Austin Tunnell

📣 Huge news! We are launching a workspace for entrepreneurs, freelancers, client facing professionals and small teams—every detail designed, built, finished and managed by us. No more florescent lights! No more mini golf as an “amenity”! Just beautiful, intentional space—for deep focus, creative collisions, and being surrounded by people who actually care about their work. Coming in 2026 to downtown Edmond, OK, for our first location. Would you work here?!

Well folks: we passed City Council unanimously last night for our 1-acre infill Townsend project with 20 for-sale townhomes and 8,700 SF of boutique commercial in downtown Edmond (Oklahoma City metro). Gearing up to break ground this spring. This is nearly two years in the making now. And boy is this is going to be FUN! We don’t build things so we can make money. We make money so we can build things. And the passion and energy of everyone on the team is what is going to make this such a spectacular project! And to boot: we’ll be moving our offices into the coworking space. We are combining Hardware + Software (building + culture) and we can’t wait!!

Happy New Year everyone! Got to celebrate 10 years with this amazing woman in 2025. She’s been such a critical part of Building Culture this last decade. A “silent partner”, as a friend dubbed. We even managed to leave the munchkins at home and go on a date over Christmas…

Have been itching to reveal this: rendering of our residential courtyard for Townsend, our infill mixed-use project getting ready to break ground. 12 townhomes surrounding a few connected courtyards with layered gardens and brick pavers. So. Dang. Beautiful. This is actually a highly accurate rendering of what we are doing architecturally—we use our real designs and detailing from sketchup as the backdrop, and collaborate with an amazing illustrator @zanetta_illustration to bring it to life. We have a ton of fun working together. He actually knows how to capture the FEEL of it. Even the varying pavement, etc, is all from the plan; that’s not just superficial detail in a rendering. We’ve designed the outdoor space with as much thought as each floor plan and facade. And we are also leaving some space for design to evolve as the project unfolds. We are imagining more free standing planters and pots that enclose each home’s front “patio” for a semiprivate space that’s also lush and can be tended, but didn’t make sense in rendering. We opted for a central garden rather than some fire pit, table, outdoor kitchen or “amenity” in the center of the courtyard; we have more public space nearby with our commercial courtyards, AND it’s already walkable to 30+ F&B options if you want a “gathering space”. It’s tempting to create “usable” amenities, and sometimes you should, but here, the central courtyard is a beautiful space to enter and exit your home, to look out your window and glimpse, a place to sit outside, and if you WANT to engage with someone across the way you can, but there is also a barrier in between and it makes it optional. It’s balancing privacy + option for interaction—in a stunningly beautiful and peaceful setting. I cannot wait to build this with our team. It’s been a tremendous amount of work over nearly 2.5 years to be on the edge of breaking ground. But it’s going to be so much fun. And it’s also going to blow people away. I promise you: this will be some of the best walkable infill in the country.

Celebrated our 10 year anniversary on Friday. What a decade! Met this girl at the airport when we were both embarking on a new adventure—quitting our old jobs and leaving for Uganda with the Peace Corps for 27 months. She was the first person I met at the airport. How serendipitous that was. I can’t imagine the last decade without her. So much of who I am and what Building Culture is today is because of her partnership, strength and support. I’m so thankful. Getting married was, and is, one of the greatest blessings I have ever known. Can’t wait for the next decade of adventure together! @sarahtolbert

Walking through downtown Edmond, the fastest-growing large city in Oklahoma, to show you where we’re building Townsend, our next mixed-use neighborhood. If you want to see more beautiful, walkable neighborhoods built across the country, I’m inviting you to help make it happen — and co-own income-producing real estate in the heart of a thriving downtown. 📍 10,845 SF of boutique commercial held long-term 🏘️ 20 for-sale townhomes 🌳 Thoughtful shared spaces to make it all come alive We’re in the final stretch of our $5 million raise—$3.65 million secured. If you’re interested to learn more and potentially invest, DM me and I’ll send you the deck!

TOWNSEND RAISE NOW OPEN! I’m excited to announce the raise for Townsend is officially open! This is a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood in a fast-growing downtown. Our philosophy is simple: we build things worth keeping. 1. Real places people love 2. In walkable, growing neighborhoods 3. Designed to age well 4. Held for the long term If you’re interested in joining me to co-own beautiful, income-generating real estate, just DM me – I’ll send you the deck. Not investing, but want to support our vision? I’d be grateful if you’d repost or share! - Austin & Team

Final rendering of our upcoming Townsend project! Swipe for our 3D Sketchup model video. It’s a 1-acre infill development with 20 for-sale townhomes and 8,700 SF of leasable commercial which we will operate ourselves as a coworking space. This rendering and video is just showing the commercial part of Townsend. It really will be magical. It’s the culmination of a decade!! The best thing we will have ever done, by far. And, you’ll be able to visit it with a public courtyard and micro cafe :) Final color image by the immensely talented @zanetta_illustration !! @austintunnell

First brick build back from 2017. Checking the integrity of the arch! ;) There is something beautifully simple about masonry. No steel or modern materials necessary to span large openings.

What does the future of sustainable and durable construction look like? Hint: it’s looking to the past to find our way forward. Podcast Episode 13 Trailer. Full episode out now on The Building Culture Podcast. Link in bio! On all podcast platforms or YouTube. Austin met Philippe in Spain studying historic masonry structures last summer. Philippe Block is a pioneering designer, engineer and professor in Zurich, doing some wildly cool stuff with masonry. In a conventional concrete floor system, for example, Philippe’s unforced floor system that has the right geometry reduces the amount of concrete and steel needed by 70% and 90% respectively. In a 25 story mid rise that saves 1200 concrete trucks and 20 kilometers of steel in JUST the floor systems! That’s before reducing piers, foundation, etc. Imagine the material, labor, cost, speed and carbon reduction possible? The future is exciting—and beautiful.

Please give a warm welcome to our little guy, Griffin Alexander Tunnell. He was born Sunday, March 10th, a few weeks early. His birth was an incredibly healing experience for me and I may write more on that soon, but for now gotta get back to those baby snuggles!

Visited our @buildingculture project last summer and shot this on my iPhone—first houses completed in 2018. Pocket neighborhood of 6 homes surrounding a central U-shape courtyard. Structural brick masonry homes w/ limewash, for reference, and timber framed porches. Cool to see it 4+ years later!