Houston Mod invites you to join us this Sunday, November 19th, 2023
for a Mod of the Month open house event from 1 – 3 PM.
Please help us find a new preservation-minded owner for this vintage modern collaborative design office located near Rice University, about 5 miles southwest of downtown Houston.
Thanks to Houston MODern Market for sponsoring this FREE event.
4916 Kelvin Drive Houston, TX 77005
COMMGATE Link | Google Map
Graphic designer Jim Glass developed this office studio complex in 1959 as a collaborative center for designers and artists. Known as the Kelvin Group, the concept proved popular, so a second floor was added increasing the studio count to 12, plus an apartment. Shared spaces include a conference room, mail desk, kitchen bar, library, darkroom and photography studio. Most spaces have north-facing windows and high sloping beamed ceilings. The studios open to a large central courtyard still complete with most of the original landscape elements including a koi pond.
David D. Red, AIA (1913-2001) designed the complex. He was an architect and Professor Emeritus of the University of Houston and head of the Department of Architecture when he designed this building. He was a native Houstonian with architecture degrees from Rice Institute.
Robert F. White, FASLA (1912-2003) was the landscape architect. White taught landscape architecture at Texas A&M University and was the founding head of their department of landscape architecture. With partners, he reworked the design of the Rice University campus and designed the NASA campus in Clear Lake. (His Houston house was a previous Mod of the Month).
| If you have additional information about this building or other vintage modern designs, please inform Houston Mod so it can be included in our Modern in Houston archive. |