The residence is located in Bellair, Houston, an older suburb that is currently experiencing an influx of new development and gentrification. Designing a 650 m² house on a very tight and restrictive stand served as a great challenge for the architects, especially as all the living rooms were designed to face south for a climate sensitive design.

Another challenge was that the site fell within a 100-year flood line, and thus, the design called for the house to be lifted from the natural ground level.

The size of the site and the client brief encouraged the maximization of indoor/outdoor living with the use of double volume areas and open plan living space.

The client had a very precise brief driving the design. This resulted in a layout that consists of a double volume family room and an open plan kitchen with services that include a pantry, scullery and laundry room, all of which are located on the ground story.

The large main bedroom suite is also located on the ground floor with a view of a water feature wrapping around the prayer/ meditation space. There are also 5 en-suite bedrooms on the first floor level, which are all connected to a pajama lounge.

A staircase leads to the rooftop entertainment space. All of this allowed for the house to remain focused on vertical living in a further effort to maximize the available space.

The client’s love for off-shutter concrete, steel and glass was taken into consideration with the choice of materials used for the house, while weathering steel was used to accentuate features.