ROUND PEN The Round Pen is a standard size - 62’ diameter - open riding arena that is used to train yearling horses in a simple environment without distraction. This project was a re-invention of this rural building typology, using computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) laser cutting and digital modeling to create a kit of parts that was built on site by skilled craftsmen using only scaffolding, minimal equipment, and hand tools. Precise truss layouts were generated, along with parts and assemblies directly fabricated from the digital model. A unique convergence of design, manufacturing, and craftsmanship resulted from this highly collaborative and interdependent effort. AIA Houston Design Award 2008 with Joe Mashburn

METALAB applies expertise in digital design and fabrication with architecture, from concept through construction.

Our work scales from civic art and buildings to digitally fabricated components and product design, concentrating on the innovative use of materials and technologies.

As researchers and facilitators working in the sprawling landscape of industry, production and can-do attitude that is uniquely Houston, we are continually finding new and better ways to build things.

We are working with Matthew Geller, a sculptor from New York City, who has been commissioned by the Houston Arts Alliance to build a civic art piece next to the Buffalo Bayou.  The structure will emerge from the landscape next to the Houston Water Works on Sabine St to a height of 60'.   Inspired by the strange protrusions of plumbing infrastructure relentlessly painted blue (to "blend in" to the background), he proposed a colossal pipe works that will feature a public outdoor shower activated by a hand pump.  A nearby skate park will ensure that a steady flow of skaters and passersby will indulge in a refreshing spritz on Houston's infamously humid afternoons.  We're on schedule to install this summer on the hottest day of the year as per Matthew's request.

Metalab along with Harvest Moon (client/owner) and ttweak renewables (marketing and communications/graphic design) take the "Citation for Sustainability" in the 2009 AIA Houston Design Awards with the SPACE/Mirabeau B Sales Center. Link to AIA website and other award winners.  Congratulations to our colleagues!

SPACE on SWAMPLOT

We are contributing the final chapter to a book about New Harmony, Frederick Kiesler and the Grotto for Meditation.  Our essay will be called "New Harmony in Houston" and will discuss the work of our studio at UHCOA with Ben Nicholson that has become a project called the New Harmony Grotto and Garden.  The book will be edited by Ben and Michelangelo Sabatino with contributions from Stephen Fox, Monika Pessler of the Kiesler Foundation among others.

link to full article and audio clip from KUHF Green grows from the ground up and needs more than recycled cans and paper.  The University of Houston's Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture's Green Building Components is where industry meets sustainability.