Frost Tower heralds an exciting revitalization in San Antonio

San Antonio, TX, USA

At the center of the blossoming Central Business District, the 400-foot tall, 23-story Frost Tower strikes a distinctive silhouette on the San Antonio skyline. The first new tower in San Antonio in nearly 30 years, the transformative building symbolizes the city’s desire to embrace modern architecture in an iconic urban core. 

Frost Tower is a monumental addition to San Antonio, marking the 150th anniversary of Frost Bank and the 300th of San Antonio. 
“Pelli Clarke & Partners are among the best at context. This skyline is diverse and what they did was craft a beautiful, iconic building without it being like everything else.”
— Former San Antonio City Councilman Roberto Treviño
The crown adorning the top is illuminated at night with LED pin-striping, offering a unique visual for the city of San Antonio and evoking Frost Bank’s esteemed presence. 

Innovation drives unique design solutions

The tower’s octagonal form utilizes shimmering glass facets to reduce the bulk of massing and implies a spiral movement upward to an integrated crown. Its form tapers to enhance the perceived height of the tower and its highly efficient octagon plan allows for flexibility as office needs evolve over time. The crown adorning the top will be luminous at night with LED pin-striping at the edges of the skin, offering a unique visual for the city of San Antonio and marking Frost Bank’s presence, a key tenant occupying the first 15 floors of the 460,000 square foot, class-A office tower.  

The base of the building is clad in transparent glass, allowing the lobby, retail bank, and commercial retail at street-level to be viewed as a glassy pavilion within a park. 

Lush landscape unique to San Antonio

The base of the building is enveloped in glass with a lobby, commercial retail, and dining, allowing it to be viewed as a translucent pavilion within a park. Surrounding the base is a shaded landscaped lined pathway with preserved oak trees originally planted in the 1970s. The lush greenery harmonizes with its surroundings, blending the urban commercial and retail development with its adjacent natural environments, such as San Pedro Creek, the River Walk, and nearby parks. 

The location of Frost Tower toward the middle of the famous San Antonio River Walk enables employees and guests of the building to explore the historic city’s diverse offerings.   

Inspiring new community spaces with a street-level focus

Bounded by public space on three sides – a park to the east, the significant allée of live oaks on Houston Street and San Pedro Creek on the west – the 31,000 square feet of street retail create active connections to each space, positioning Frost Tower as a high-end office experience that mixes with a vibrant, walkable urban environment to create a unique workplace in the heart of San Antonio.  

More About the Project

Principal Collaborators

  • Architect of Record: Kendall/Heaton Associates
  • Structural Engineer: Brockette/Davis/Drake, Inc.
  • MEP: Blum Consulting Engineers

Project Information

  • Location: San Antonio, Texas
  • Client: Weston Urban and KDC
  • Size: 460,000 sq. ft. / 80,400 sq. m.
  • Completion: 2019
  • Certification: LEED Silver
  • Firm Role: Design Architect

Awards

  • 2019, Best Project Office/Retail/Mixed Use Category, ENR Texas
  • 2019, Best Project Office/Retail/Mixed Use Category, ENR Louisiana
  • Project Photography: Jason O'Rear and Jeff Goldberg/ESTO