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In Houston’s Timbergrove neighborhood, this renovation transforms a traditional layout into an open, light-filled home designed for entertaining. Walls between kitchen, living, and dining areas were removed to create seamless flow, with custom millwork adding warmth, storage, and subtle definition to each space. Large windows frame garden views and invite daylight deep into the home, blurring the boundary between indoors and outdoors. The result is a welcoming setting where gatherings feel both lively and connected, and the home adapts effortlessly from quiet mornings to vibrant evenings.

Location

Houston, Texas

Design Team

Kevin Barden, Joe Rivers, and Esmer Leija

Renderings

Rivers Barden Architects

Typology

Residential

Date

2021-Present

Structural Engineer

Santee Engineering

General Contractor

Frich Investments

Process

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River Oaks Renovation

Originally built in the 1990s, this River Oaks home renovation seeks to take advantage of the existing spacious layout by maximizing daylighting opportunities as well as allowing for ample indoor-outdoor living. The result is a light-filled home where comfort and elegance is prioritized.

Peter Molick

Art and Design

In this episode our resident architects Joe Rivers and Kevin Barden visit with Peter Molick, an architectural photographer from Houston, Texas. Peter Molick's work as an architectural photographer has him capturing on film life's many varied spaces. His portfolio runs the gambit from new construction homes, office buildings, and museums, to a clothing store, a music hall, and even a stadium. But we really wanted to visit with Pete to discuss a work of his that he did outside of professional output. The piece, called Crossings, has been showing since May at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale, the most influential exhibition in architecture. Joe and Kevin talk with Pete about his craft as an architectural photographer, what drove him to create Crossings, and the future of his career and creative outlets.

Pallasmaa On The Sublime

Writing

The emergence of digital and virtual technologies in the past decade has flourished exponentially giving academic environments and professional practices a newfound basis for collaboration between process and product. This essay proposes that we cannot lose sight of the underlying sources which drive a good process (whether digital, virtual, or manual) and lead to the opportunity for a great product. In his paper for the 101st Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, New Constellations New…