At the Corner of Culture and Capital: Gensler's Design for NALCAB

On the edge of San Antonio’s Market Square, where streets regularly transform into festival corridors filled with music, food, and color, a familiar corner is being given new purpose. A former bank building, once defined by teller lines, vaults, and drive-through lanes, is being transformed into the future headquarters of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB). The project, led by Gensler, reframes the structure not simply as an office, but as a civic home rooted in access, cultural identity, and community connection.

Founded to strengthen community economic development organizations serving predominantly Latino communities nationwide,
NALCAB provides training, technical assistance, and capital to support affordable housing, small business growth, financial capability, and neighborhood revitalization. In addition, the organization advocates for equitable investment and economic policy reform at the national level. This dual mission calls for a headquarters that operates not just as office space, but as a convening hub and visible expression of community empowerment.

“NALCAB was founded on Avenida Guadalupe in San Antonio’s historic West Side,” said Levar Martin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of NALCAB. “Returning downtown was not only about our location, but about honoring our roots while investing in our future. This building once represented financial access for the neighborhood. Reimagining it as our new home in San Antonio allows us to carry that legacy forward. We are preserving its character, respecting its history as one of the first financial institutions to serve the West Side, and transforming it into a space that reflects the strength and collective voice of the communities our network supports nationwide.”

The selected building carries its own layered history. Originally constructed in the 1930s-1940s as a neighborhood bank, it was expanded and given a Spanish Colonial façade in the 1970s. When Gensler encountered the project, they understood that the task was not simply to modernize an aging structure, but to interpret its past while reshaping its future.

“While we’re often associated with a contemporary aesthetic,” said Gerardo Gandy, Experience Strategist and Design Director, “this project required us to step back and ask a more fundamental question: What does great architecture do for people? At its best, architecture fosters belonging, dignity, and connection.” For the design team, that meant recognizing that many principles associated with modernism, e.g. light, air, simplicity, and clarity of space, have long existed in regional and vernacular architecture. Courtyards, shaded circulation, and spatial hierarchy are not new ideas, but deeply rooted ones.

That understanding led to the project’s defining move: the introduction of a central interior courtyard. Rather than puncturing the historic façade to introduce daylight, the design reorganizes the building inward. A double-height gathering space, illuminated by north-facing skylights, becomes the heart of the workplace. Offices, meeting rooms, and support spaces radiate from this central volume, creating visibility and connection across levels.

The courtyard functions as reception, living room, and organizational anchor. “By organizing the building around a shared courtyard,” Gandy explained, “we’re reinforcing visibility, access, and community. It’s a strategy rooted in Spanish Colonial architecture, but more importantly, it centers people. No one is tucked away. Leadership and staff share the same heart of the building.” The strategy preserves the building’s exterior character while fundamentally transforming how the interior is experienced.

If the courtyard is the heart, the building’s murals become its outstretched hand. Facing Market Square, the site still reflects its automotive past, including remnants of a drive-through lane. Rather than erasing that history, the design reclaims it, envisioning the perimeter as a pedestrian-oriented threshold that engages the surrounding district.

Market Square has long been a place of celebration, drawing locals and visitors alike. Gensler saw an opportunity to add another layer to that energy: visibility of resources. Murals are planned for multiple façades, with the most prominent at the corner, intended to act as a visual invitation. “Public art lowers the threshold,” Gandy said. “It signals openness. The murals invite curiosity, and curiosity becomes entry. From there, people discover services, capital, and partnerships that strengthen their neighborhoods.”

Inside, the building’s most symbolically powerful spaces come from what could not be removed. The original bank vaults, too costly and complex to demolish, were reimagined as “vaults of impact.” One is planned as a rotating gallery highlighting NALCAB’s mission, member success stories, and community milestones; another as a reading or reflection space. The metaphor is deliberate: what was once a container for financial capital now holds human and social capital.

Programmatically, the headquarters reflects NALCAB’s values of collaboration and inclusivity. Rather than isolating leadership in a single zone, private offices are distributed throughout the plan, mixed with open workstations and shared spaces. The building includes multipurpose rooms positioned near the former drive-through, allowing indoor-outdoor flow for events, presentations, mercaditos, and community gatherings.

A new mezzanine level adds flexibility and room for growth, supported by an elevator that exceeds basic code compliance. “From day one, we knew the building needed to grow with them and work for everyone,” Gandy said. “The elevator wasn’t an upgrade. It was part of making sure the space is truly accessible.” The elevator became both a practical and ethical investment, reinforcing the idea that good design is equitable design.

Interior materials balance durability with warmth. Clean, long-lasting finishes are paired with handcrafted textures, color, and artwork that reference cultural iconography and regional craft traditions. These choices bring a sense of humanity into a contemporary workplace, reinforcing the idea that this is a space designed not only for productivity, but for belonging.

Wayfinding and signage are conceived as bilingual and icon-based, ensuring clarity across languages. Sustainability features, often hidden in contemporary buildings, are intentionally made legible through plaques and educational elements. The goal is not only performance, but knowledge-sharing, allowing visitors and members to understand how environmental investment can translate to their own businesses and communities.

The architectural process unfolded alongside NALCAB’s organizational rebrand, and the two efforts informed one another. The new identity embraces bold color, handmade imperfection, and symbolism that suggests individuals coming together as a collective. Gensler drew from this language, translating graphic ideas into spatial ones and reinforcing continuity between brand and building.

Construction is expected to conclude toward the end of 2026, with NALCAB preparing for a move that feels both logistical and ceremonial. For the organization, the transition represents a fresh start grounded in continuity. For the neighborhood, it signals a quieter but lasting shift.

Like the bank that once occupied this corner, the new NALCAB building will continue to operate transactionally, but with a transformed definition of value. Instead of deposits and withdrawals, the building will facilitate exchanges of knowledge, support, mentorship, and opportunity. Visitors arriving from Market Square, locals walking in from nearby neighborhoods, and students from the growing downtown UT San Antonio campus will encounter a place that is open, legible, and inviting.

In an area experiencing renewed energy and institutional investment, the building positions itself as both participant and anchor as it simultaneously absorbs the buzz of downtown growth while grounding it in service and purpose. What was once a financial institution will again function as a neighborhood cornerstone, quietly shaping daily life through access and connection. Only now, the most valuable assets inside will be opportunity, trust, and the long work of community-building.

Cover rendering courtesy of Gensler.

Stephanie Aranda, Assoc. AIA, is a designer, educator, and writer whose work explores architecture as both built form and cultural artifact. Bridging practice and storytelling, she frames the built environment as narrative in motion.