TA24-J F-Pages - Flipbook - Page 46
Open House
44 Texas Architect
1/2 2024
Top The
XO House’s
industrial exterior stands
out among its historic
neighborhood.
Bottom A steel-framed
cantilevered structure provides protection and shade
for the front porch.
OPENING SPREAD AND THIS PAGE: PHOTOS BY LEONID FURMANSKY
Located in Houston’s Historic Heights, the XO
House, with its industrial exterior, stands out among
the neighborhood’s Hardie-wood-clad bungalows.
The modern 3,800-sf multiunit residence, which
replaced two historical bungalows on the site, was
designed by Jason Logan — a co-principal at the
architectural 昀椀rm LOJO and professor at the University of Houston — for himself, his wife, Laura,
and her late father.
Upon 昀椀rst impression, the home stands domineering and angular, with charcoal grey corrugated
metal protecting any vulnerable or permeable surfaces. However, as life 昀椀lls the home, its hard exterior
softens. Living spaces are carved away from the mass
of the house and treated with amber-toned larch
wood. The material’s vibrancy and warmth contrast
with its protective layer, exuding a relaxing atmosphere that is emphasized throughout the house.
Initially, Logan and his wife intended to renovate the existing houses so that his father-in-law
could live nearby following his dementia diagnosis.
But after reviewing the property with an engineer,
they realized the full extent of renovation that
would be required and instead began designing
from scratch. The home would need to provide a
sense of connection while also supporting independence and respect for all the residents.
Logan also seized the opportunity to address
Houston’s changing landscape and lack of a昀昀ordable housing. “A lot of times … a developer will
come in and tear down these historic bungalows
and build two townhomes, which changes the
accessibility to these units,” he explains. With this
in mind, Logan designed two distinct living spaces:
a larger residential area and a smaller secondary
apartment, all connected through a central shared
outdoor atrium. “[We] created a model for a new
home that maintained the number of living spaces
[of the previous property] and allowed for an
a昀昀ordable option as well as a large space.”
The house is designed on a skewed 3x3 square
grid, which aligns with the property’s adjacent
streets and resembles an abstracted tic-tac-toe grid.
If you think of the ground 昀氀oor as the game, the
“winner” would be the outdoor spaces, represented
by O’s. These O’s are placed at each corner of the
grid, with the center spot de昀椀ned by the atrium.
These areas carve away the mass of the house,
creating cantilevered overhangs that shelter the
parking spots, the front porch, and the outdoor
kitchen deck.
As Logan explains, a typical house places an
object in the middle of the property. In this case, the
design pushes the dwellings to the perimeter, framing the central atrium. This allows the dwellings to