“It’s exciting to see a potentially prototypical approach to these abandoned strip malls. It gives me hope that there can be a really rich afterlife for more of these kinds of big-box retail environments.”
— Mimi Hoang, AIA
Location Houston
Client Triten Real Estate Partners and Radom Capital
Architect Michael Hsu Office of Architecture
Design Team: Michael Hsu, FAIA; Maija Kreishman, AIA; Jeff Clarke; Tucker Douglas, AIA
Contractor Harvey Builders
Architect of Record Method Architecture
Custom Light Fixtures Warbach Lighting
Landscape Architect SWA Group
Lighting Design Gandy2 Lighting Design
Structural Engineer Pinnacle Structural Engineers
MEP Engineer KCI Technologies
M-K-T is the adaptive reuse of five industrial buildings along Houston’s Heights Hike and Bike Trail. The roof, structure, slab, and parking were salvaged and incorporated into the design of this dynamic mixed-use destination. The deep footprint of each building was strategically sliced open to provide natural light and stitch the development. A yellow structural “spine” covers a central breeezeway, which links the entrance to the adjacent trail and bioswales. Vivid murals by local artists and colorful facades delineate uses. A former eyesore to the neighborhood, the collection of buildings is now a strategically repurposed community hub intended to live multiple lives.