It’s happening at parks, multifamily developments, retail locations, and mixed-used projects – placemaking. The general concept is integrating personal experience and connection into the physical surroundings. PRISM attended the recent Bisnow Houston Destination Making event to hear how three different projects accomplished this. Hats off to our clients Ray Duerer with CDA Architects, and Jim Carman with The Howard Hughes Corporation. Both did a superb job for the mixed-use panel. We also learned more about the future renovations planned for Memorial Park. PRISM is honored to have been part of the early phase work, creating the renderings for the new driving range.
About 12 miles south of the many famed sites of San Francisco lies another bustling area, South San Francisco. Called “a hidden oasis of the California Bay Area” by WikiTravel, it’s an evolving area of young professionals and families looking for an urban alternative to San Francisco. Developer Sares-Regis is capitalizing on the trend with a modern, industrial-chic apartment community. Cadence offers townhomes and apartments in a vibrant setting that is conducive to community building. The building features gathering spaces like a rooftop lounge, elevated courtyards, a high-end fitness center, and an expansive club room. Sares-Regis hired PRISM to produce renderings of the Clubroom, to show off its unique offerings. The large space features several seating areas, game tables like shuffleboard and billiards, and two full-height window walls with views of the San Francisco Bay and San Bruno Mountain.
Senior living is going sky high with new developments from Ponte Health. The development and design firm is about to break ground on a new building concept – a mashup of residential and healthcare strictly for seniors, called Vertical Medical City. The first project is cleared to start construction near downtown Orlando, and a second project is planned in Chicago. Nearly 40% of each project is planned for senior living, another 40% for medical office and research/development, and the remaining 20% for surgical and emergency healthcare. Ponte Health founder and CEO Tabitha Ponte told a Florida newspaper, “We’re a complete transformation in how healthcare happens for our elders.” We couldn’t agree more and are proud to support pioneers like Ponte Health.
What started as a one-room school in Houston in 1988 is now planning for a major upgrade. The Arbor School is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to build a new 24,000 SF building with 12 classrooms and a large community room. Construction is set to begin this October. This unique school provides intensive educational programming with a 2:1 or 1:1 student/teacher ratio for children with all forms of developmental disabilities, birth through age twelve. This individualized learning environment is built on the belief that each child has the capacity to develop and learn to the best of his or her abilities. The Arbor School is one of the 18 schools that make up the Special Schools Coalition of Houston.
Design is underway to “unlock creative genius at Episcopal High School.” A capital campaign seeks to raise money to fund a new 65,000 s.f. Visual & Performing Arts Complex at the private high school. The new and renovated space will provide state-of-the-art learning areas designed to accommodate the latest technology for media arts, production design, performances, music instruction, and studio arts. The expansion supports one of the institution’s Four Pillars: deep faith, transformative arts, fearless athletics, and innovative academics. Episcopal High School offers the largest, most comprehensive independent school arts program in Houston. Students produce 6,200 unique pieces of artwork each year. Their performances are recognized as among the best in the state. Additionally, the school has dynamic partnerships with The Houston Symphony, Society for the Performing Arts, Via Colori, Houston Arts Partners, Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, and Tango Buenos Aires. Studio Red Architects is designing the project. PRISM provided an exterior and several interior view renderings for the capital campaign.
Whether it’s a daycare class or university lecture hall, the students of our hard-working PRISM moms are officially back at school. Our all-mom team marked the occasion by snapping first-day photos – perhaps the only day everyone smiles! We are grateful for the many educators and administrators who guide, shape and inspire our children every day. The influence of a good teacher can never be erased!
Gabriel Architects takes the approach that great architecture is more than just a space. Great architecture inspires. We agree 100% and have always found inspiration working with this firm over the past six years. Their work in and around Houston includes such acclaimed new spaces as The George Theater for A.D. Players and at the other end of the spectrum, the restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic 509 Main Street building in downtown Houston. Firm founder John Gabriel began his career over 35 years ago working at renowned Houston firms 3D/International and Morris Architects before opening his own firm in 1991.
Developer Danny Signorelli knows a community is far more than a collection of homes. The visionary behind the Valley Ranch master-planned community 30 miles northeast of Houston has been consistently building the social fabric of the area as it grows. For the second year in a row, The Signorelli Company underwrote the Valley Ranch 4th Fest on Independence Day; the event was held on the site of the future amphitheater at Valley Ranch Town Center. Event proceeds benefitted the Montgomery County Women’s Center and Mission Northeast. The full-day festival featured a sanctioned BBQ contest, kids’ activities, food trucks, and live country music by huge names like Pat Green. The day culminated in a professional fireworks show by the same company responsible for the NFL fireworks. PRISM proudly sponsored the event for a second year; Jing and her husband Warren attended, along with 9,000 other community members!
The 4th of July is more than food and fireworks for the Chinese American Relief Effort (C.A.R.E.) organization. The group hosts an annual festival to both celebrate Chinese culture and raise funds to purchase school supplies for needy families in HISD; all proceeds from this year’s event went to Hobby Elementary School. With authentic Chinese food, arts and crafts, and exciting cultural performance, the event draws a large crowd every year. As president of the Overseas Chinese Education Foundation Houston chapter, Jing organized their presence at the event and got help from her son as well as Vivian Peng, PRISM’s VP of Project Management, and her two sons.
Some PRISM clients may recognize our newest team member. Amanda Greer has worked in the AEC industry for almost 14 years, most recently at Shah Smith & Associates. Get ready to see a lot of her beginning August 5th! With Amanda’s broad skill set, she’ll be interacting with our clients and prospects in several ways. She will be in charge of accounting and financial reporting and will assist our client service, marketing, and business development efforts. Amanda is also very knowledgeable about local and state minority contracting requirements and will be helping our clients leverage PRISM’s various minority certifications on their projects. Not only will Amanda’s expertise enhance our team, her can-do working mom mentality fits perfectly within our culture. Welcome, Amanda!
