TBG houston office takes second place at rice design alliance’s annual design charrette

The challenge of this year’s Rice Design Alliance design charrette was to transform the underutilized streets and intersections of an area in Houston referred to as EaDo (East Downtown).

Our team received an Honorable Mention for their design! The design was “Start Small//Think Big” and focuses on implementing a streetscape/master plan design through phasing starting with temporary improvements reflecting initiatives like tactical urbanism. They then identified multiple anch…or tenants where vacant warehouses can spearhead the economic development and be retrofitted to become mixed-use retail and provide open community space.

Different street typologies are incorporated into the design to provide multimodal transportation and can be replicated throughout the city as a standard for incorporating bike lanes, safe and comfortable pedestrian thoroughfares and green infrastructure. They also established an identity for this area of EaDo by incorporating elements speaking to its history of the rail line and using colors and textures for branding inspired by the industrial character of the neighborhood.