Waterline Part 2: The Integrated Systems Behind a Mixed-Use Megajob

In Part 1, we looked at the partnership that made Waterline's scale manageable. In Part 2, we go inside the systems that make the 74-story tower work for the people who use it every day.

Take a look:

Three worlds in one tower:

Waterline's hotel, office, and residences share one structure, but each runs on its own. For our systems team, that meant keeping them separate while making every space feel seamless.

"...even though it's one large building, we have three different areas in the building, and they don't talk to each other at all. And in the systems perspective, that means a lot of integration and a lot of programming... customers only see their portion of the building, but we see all of it." – Aneudys Vargas Guzman, Low Voltage Senior Project Manager, Power Design

The scope:

Our systems scope on Waterline covered access control, CCTV, audiovisual, security and burglar alarm, plus a large Lutron lighting control system, all integrated across the building. Our teams pulled more than 196 miles of structured cable on the systems side alone.

Complex behind the walls, simple for the user:

For residents, the experience starts at the parking garage and runs through their home floor and the residents-only amenity levels.

"I mean, access points to the building are definitely complex... the building itself is very complex. So, pulling into the parking garage, going into the level that they live on and enjoying the amenity spaces." – Denise Bodman, Senior General Manager, Bosque Residences at Waterline

The goal is for none of that complexity to show.

"...you should be able to get into an area and flawlessly go through access control. You should be able to keep security through the cameras, hear the music through the AV, but you don't know anything that's happening behind." – Aneudys Vargas Guzman, Low Voltage Senior Project Manager, Power Design

Lighting controls everywhere:

The project was awarded as the largest Lutron scope project in the country.

"There's lighting controls everywhere, and that's going to be, you can find them everywhere in the garages, in the back of house, in the amenities, everywhere in this building." – Aneudys Vargas Guzman, Low Voltage Senior Project Manager, Power Design

Those controls help keep the building energy efficient as it works toward LEED certification. They also depend on every trade lining up.

"...you cannot have a successful lighting control system without having all those parts integrated and flawlessly working together." – Aneudys Vargas Guzman, Low Voltage Senior Project Manager, Power Design

Technology as the experience:

For Bosque Residences, systems aren't background. They shape how residents feel, down to a curated playlist in each amenity space played through the AV system.

"Technology is just the backbone of what we do. It's really each space is curated specifically for that space and really tapping into those senses... So everything needs to look good, sound good and smell good." – Denise Bodman, Senior General Manager, Bosque Residences at Waterline

Service after turnover:

Our work didn't stop at handoff. When the property team needed help programming resident fobs ahead of the first move-in, our technicians were there.

"The Power Design team's been fantastic. I honestly have needed some help and they really stepped in and helped out with their responsiveness, their service, their communication. It's all the things that we look for." – Denise Bodman, Senior General Manager, Bosque Residences at Waterline

And with an early TCO, residents moved in sooner than planned.

"...it allowed us to move people in sooner, right? So the efficiency and the timeliness that was important to us for our residents, it's given us that opportunity to move people in and create the experience that we wanted to create for our residents sooner rather than later." – Denise Bodman, Senior General Manager, Bosque Residences at Waterline

Aneudys summed up the goal: "...we want to make sure our partners understand that we do it all and we do it right."

Up next in Part 3: the fixture package that brings Waterline to light.