access and Parking

21.

Locate parking areas that are off-street, ground level surface used to park cars or any parking structure, toward the interior of the site or to the side or rear of a building.

22.

Parking lots should be avoided as a primary land use. Parking lots as a primary use are prohibited in RIO 3 and for all properties that fall within 100 feet of the river right-of-way in all RIO districts.

23.

Curb cuts may be no wider than twenty five (25). Continuous curb cuts are prohibited.

24.

Parking garages should have retail space on the ground or river floor provided the retail space has at least fifty (50) percent of its linear street frontage as display windows. Parking structures may be made visually appealing with a mural or public art component approved by the HDRC on the parking structure.

F. SITE AND LANDSCAPE

1.

Minimize the potential for erosion at the Riverbank. Grade slopes at a stable angle not to exceed 4:1 and provide plant material that will stabilize the soil such as vigorous ground covers, vines or turf planting that are native and noninvasive species as found on the permissible plant list maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department.

2.

Where above ground storm water management facilities are required, such facilities shall be multi-purpose amenities. For example, water quality may be included as part of a hardscape patio.

3.

Site lighting shall be shielded by permanent attachments to light fixtures so that the light sources are not visible from a public way and any offsite glare is prevented.

4.

Outdoor spaces adjoining and visible from the river right-of-way shall have average ambient light levels of between one (1) and three (3) foot-candles with a minimum of 0.5-foot-candles and a maximum of six (6) foot-candles at any point measured on the ground plane. Interior spaces visible from the river right-of-way on the river level and ground floor level shall use light sources with no more than the equivalent lumens of a one hundred-watt incandescent bulb. Exterior balconies, porches and canopies adjoining and visible from the river right-of-way shall use light sources with the equivalent lumens of a sixty-watt incandescent bulb with average ambient light levels no greater than the lumen output of a one hundred-watt incandescent light bulb as long as average foot candle standards are not exceeded. Accent lighting of landscape or building features including specimen plants, gates, entries, water features, art work, stairs, and ramps may exceed these standards by a multiple of 2.5. Recreational fields and activity areas that require higher light levels must be screened from the river hike and bike pathways with a landscape buffer.

5.

When the topography of the site exceeds a four to one (4:1) slope and it becomes necessary to use a masonry wall as part of the detention/retention area, use a textured surface and incorporate plant materials from the plant list maintained by the Parks Department.

6.

Paving materials and patterns should be carefully chosen to preserve and enhance the pedestrian experience. Pervious paving is encouraged where feasible and appropriate to the site.

7.

Site lighting should be considered an integral element of the landscape design of a property. It should help define activity areas and provide interest at night. At the same time, lighting should facilitate safe and convenient circulation for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. Overspill of light and light pollution should be avoided.

8.

The position of a lamp in a pedestrian-way light should not exceed fifteen (15) feet in height above the ground.

9.

Minimize the visual impacts of lighting in parking areas in order to enhance the perception of the nighttime sky and to prevent glare onto adjacent properties.

10.

Service areas and mechanical equipment should be visually unobtrusive and should be integrated with the design of the site and building. Noise generated from mechanical equipment should not exceed city noise regulations.

G. SIGNAGE

1.

All signs within the downtown "D" district shall conform to all City codes and must have recommendation of the DPCD and HDRC prior to approval.

2.

Permits must be obtained following approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness.

3.

No sign shall be painted, constructed, erected, remodeled, refaced, relocated, expanded or otherwise altered until it has been approved and a permit has been obtained from the Development Services Department in accordance with the provisions of this section and applicable city code provisions.

4.

All graphic elements shall reinforce the architectural integrity of any building.

5.

Freestanding signs are allowed, provided the sign does not interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic. Freestanding signs shall be perpendicular to the street, two sided and no taller than six (6) feet. Freestanding signs shall not be located in the right-of-way.

6.

For all signage, signage width and height must be in proportion to the facade, respecting the size, scale and mass of the facade, building height, and rhythms and sizes of window and door openings. The building façade shall be considered as part of an overall sign program but the sign shall be subordinate to the overall building composition.