Breaking Ground on Houston’s Newest Arts Landmark
Construction is officially underway on the Frank Liu Jr. Academy for Music and Arts, transforming a historic 1930s J.A. Folger & Co. coffee plant in Houston, Texas, into a 65,120-square-foot educational facility, Archinect reported.
Slated for completion by August 2027, the project represents Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s second high-profile undertaking in the city, following their work on POST Houston.
Industrial Roots Meet Montessori Design
Situated along the Buffalo Bayou East corridor, the three-story development retains the structural bones of its industrial predecessor while adapting the interior spaces for contemporary music and arts education.
The programmatic layout draws heavily from Montessori-inspired educational principles. Younger students occupy the lower levels, while older cohorts take the upper floors.
These classrooms surround shared communal areas termed “cymbals,” which function as zones for informal learning, group collaboration, and impromptu performances.
Acoustic Architecture and Musical Motifs
Musical motifs explicitly dictate several interior architectural gestures throughout the facility.
A curved staircase designed for younger occupants mirrors the sweeping body of a French horn.
Meanwhile, an f-shaped opening bridges two upper-floor libraries, directly referencing the acoustic sound holes of string instruments.
A double-height cafetorium featuring a distinct circular opening and a curved auditorium staircase will serve daily dining needs alongside school-wide assemblies and performances.
Daylight Strategies and Exterior Restoration
Adapting a dense industrial warehouse into a functioning school required solving traditional daylighting challenges.
Design teams positioned classrooms along the building perimeter to maximize direct sunlight exposure, while newly installed circular skylights pierce the roof to illuminate internal core gathering zones.
Externally, the architects are restoring the original industrial windows lining the public street frontages to meet modern energy performance standards.
Within a newly landscaped entrance courtyard, that historic glazing pattern is reinterpreted through an array of colorful geometric window divisions.
