And the winners are...

Preservation Houston names 16 winners of 2026 Good Brick Awards

The best time of year for Houston preservation lovers has finally arrived! Preservation Houston has announced their 2026 Good Brick Award recipients. This year, some very familiar public-facing properties are getting their flowers, including The Houston Zoo, an adaptive reuse project at a historic hospital, the historic River Oaks Theater, and the wildly-well-received Marlene Inn and Bar Madonna.

Preservation Houston will present these coveted awards during their annual Cornerstone Dinner taking place Friday, February 27th, celebrating adaptive reuse projects, legacy businesses, and community-led preservation efforts that are keeping Houston’s cultural identity intact amid rapid development.

Since 1979, the Good Brick Awards have recognized outstanding contributions to the preservation, restoration, and enhancement of Houston and Harris County’s architectural and cultural heritage. The awards honor individuals, organizations, and projects that have made a significant and lasting impact on protecting historic resources.

Each year’s winners represent a wide range of preservation efforts, including restoration of historic homes and buildings, adaptive reuse of commercial and institutional spaces, protection of cultural landmarks, publications, documentaries, and educational initiatives, and craftspeople, preservation leaders, and legacy businesses across Houston and Harris County.

“The Good Brick Awards bring public attention to the people and projects shaping Houston’s historic landscape,” says Jennifer Kapral, Executive Director of Preservation Houston. “By sharing these stories, we hope to inspire broader appreciation for the role preservation plays in strengthening our city’s identity and future.”

As always, award nominations are open to the public, and recipients are selected by an independent jury of preservation experts. Along with spotlighting each winner, CultureMap has asked each recipient for a fun fact about their property or project(s). Be sure to keep an eye out for some of these local gems when the popular Good Brick Tour returns this fall.

Residential

Lee Ann and James Badum for the restoration of the Jahn House (c.1935) in Southside Place.
A true love letter to Southside Place’s architectural roots, the restoration of 3767 University Boulevard preserves one of the neighborhood’s rare 1930s Crane Ready-Cut bungalows. Thoughtfully updated for modern living, the home retains its original floor plan, roofline, and historic details while incorporating salvaged materials, custom millwork, and period-appropriate finishes, proving historic preservation and contemporary life can beautifully coexist.

Fun Fact: During demolition, original wallpaper was uncovered throughout the house, and select samples were framed and preserved as artifacts.

Donna and Jim Bennett for the restoration of the Lund House (c.1896) and the Modern Print Shop (1927) in the Houston Heights.
This circa-1898 Queen Anne home and former 1927 print shop were thoughtfully preserved and reimagined as a connected residential retreat in the Houston Heights. By restoring original windows, trim, and structure and adapting the historic print shop into a hobby woodworking shop, the project safeguards two distinctive buildings while honoring the area’s architectural legacy and creative spirit.

Fun Fact: The homeowners personally restored all 321 steel awning windowpanes in the former print shop, each one cleaned, reglazed, and repainted to working condition.

Jennifer and Jarrett Ellzey for the restoration of the S.I. Morris House (1952) in Waverly Court.
Designed in 1952 by prominent Houston architect S.I. Morris, Jr., 2 Waverly Court is a midcentury modern landmark organized around a series of intimate interior garden courts. This thoughtful restoration removed incompatible later additions and returned the home to its original massing, materials, and rhythm, while discreetly adapting it for contemporary family life. The result honors Morris’ restrained modern vision and secures the home’s longevity as a protected City of Houston landmark.

Fun Fact: Each major room opens onto its own private garden court, creating a lush, inward-facing layout that feels far more expansive than the home’s modest footprint.

Fan and Peter Morris for stewardship of the Carpenter House (1959, Lucian Hood) in Cherokee Place.
Built in 1959 and designed by noted Texas architect Lucian T. Hood, Jr., 5330 Mandell Street is a quintessential expression of Houston’s midcentury ranchero style. Over three decades of stewardship, the homeowners focused on careful repair, thoughtful updates, and landscape restoration, embracing the home’s original plan, materials, and indoor-outdoor ethos while allowing it to evolve gracefully with family life.

Fun Fact: Instead of replacing the home’s famously pink kitchen tile, the owners leaned into it, following designer Herbert Wells’s advice to “out-pink the pink” with a bold three-tone palette that has become a beloved signature.

Jen and Vinod Pathrose for an addition to their bungalow (1920) in Cherryhurst.
This imaginative addition to a 1920 Cherryhurst bungalow reimagines preservation through light, color, and landscape. Designed as a conservatory that links old and new, the project preserves the original home’s integrity while introducing a contemporary two-story addition that remains visually deferential from the street. The result is a joyful, highly personal space that celebrates craft, ecology, and the evolving life of a historic home.

Fun Fact: The sculptural stair railing was inspired by cut paper art and fabricated using CNC technology, repeating a geometric floral pattern found throughout the home.

Holly and Gregory Suellentrop for the renovation of the Klunkert Farmhouse (c. 1875) in Woodland Heights.
Originally built between 1875 and 1900, this former farmhouse has lived many lives, but this restoration carefully untangled decades of piecemeal changes to reveal the home’s original scale, proportions, and character. By restoring historic room volumes, reestablishing the central hall, and adding a discreet rear addition, the project honors the house’s layered history while creating a flexible, light-filled family home built to last another century.

Fun Fact: During renovation, the team uncovered original ceilings measuring 10 feet, 6 inches high,hidden for years beneath dropped ceilings, dramatically transforming the home’s sense of space.

Commercial and Institutional

Lily Barfield for the adaptive reuse of the Stewart House (1910, George H. Fruehling) in the Avondale East Historic District as The Marlene.
Once a private residence, the John S. Stewart House has been thoughtfully repurposed into The Marlene, a boutique inn and cocktail bar that opens a historic Avondale landmark to the public. Built in 1910 –1911, the Neoclassical home’s original floors, millwork, and Ionic-columned porch were carefully preserved while adapting the space for modern hospitality and accessibility, proving that historic integrity and contemporary use can coexist beautifully.

Fun fact: The project secured Protected Landmark designation with the City of Houston, ensuring the house’s preservation long after its transformation into a public-facing space.

Culinary Khancepts for the rehabilitation of the River Oaks Theatre (1939, Pettigrew & Worley).
Houston’s oldest operating suburban movie theater has reopened its doors. Originally built in 1939, River Oaks Theatre was meticulously restored to highlight its Streamline Moderne design, from its neon boomerang marquee and terrazzo floors to sculptural bas-relief artwork by Buck Wynn Jr. The revived space once again serves the community with film screenings, live performances, and cultural programming.

Fun fact: The theatre was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024, the same year it reopened to the public.

Houston Zoo for the restoration of its Reflection Pool and Colonnades (1950, Hare & Hare with Irving R. Klein and Associates).
A beloved entryway to the Houston Zoo for generations, the historic Reflection Pool and Colonnades have been carefully rehabilitated to restore their original character while addressing decades of structural wear. The project removed non-historic finishes, repaired concrete and limestone elements, upgraded drainage and lighting, and returned the colonnades to their understated modernist beauty, all while honoring the site’s role as a civic gathering place.

Fun fact: The Reflection Pool was created in the late 1940s by combining three smaller pools into one unified basin, forming the iconic promenade visitors experience today.

Scarlet Capital for the rehabilitation of the San Jacinto Warehouse (1926) in the Near Northside.
Built in 1926 as the San Jacinto Warehouse, this former industrial hub has been reimagined as The Docks, a dynamic mixed-use campus for artists, entrepreneurs, and creatives. Original brick masonry, steel windows, dock doors, and bowstring trusses were preserved, honoring Houston’s industrial past while activating the space for a new generation of cultural and professional use.

Fun fact: The Docks is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognizing its significance in architecture, commerce, and transportation history.

Publications and Other Projects

Ben Koush and Kathryn O’Rourke for their book Home, Heat, Money, God.
Rooted in decades of architectural documentation, Home, Heat, Money, God reframes how we see Texas’s modern built environment through photography and accessible storytelling. With Houston at its core, the book connects everyday buildings, from schools and houses to churches and cultural institutions, to the social forces that shaped them, offering a powerful tool for preservation advocacy and public understanding.

Fun fact: Approximately 17 percent of the buildings featured in the book are located in Harris County, underscoring Houston’s outsized role in shaping modern architecture across Texas.

Dijana Handanovic for the restoration of a K67 kiosk (1966, Saša Mächtig).
Designed in 1966 by Slovenian architect Sasa Mächtig, the Kiosk K67 is an iconic piece of modern design once found throughout former Yugoslavia as a hub for everyday commerce and connection. This meticulous restoration revived a rare surviving kiosk using salvaged original components, returning it to its signature Traffic Orange and reintroducing it to public life in Houston as a platform for cultural exchange, art, and community gathering.

Fun fact: Out of approximately 7,500 K67 kiosks originally produced, only a handful remain. This restored unit was reconstructed using parts from two deteriorated kiosks sourced in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Southampton Place for the restoration of Southampton’s historic concrete street markers.
First installed in the early 1940s through a WPA-funded initiative, Southampton’s concrete street markers are a defining element of the neighborhood’s historic streetscape. Faced with loss and deterioration, residents organized a multi-year preservation effort to restore existing markers and recreate missing ones, ultimately reviving the entire original streetscape through craftsmanship, community fundraising, and innovative 3D-printing techniques.

Fun fact: The project involved more than 150 donors, raised $40,000, and required setting and removing letter molds 1,240 times to recreate 31 historically-accurate street markers.

The Martha Peterson Award

Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation and CloudBreak Communities for the adaptive reuse of St. Elizabeth Hospital (1947, Maurice J. Sullivan) as St. Elizabeth Place.
Once the only hospital serving Black residents in Houston’s Fifth Ward during the Jim Crow era, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital has been thoughtfully rehabilitated into St. Elizabeth Place, a mixed-income housing community. The project preserved the Art Moderne complex’s historic masonry, terrazzo, and circulation patterns while adapting patient rooms and support spaces into 85 residential units, honoring the building’s legacy of care while meeting today’s community needs.

Fun fact: The non-historic rear addition was fully removed, restoring the hospital’s original site configuration and reinforcing its historic presence in the Fifth Ward.

The Legacy Business Award

Hamilton Shirts for four generations of craftsmanship and tradition.
Founded in 1883, Hamilton Shirts is one of Houston’s oldest family-owned businesses and America’s longest-standing bespoke shirtmaker. For more than 140 years, Hamilton has upheld the art of hand-cut, custom shirtmaking, passing down its craft through four generations of family ownership. As Houston has grown into a global city, Hamilton has remained a constant, reflecting the enduring value of skilled craftsmanship, family enterprise, and businesses built to last.

Fun Fact: Hamilton continues to hand-cut every custom shirt today, using techniques passed down since the company’s founding in 1883.

The Preservation Houston President’s Award

Steven F. Curry, FAIA for his contributions to historic preservation in Houston and Texas.
Steven F. Curry, FAIA, is a longtime leader and trusted voice in Houston’s preservation community whose work has helped shape thoughtful, informed approaches to saving historic places across the city and state. Through decades of professional practice and public service, including leadership with Houston Mod, service on the Docomomo US Awards Committee, and membership on the Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission, Steve has championed modern and historic architecture with care, rigor, and lasting impact.

Fun Fact: In addition to his advocacy work, Steve is also a Good Brick Award recipient, earning the honor in 2016 for the restoration of the Bendit House (1953), designed by Lars Bang.

Preservation Houston 2026 Good Brick Awards River Oaks Theatre

Photo by Corey Watson

The River Oaks Theatre reopened in 2024.

awards preservation preservation houston

right on track

First look at members-only work club’s vintage-filled new East End outpost

Courtesy of Switchyards

Signature boothbank seating takes center stage just off of the cafe.

Houston’s trendy East End neighborhood continues to heat up as the newest Switchyards work club sets its opening date for Monday, August 31. Following the wildly successful Montrose location that — like all Switchyards clubs of 2025 – sold out its memberships on opening morning, the new East End club (3401 Harrisburg Blvd, Suite H.) is sure to perform just as well.

Self-described as “kinda like an Italian soccer internet cafe combined with a really cool vintage shop,” each of the 39 individual clubs is designed with a strong focus on the history of the neighborhood and local culture. The East End club is located in the historic Imperial Laundry building from the 1940s — joining popular dining destination Street to Kitchen, among others.

It’s a fair assertion that the popularity of the network of Switchyards work clubs boils down to, well, vibes. Not that 24/7 access, fast Wi-Fi, and free locally-sourced coffees and teas aren’t a heck of a draw, but Switchyards has quickly developed a brand identity that is as enviable as it is recognizable.

Swoon-worthy vintage furniture, locally-shopped vintage decor and accessories, creativity-sparking art and design books ready to stretch their spines, and cozy rugs underfoot are all carefully chosen to offer ideal working spaces and conditions for any and every one of the 250 club members — that’s the membership cut off, by the way. After those initial spots fill on drop day, it’s waitlist city.

CultureMap recently toured the nearly-completed site to meet the design team and to chat with Switchyard’s head of design Jared Erickson about the newest club, the process of designing each individual club, and more.

“In our spaces we try to mix the best of a hotel lobby, a dive bar, and your local neighborhood coffee shop, creating these different zones so no matter what type of work you’re looking to do, you have the right seat for that work,” explains Erickson. “What are the best neighborhoods in America and where can we fit in there? We want to be always tucked away. We aren’t looking at the downtown, coolest spots where all the big brands go, but for what feels like part of the neighborhood. Behind us we have streets and streets of houses and anyone who wants to walk here doesn’t have to drive across town. That’s why we want to go into awesome cities and plant ourself in the best neighborhoods.”

Not only is the East End location extremely walkable, it’s directly across from a Houston Metrorail line and just down the street from a busy railway interchange.

“It’s funny because Switchyards is really a train term and somehow we do find ourselves pretty close to transit and to trains,” he says. “We have a couple of places in Chicago that are right on the Blue Line.”

The Switchyards brand is so far opposite from other similar concepts that it’s a bit of a disservice to group them into the “shared workspace” category. While it is absolutely a space for work, it reads and lives more like a lifestyle brand. It’s a safe space for no-nonsense creative types and people who were into Bret Easton Ellis long before he was reduced to a Ryan Murphy shill. And good luck ever overhearing a member say something ridiculous like “let’s circle back.” Switchyards people are the cool kids — in this author’s opinion.

“You have your nine-to-five tech worker that’s going to come work out of here a couple of hours a day — maybe it’s on their way from dropping their kids off at school — and they can come in and knock out a full day’s work in four hours,” says Erickson. “Then you have your gig workers that are doing something else during the day and either have a side project or something they want to work on at night. We take anyone, but it’s also a space that’s not for everyone — you know?”

Switchyards may be the company’s name, but they make it a point to stay very much on track. Multiple, work-focused quiet zones coexist with more relaxed, flexible spaces for mixing and mingling. Private “phone booth” spaces make allowances for calls, while “heads down” spaces are completely no-nonsense. The only sound allowed in these spaces is the comfortable hum of white noise machines. Breakout rooms are available to book free of charge as well.

“The team works really closely together to think about everything that’s going to go into the space and how to tell the story and feel cozy,”explains Erickson. “We mix old and new. We will have an older style credenza and club chairs and then mix and match where we need to to get that little high-low feel.”

The team used the Imperial Laundry facility’s history as its jumping off point. Erickson was even able to score an original trucker-style ball-cap from eBay. It sits in the lobby trophy case with other local trinkets and finds related to the neighborhood and to the laundry business.

“We leaned into the space and into the neighborhood and that kind of tells us where we are going with the decor. We have our base — what we call our 80 percent items — that we just know we are going to use: booth runs and table tops. Then we mix in some found objects or anything we come across. Each space is unique, but very ‘Switchyards’ at the same time.”

The lobby display case is a bit of a Switchyards staple, with each club receiving its own antique or vintage display or trophy case. Erickson sources these, usually in bulk, from old schools. Which is charming, considering the strong mid-century academia aesthetic that pulses through all of their clubs.

“We always try to include this kind of display or trophy case to keep all of our treasures,” says Erickson.“I think of that as ‘What would the guy that owned this space before we got here — what would he be collecting? What was their thing that they liked, held onto, and put into a display or trophy case to save for later?’ We find that as a point of inspiration for our members, too. As they’re walking through or maybe waiting on someone at the door, they can have something to look at.”

Members will find everything from nostalgic vintage letterman’s jackets and pennants to old ashtrays and wooden thread bobbins behind the glass cabinet doors. Take a break from work to stroll through the cafe area and into the lobby to get lost in all the fun bits and bobs in the trophy case — as a treat.

Speaking of the variety of pennants throughout the space, Erickson admits that not all of the beautiful felted wool pieces are authentic vintage. Switchyards enjoys a partnership with Oxford Pennant, who help create custom pieces that lean into the older aesthetic and fill any gaps they may have in their vintage inventory. The team chooses the best vintage designs from each decade, working them into the space in a way that feels cohesive.

“We use an 80/20 rule. It’s sort of like we try to have 80 percent of it — tables, chairs, the things that matter but don’t really matter—or that we know are tried-and-true, and then we fill with 20 percent of these highly-curated items,” explains Erickson. “So we do try to locally source, especially in markets that we’re already in. What can we buy locally and keep in the neighborhood, keep in the city, and keep in its market?”

Switchyards is headquartered in Atlanta, where Erickson and his team create the majority of the design plans for the clubs before packing their core pieces and hitting the road. Their approximately 20,000-square-foot warehouse is also where the team keeps its bulk vintage scores from around the country — even from right in Houston’s kitschy neighbor Round Top.

“Since we are building out so many spaces, we like to buy entire collections. Like the big barrels and the hundreds of green bins from a warehouse that was going out,” says Erickson. “Then we ask how we can bring these things into a space and use them — the filing cabinets are kind of our signature move. Instead of building a wall, we will do a row of filing cabinets to divide up the space and make it a bit more cozy. I bought about 200 vintage Eames chairs [at the Round Top spring show] — the stackable shell chairs with fabric — and got a killer deal on them and that made it all worth it.”

As for the rest of that 20 percent of the design, the design team shopped local thrift and resale shops in the area to find everything they needed to make the space feel like it can tell more of a story.

“We went to a local creative reuse store and bought up a bunch of little pails and build-up items,” explains Erickson. “One of my favorite things I got there is this weird welded piece (it currently lives atop a cafe cabinet). It was probably someone’s practice-weld piece, but we just love it. We love unique items that feel handmade and that you’re not going to find anywhere else. I love it when you find that special store and come across a vintage Thurston lamp for $20 when you know it’s a $400-600 item — it feels good.”

The cafe area has an interesting selection of wall decor. That starts with a custom made light box containing a cork bulletin board for club news and upcoming events like “iced coffee Fridays” among historical papers and pennants. Erickson’s original pen and paper design sketches live beneath a nonchalant tac in the drywall — all centered around the site plan for Erickson’s babies, the tanker desks that became a gift that kept on giving.

“I knew we were going to use tanker desks”, he says. “Those are probably my favorite pieces here. I bought about 200 of these from a warehouse office that was going out of business. It was pretty wild, because we got a great deal on them and the drawers still had items in them. We’ve used some of those pieces throughout the space as well. Yeah, that’s probably one of my favorite parts.”

The entire design for the space is highlighted by the heavy assist from the original industrial windows from the building’s construction in the 1940s. In spaces that are somewhat beyond the reach of the abundant natural lighting, lamplight fills the gaps. All artificial lighting has been designed to be soft and relaxing — nothing too stark or bright.

Switchyards, including the lighting, is anything but sterile. Erickson says the aesthetic successes of each work club comes from embracing what’s there, like the steel windows.

“I’m always inspired by just using what I have. There are so many options out there, especially online, and ‘trends’ that come and go. I think just finding that style that speaks to you and just having a sense of taste and what can go together — that you may not see on Pinterest — works. And using what you have is and can be a super power if you just lean into it.”

Membership info

Memberships, priced at $129 per month, will go on sale at 10 am on Thursday, August 27. Sneak peaks and pop-ins run from August 24-26 (RSVP here). Once the first 250 memberships have sold, Switchyards will maintain a waitlist. There is an early access email list as well as a text notification list for receiving the membership registration link on August 27. Switchyards has hinted that links may go out via text alerts first, so do with that what you will.

Courtesy of Switchyards

Original 1940s windows set the tone for the design.

openings switchyards east end home-design interior design

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right on track

First look at members-only work club’s vintage-filled new East End outpost