TYPE Residential Retrofit
DATE 2016-2019
LOCATION Houston, TX
DESIGN LEAD
David Costanza
4815 Graustark is a residential retrofit of an existing townhome in Houston, TX first designed by Arquitectonica, an Architecture firm based out of Miami, Florida. The townhome was constructed in 1984 during the housing boom in Houston, Texas, and is one of six that make up the overall structure.
The retrofit was a three-year process that aimed to bring the spatially amazing, but poorly constructed house up to contemporary detailing and to resolve and remediate the water-damaged structure and envelope. A combination of a third-floor patio positioned over a conditioned space that was aggressively leaking and a full-width skylight, that was failing necessitated a deep retrofit. The scale of the damage required the replacement of a large portion of the structure. The extent of damage was exacerbated by the construction techniques and detailing. The primary cladding was a directly applied stucco without accounting for a drainage plain or weep screed. As part of the retrofit, the stucco, sheathing, and envelope control layers were rebuilt. In addition to the remediation, the design of the retrofit opened up the previously compartmentalized floor plans.