The MKT mixed-use development is a truly Houstonian take on adaptive reuse, with a tilt wall industrial office park. Located in the chic and rapidly upscaling neighborhood of Houston Heights, this industrial, 1970s-era industrial remnant is being transformed: the buildings’ concrete shells remain, but are bisected by pathways that seem to surgically remove the existing concrete and expose the steel girders beneath, forming plazas framed by the exposed steel structure. The tenants of the five re-fabricated buildings are a mix of office tenants, restaurants, breweries, bike shops, and other bespoke retail outlets. The existing buildings are currently at loading dock height; SWA developed an intricate system for vertical circulation that takes guests from the parking area through green space-filled plazas, up nearly four feet to a catwalk shopping experience. Several passive and interactive features connect the site to the greenway bike trail that borders its northern edge. While the architecture capitalizes on existing buildings, the landscape employs reused sheet pile walls, recycled concrete, and rain gardens to create a truly sustainable project.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
This office building’s roof garden celebrates a potent image of the native Texas landscape: the level, grass-covered plains emerging from a wooded riparian area. A design vocabulary of native, drought-tolerant plant materials, especially selected to react to light and air movement, reinforces this design approach. The project serves as a two-acre rooftop garde...
Poly Future City
As the first phase of a large development along a new subway line in Beijing, Poly Future City suggests what’s to come. A sleek sales center features an interactive landscape with water features punctuating its pavilions, which boast WiFi, heated seating, and power outlets, all solar-powered. For this temporary building and landscape, SWA took care to invest i...
KGI Financial Headquarters
KGI Financial Headquarters is in the heart of the Taipei Metropolitan area, along a 70-meter-wide, tree-lined boulevard. The design focuses on creating harmony between people and the environment. To preserve four heritage trees on the site, the buildings were set back, and excavation was minimized to provide an optimal environment for these trees. The resultin...
City Creek Center
In the heart of Salt Lake City, City Creek Center is the retail centerpiece of one of the nation’s largest mixed-use downtown redevelopment projects. This unique fashion and dining destination includes a new two-story retail center and over 500 residential rental units over four levels of underground parking, all within a downtown setting that features s...