Truitt Foug Architects

Bus, Market, Inside Out Big Box

Near the ‘Y’ intersection of Fulton and Irvington, the Bus/Market serves as a threshold (between Irvington and Moody Park) and a loop (south to north east). This vacant lot has increased 180% in value over the last 5 years. Significant pedestrian traffic uses the immediate site as the threshold between the park and the city.

Minimal Infra/superstructure

Distribution space is joined with commercial space. The typical bus station requires significant turn-around space, rendering the object floating in an asphalt lot and drive. This project fronts the street as an urban shell. Its location also allows for other uses when a bus is not present. Trucks and vans use the same drive to back up and unload- service the informal market space.

Living Space

A small cross section through a minor street, Hays, reveals the multiple housing types and many vacant lots in the Near Northside. From west to east- the Irvington Courts public housing project at White Oak Bayou, Irvington Village Apartments, single family bungalows, and tightly packed ‘dupelows’- re-plotted lots to accomodate many very small single or double units within a single block.

This project proposes compact multifamily living space, each unit constructed of 4 fabricated components. The way in which the components combine to make a unit allows for the appearance of typical house elements- carport, front porch, courtyard, back porch, and natural ventilation.

Three fabricated units, living-630 sf, office/sleeping- 450 sf, sleeping- 450 sf, make a 4 bedroom 1530 sf home, the size of the typical Houston 2 bedroom bungalow, on a much smaller lot. A ‘doublehigh’ fabricated box connects the 2nd level to the ground level, drawing air from below to exhaust.

The fabricated units use the same windowall within each component for carefully placed light into each volume, Perf-o-grip™ shade structure, and the Big-Ass-Fan™ for shade and ventilation.