Construction is slow. Developers can’t get loans to start new projects. It’s the recession of 2010, and there’s just not much on the drawing board right now.

So what’s an architect to do?

For starters, try to conquer a niche like Houston architect Scott Ziegler of Ziegler Cooper Architects. If Ziegler isn’t king of the Texas condo tower scene right now, he’s at least the crown prince.

Illuminating Kirby Drive

Ziegler designed the new 2727 Kirby residential tower, a 30-story building just south of Westheimer near some of Houston’s finest neighborhoods. The 400-foot-tall residential tower, which opened last year, was developed by Michael Atlas.

“Michael Atlas had a vision to create the most luxurious, prestigious living address in the city of Houston,” Ziegler says. “He didn’t want it stodgy. He wanted it fresh, modern and contemporary. Atlas wanted the building to have a skyline presence and to become the focal point for the Upper Kirby District. How can we do that? You need to have a bold form. We created the sloping wall that leans out into Kirby Drive.”

With 2727 Kirby, Ziegler was mindful of incorporating into his design the amenities – places for climate-controlled wine storage, a knock-out rooftop swimming pool and such – that were in line with the developer’s marketing schemes.

“The stance that many of the other developers have taken is that condominiums apartments are for retired people,” Ziegler says. “Well, Michael Atlas didn’t believe that. He said there are a lot of people coming in from out of town who are used to apartment living in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. And they want to see this as a lifestyle building of convenience, full of amenities.”

Along the way, the 2727 Kirby tower contributed to the rebirth that is transforming Kirby Drive into an appealing corridor.

While working on 2727 Kirby, Ziegler was also keeping busy with some other residential projects around town. His firm conceived the design for Highland Tower, a new residential tower that is opening soon near Highland Village. And there was the eight-story Gables Memorial Hills apartment building in the Jackson Hill area near Waugh Drive. Projects like this weren’t always making front page news, but they generated significant revenues.

A Taste of Texas

Elsewhere in Texas, Ziegler is kicking butt.

In downtown Austin, Ziegler landed the contract for The Austonian. It’s no ordinary residential building. The Austonian, topping out at 60 stories if you count the mechanical levels on top, will be the tallest residential building in Texas when it opens this summer. It’s the tallest west of the Mississippi River, too.

Beating out some of the biggest brand names in architecture, including Cesar Pelli and I.M. Pei, the developer selected Ziegler’s proposed design of an oval shaped tower crowned with a lantern element that is visible for miles. Located on Congress Avenue near Austin’s emerging Second Street entertainment and retail district, The Austonian developers were proud of the site from the beginning.

“They said they had the No. 1 address in Texas,” Ziegler says. “And they didn’t want to under-build it.”

So Ziegler cranked out The Austonian, joining in the fray of Austin’s downtown boom. Residential buildings have been popping up all over, like mushrooms, as developers pursued former mayor Will Wynn’s vision to build 25,000 downtown residential units within 10 years.

It’s heady competition. A couple of blocks away, the Michael Graves designed Four Seasons condo tower is under construction, and there’s lots of other new urban residential projects.

Ziegler also ventured into San Antonio to make news. A new 20-story project called The Broadway is San Antonio’s first residential tower to be built in the Alamo City in about 20 years. The Broadway, developed by Koontz McCombs, is located at Broadway and Hildebrand, near San Antonio’s most prestigious neighborhoods and country club.

The Lord’s Work

While the condo biz was raging, Ziegler also was breaking into a new line of business that has provided sustaining strength during the recession – churches.

Ziegler designed the elaborate Catholic Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston. Cardinals and bishops from around the world came to Houston for the dedication in April 2008.

“For me, it was a life changing project,” Ziegler says. “The importance of this to the Catholic Church, it was an enormous responsibility when you think about what you are designing and how long it’s going to be there. We were asked to design for a 500-year planning horizon.”

The Co-Cathedral was a blessing to Ziegler Cooper, which is feeling the bite of the recession.

“The cathedral opened our eyes to an area which we hadn’t served, which was worship places,” Ziegler says. “We have 10 church projects we are working on. It’s a great niche. The church work is something to carry us through the recession.”

So as the high-rise residential work has dwindled – and it really has – Ziegler Cooper turned to churches, schools, colleges and projects for corporations that aren’t dependent on lender’s construction loans.

Business is still down from what it used to be, but it’s been growing again at Ziegler Cooper.

“We are really proud. We didn’t really layoff any staff to speak of,” Ziegler says. “We did go through some shorter work weeks to help our cash flow. But that’s over. We’re back. And we are actually looking at resumes again.”

Ralph Bivins, former president of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, is editor-in-chief of realtynewsreport.com.