Blaffer Gallery

Houston, TX

For the Blaffer Gallery, located on the University of Houston campus, SCAPE reworked the interior courtyard, entry and streetscape adjacent to the building in conjunction with Work AC, to address the problem of an obscured front door and the new programmatic intent to host events outdoors. Our design refocuses the entry to the front façade of the building, calling attention to the new doors with a sloping, densely planted plane and an angular concrete wall. The courtyard’s ‘green wedge’ is the signature aspect of the space. Integrated with gravel paths, it functions as a gathering space, repurposed for a variety of uses. The green wedge is elevated at two edges and tilts down to the existing grade; the soils of the elevated edge are held in place with a wood-faced wall that becomes both a ground plane and a stage.