As part of Rice University’s unique residential college system, the new Will Rice Magister House serves a dual purpose. More than a single-family home for the magister, it also acts as a gathering space for approximately 300 students who make up the Will Rice College community. Given the site’s location in the heart of campus, we felt the house should respect the aesthetic and material traditions of the campus, while demonstrating progressive design and performance standards that set an example for future magister houses.
The programmatic split between family home and community event space is clearly articulated in the massing, with the majority of family living space housed in a brick volume that floats above the glazed ground floor, shading the outdoor spaces below. At the ground level, fin columns create a rhythm linking public areas of the dining and living room with exterior spaces, including a public terrace at the front of the house and a more private family yard behind. A brick-clad stair core acts as a sculptural moment to formalize the transition between public and private space, while a skylit double-height space beneath a sculpted soffit guides soft light into the interior.
AIA Houston 2022 Design Award Winner
Photo: Leonid Furmansky | Contractor: HCS | Structural: INSIGHT