Fellow Profile
Michael Gatto
“Because I was able to enhance the quality of life for Austin’s low- and moderate-income communities, my experience at Foundation Communities as a Rose Fellow was incredibly rewarding. It was an invaluable learning experience. I now understand the interrelated roles of design and development in providing affordable housing and resident services.”
— Michael Gatto
Fellowship Host:
Foundation Communities
Austin, TX
Caring for people and caring for the environment are one in the same for Michael Gatto. Michael put that belief to work during his Rose Fellowship with Foundation Communities, as he collaborated with the design and development team to create four community learning centers and 140 units of single-room occupancy (SRO) supportive housing.
Michaels cites the Spring Terrace SRO conversion as his most significant project. Funded in part by an Enterprise Green Communities grant, Spring Terrace was the adaptive re-use of an extended stay hotel into efficiency apartments for single adults. Also at the top of his achievement list is the Vintage Creek Community Learning Center, a 5000-square-foot facility that is now home to after-school and summer programs for resident children, as well as adult education classes.
For Michael however, his proudest accomplishment is the fact that Foundation Communities has adopted green building practices and process. As a result the agency earned a 2-star rating and a $4,000 sustainability bonus from the City of Austin’s Green Building Program for the Vintage Creek Learning Center. Its new approach has also helped it secure grants specifically for green building from national and local foundations.
Michael is president and founder of the new, non-profit Austin Community Design and Development Center (ACDDC). A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a B. S. in Chemical Engineering, he holds a Master of Architecture degree from University of Texas at Austin.
Gallery
(hover over image to zoom)
Michael Gatto
Peters Colony Learning Center Grand Opening.
Spring Terrace SRO Grand Opening (that’s me on the left and that’s our executive director, Walter Moreau, at the podium).
Vintage Creek Learning Center Design Team (that’s me, intern architect, on the left and Architect, John Rickard, in red).
Shadow Brook Youth Learning Center Grand Opening (that’s executive director, Walter Moreau, with the microphone).
Vintage Creek Learning Center Ground Breaking (I’m on the right).
Party to celebrate the ground breaking of the Vintage Creek Learning Center. This was also the last day to use the pool, which was then demolished.
Spring Terrace SRO Grand Opening (this is a photograph of me (in the blue shirt) with my wife, Michelle, on my right and the general contractor and project manager on my left).
Spring Terrace SRO Courtyard.
Vintage Creek Learning Center South Façade.
