The is once again making its mark on the city’s architectural landscape, with faculty, students, and alumni recognized among the winners of this year’s . Presented annually by the American Institute of Architects’ Houston chapter, these awards are considered the region’s highest honor for design excellence, spotlighting projects setting new benchmarks for creativity, technical innovation, and sustainability.
More than a showcase of striking designs, the program drives a wider conversation about the value of thoughtful design in shaping Houston’s future. By celebrating work balancing bold ideas with community needs and environmental responsibility, the awards reinforce the Hines College’s role as a key incubator of talent and a driving force in elevating the city’s built environment.
Hines College faculty have shone among this year’s winners, including Ambient Architecture (Sam Clovis / clovisbaronian), Norhill Residence (Kristin Schuster / Inflection Architecture), and OpenHOUse (Jason Logan, Chris Battaglia, Dijana Handanovic, Mili Kyropoulou, and more / Hines College). However, among faculty and industry professionals is third-year architecture student Zachery Lively, who won a conceptual award for his sophomore year design, Adaptive Gallery.
Above: An architectural model of Adaptive Gallery by Zachery Lively
In Houston’s historic Heights, Lively’s project breathes new life into a long-silent piece of the city’s industrial past. Once a 1,960-square-foot Houston Lighting and Power Company building, the concept transforms 620 Yale Street into a combined gallery, studio, and artist residence, featuring an additional 500-square-foot loft.
“Our studio was tasked with reusing the old HL&P building to produce a space an artist could use as a residence, art studio to produce the art, and a gallery to display the art,” shared Lively. “The design was inspired by House in the Hills by Sean Godsell and how he used the architecture to place light where he wanted it intentionally.”
The design creates a striking dialogue between old and new: the original brick shell, heavy and rectilinear, is punctuated by circular skylight tubes and slender steel elements that feel almost weightless. These tubular skylights funnel daylight deep into the interior, where retractable fabric filters and curtains let the artist fine-tune the light for installations and everyday living. Broad southeast windows capture prevailing breezes for natural cooling, while a rhythmic west-facing screen of vertical tubes shields the space from the late-afternoon sun.
Above: A section drawing showing daylight lighting the gallery through the tubular skylights; The skylights viewed from below in the gallery; While the building's facade covered in a screen of vertical tubes reduce solar heat gain and glare, it produced harsh shadows inside the space; Lively added a filter on all the windows to diffuse the light
By blending preservation with innovation, the Adaptive Gallery transforms an overlooked utility structure into a sustainable, light-filled cultural hub, showing how thoughtful design can both honor Houston’s architectural heritage and meet contemporary creative needs.
“Receiving this award means a great deal to me. Knowing I would be competing with projects from professionals was a little daunting,” said Lively. “Without my instructor Ross Wienert encouraging me to keep pushing the design and believing in my work, I would not have been given the honor of submitting my design. This award has really improved my confidence moving forward, pushing my designs, and getting out of my comfort zone when designing!”
View all the winning projects from the .