A creative approach to adaptive reuse along Houston’s Greenway trail system
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DETAILS

LocationHouston, Texas, United States
ClientRadom Capital + Triton Properties
Size4 acres

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.

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