Interloop was commissioned to design a landscape strategy for a residence in Houston, Texas. The project plan is generated through a sequence of pentagram shapes that link diagonally across the lawn. Each pentagram is materially detailed to accommodate social and recreational activities. Stone paving defines an outdoor dining area, hard wood planks form a wood deck, and gravel beds accommodate specimen plants. Central to the design is a three-armed asterisk pool made up of three pentagrams that are differentiated in depth and access. This project marks phase two of the landscape design for the 9° House, a highly acclaimed private residence designed by Interloop-Architecture. Design Team: Dawn Finley, Mark Wamble, Erin Ruhl
View of concrete pool edge with shallow tanning area, new planted garden, and hard wood ipe deck beyond.
Interloop—Architecture was one of five nationally recognized architecture firms invited to submit a design proposal for a new landmark in Downtown Houston: Central Station – Main. Houston’s light rail infrastructure currently consists of just one line, but construction has begun on two additional transit lines that serve diverse neighborhoods in the city. These lines will all intersect at the new Central Station transfer zone in downtown Houston. This transfer zone literally occupies the right of way, allowing riders use the city sidewalks to change trains and make connections between the three light rail lines and city buses. Central Station is made up of three light rail platforms: one at Main Street – the focus of this competition proposal – and two more at Rusk and Capitol Streets. These platforms and the common spaces between them combine to form Open Transfer.
Interloop—Architecture was commissioned to design three different organizational models for new interactive, multi-media classrooms. One final design model was selected and built in multiple to form a Houston–based Learning Center. Classrooms of this type are an increasingly common requirement for research & technology based corporations. They not only enhance communication and collaboration between the diverse expertise of their employees and clients, but also serve as a recruiting tool for highly competitive prospective candidates for employment.
Perspective diagram: Skylights allow diffuse natural light when window shades are drawn for proprietary curriculum and content.
This Schematic Design Document represents proposed improvements to Wiess College Courtyard located on the Rice University campus in Houston, Texas. It serves to advance a flexible, multi-purpose agenda for the college, to enhance the daily routines, intermittent casual gatherings, and periodic formal events associated with student life.
Julia’s is a twenty-five hundred square-foot new restaurant, bar, and full kitchen located in Midtown, Houston. Two existing commercial spaces were gutted and combined to form the new interior. A large portion of the existing brick facade was removed and replaced with new storefront glass windows. The space takes advantage of it’s prime corner location along the new light rail, connecting downtown Houston to the medical center and stadium. The main dining space projects a vibrant interior onto the street. A palette of six (almost cosmetic) colors are deployed like wallpaper, wrapping the interior space with no regard for physical corners or material edges. The flooring is a custom colored epoxy finish, suitable for industrial applications, that wraps up the face of the bar, the banquette seating, and two columns.
First Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (1ab) is an international urban event organizing a series of lectures, competitions, and exhibitions throughout the city. Eight international architects and designers were invited to design a “stim” – a site specific interactive installation, as described by architect and critic Lars Lerup – an object, image, or space that brings together various forms of technology in order to create a moment of connectivity and intense engagement.
Interloop’s three Stim proposals utilize simple technologies to create a spatial dynamic where fixed material elements become balanced with the real-time circumstances of pedestrian intrigue and engagement.
Gardiner Symonds Teaching Labs 1 and 2 are interactive, multi-media learning facilities located on the Rice University campus. Flexibility in the Symonds Labs is built into the spatial dynamic where fixed material elements become balanced with the real-time circumstances of use. The space is poised, where flexibility is embedded into the architecture but latent – induced by the conditions of use, and facilitated by the visual lines of connection between users, computer monitors, large format screens, audience cameras, and the simultaneous electronic and human modes of communication that are consistent with each of these lines of connection. Audible lines of communication remain unobstructed, and at times relied upon significantly, suggesting to us that libraries and workspaces of the future will be both noisy and active places if they are used correctly.