Coffee Plant Transformation

Houston has long been a center of coffee importing and roasting. The historic Farmers Brothers Coffee Plant in the city’s Second Ward recently ceded production to newer facilities in the area. This planning and preservation proposal studied preserving the history of this industrial building while adding mixed-use programs including a world-class 1,200-seat theater, a music school, a live music café, public plazas, residential apartments, galleries, and rooftop amenities. The massive facility was built and expanded over time, so our scheme introduces “slices” along existing seams in that fabric, exposing the vestigial facades and bringing light and air into the deep floorplates. Careful documentation of existing features like the painted block and roasting equipment provide the basis for a subtle formal and visual backdrop for the new programs. 

The project is adjacent to the new riverside park and bike trail that seeks to connect this formally mixed-industrial neighborhood back to the core of the city.