Buildings and places created in and around Houston which contribute to its creative economy
Architect John S. Chase (1925-2012) is a founder of modern Houston. The first licensed African-American architect in Texas, he brought the principles of Frank Lloyd Wright to Houston. To truly appreciate his Riverside National Bank building (now Unity), you should go see how jazzy it used to look. Two of his best buildings are at Texas Southern University, the law school and the humanities building. Can you point us to the other Houston work of black architects?
On the eastern edge of Memorial City, Houston architecture firm Studio Red built the Treehouse. Designed through collaboration, for collaboration, the MetroNational conference center has wowed the national architecture community. We all can visit the first floor restaurant, Liberty Kitchen.
Built in 1898 and expanded in 1980, this striking Victorian bed and breakfast has long been the most popular in Houston. Sara’s is nestled in a walkable neighborhood only four miles from downtown, plus over 50 restaurants in a one-mile radius. Jihye and John Deveau have furnished it with plenty of Victorian style and modern amenities.
For the Roman Catholic church, the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston is the chancery for an archdiocese that encompasses 8,880 square miles and has its 1839 roots in Galveston. In 2000, Houston-founded architecture firm Ziegler Cooper was selected to design a new Cathedral that reflects the modern spiritual values of the community. 73,000 square feet of limestone is piled into muscular shapes, softened by elegant details.
Established by the young architect John Kirksey in 1971, this firm was one of the first in Houston to focus on sustainability. Their motto is “healthy buildings, healthy people, healthy planet.” Theresa is pictured below in the courtyard of their Calhoun Lofts project at the University of Houston.
Intexure Architects Rusty and Rame Hruska not only design custom modern homes and offices, they also invented a new way to build homes from pre-constructed modules, working more reliably, with less waste, and winning a Building Systems Award from the National Association of Home Builders for their startup Boxprefab.
The Sam Houston Hotel opened in 1924 and now resides on the National Register of Historic Places. A few blocks from the downtown theater district, it nods to history while offering all the modern conveniences. Its public spaces, including the rooftop event space Veranda and The Pearl restaurant, are famous for exceptional service.
Morningstar is a coffee shop inspired by a Japanese tea room, created by innovator David Buehrer with the help of the late Houston architect, John Zemanek.
Creative Houston, PBC 