Saturday, 26 December 2009

Moderns architects starting small, thinking big

Among the growing ranks of Brownsville natives to start a home business is Carlos Valera and Javier Huerta, who occupied a small office in West Price Road.

Together with their partner Francisco Lopez, San Antonio native, they came to make their mark on the growing community.

The trio decided to launch an enterprise architecture and development, building on the knowledge and the principles of de-sign of the two architects in the group, Lopez and Huerta.

Origin Works Ltd., a company they formed less than a year ago, is now breaking ground on the first project, a group of townhouses on Wildrose Lane, off Central Boulevard.

The 14 three-bedroom townhouses will begin in the low $ 200,000 range, they said. Development will be called the Wild Rose Court.

"We want to agree on our vision," said Lopez about the beginning of the company. Vision turned into Origin Works' design philosophy: climate, culture, context and crafts.

After graduating from the University of Texas in 1995, Huerta and Lopez worked at Lake / Flato Archi-tects Inc. in San Antonio.

Companies that acquired the American Institute of Architects' Firm of the Year award in 2004.

"It's rare for Texas companies to get credit," said Huerta. One of the most prestigious architecture awards, Huerta said the AIA's highest award is usually given to companies in California and New York.

With the Wild Rose Court project, Valera said the company will start down the path structure "of our culture and native to Brownsville.

"Mexico is a big part of our lives," added Lopez.

All three points businessman Robert Runyon, a former mayor of Brownsville city recorded in the photographs in the early 20th century, as a documentarian of the unique, historic architecture.

"Building (in Runyon's photos) looked great before the time of taking the victim and the building is covered with a bad cosmetics," said Valera.

"Styles have overlap, and from time to time you get layers," added Lopez.

While downtown Brownsville has one, coherent architecture a century ago, who lost as a slap on the facade of the building in the 1960s and 1970s.

With the new project, "we want the contemporary results when you take the principles of (Brownsville) history," said Huerta.

To do that, they combine the advances in the field since the original Brownsville constructed buildings. They also ensure that the landscape architect involved in the project as a whole - a part of the climate, culture, context and craft in Origin Works' mission statement.

"Landscaping and trees is very important and should be important to Brownsville as a city" because of subtropical climate, Huerta said.

For that, the position of important buildings. They will corner of the building to take advantage of the "Venturi effect," which requires and the natural wind speed by channeling it through a small space.

They can provide more homes on the property, but instead decided to space them, create more pages of cold regions with Venturi effect.

Origin Works will also start work in August at the new house on Ringgold Street, where local ENVI-ronment and Brownsville history will play an important role in the design of the house.

In the end, Huerta said their goal with the new development is to "create a great place to live and a great community."

With the principles of their design, he said, Wild Rose Court will have "a lively atmosphere in a community where you want to see the way you are."

www.brownsvilleherald.com

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