The Pictures Plus Facility is a 30K SF full-service business complex in Houston, TX. In this large reuse and renovation development, we transformed a run-down liquor storage warehouse into a retail art gallery, workshop, and picture framing production site. The goal of this very client-driven project was to simply and economically adapt a neglected, empty, and graffitied shell of a building into a contemporary complex, conducive to the business’s vast program. The client wanted the exterior to subtly fit into the mid-town community’s evolving fabric and the interior to maximize the site’s productive and retail potential. By subtracting from the envelope and placing the main entrance below an existing, second story, I juxtaposed the materials of heavy concrete and light aluminum, evoking a modern sensation of a shifting mass overhead. The sliding aluminum doors act as security barriers during off hours and, in conjunction with the black painted trim, add to the design of clean-lined horizontality. The interior layout was pivotal to this project’s success. The administrative offices are lined along the back wall, providing generous storage space above, an expansive wall area to hang framed art in the showroom, and a direct visual connection between staff and customers. Highly reflective polished concrete and white painted surfaces foster ideal lighting.
Commercial
