In the context of Houston’s car-centered neighborhoods and lack of zoning, distinctive building types have developed in response to the city’s economic and climatic conditions: the elevated office mat and the drive-in courtyard apartment. Primarily developed in the 60’s and 70’s, these buildings are some of the last sources of affordable commercial space and housing in the Montrose and Westmoreland neighborhoods. Today, the mechanisms of real estate in Houston are rapidly replacing these small-scale types with large-scale speculative developments. HOUSTON-VARIATIONS imagines alternative ways to increase density without displacement. 

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The office mat consists of an elevated open-plan office space with parking and entrance lobbies below. Building costs were minimized by calibrating structural bays with parking spaces, and roof overhangs decreased energy usage. Related to this type is the drive-in courtyard apartment, a two-story multifamily apartment with parking underneath. The apartment retained the economic efficiency of the office, adding a shared courtyard to bring in light and air to the units. 

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HOUSTON-VARIATIONS imagines new typological permutations for the drive-in courtyard apartment, testing to what degree the constraints of the type allow a recalibration of the relationship between environmental enclosure and form. Can these closed worlds become open frames in Houston’s varied seasons and climates without compromising their modesty and economy? By adjusting the relationship between typology and envelope, the project imagines new ways to restructure the relationships between Houston’s climate, social life, and current forms of urbanization in the city.

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HOUSTON-VARIATIONS is the recipient of the 2022 RDA Houston Design Research Grant. ​

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Project Leads: Daniel Jacobs, Brittany Utting

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Design & Research Team: Amanda Skyler, Yao Xiao, Jianing Cui, Jane Van Velden, Christopher Sanders

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Case Study Photographs: Sean Fleming / smfleming.com