OMA has unveiled its ambitious design for the Frank Liu Jr. Academy for Music and Arts (FLAMA), transforming a historic 1930s industrial landmark in Houston, Texas, into a dynamic, tuition-free public charter school. Inspired by Montessori principles, the adaptive reuse project breathes new life into the former J.A. Folger & Co. coffee plant, organizing classrooms, libraries, and performance spaces into an interconnected learning environment that treats education as a collective cultural experience.
Led by OMA partner Jason Long and project architect Salome Nikuradze, the 6,050-square-meter facility is currently under construction. Situated along Houston’s Buffalo Bayou East corridor, directly across from the future Turkey Bend development, the project merges industrial preservation with innovative educational architecture. Rather than relying on traditional, isolated classroom models, the design reimagines circulation and shared spaces as core components of the daily academic and artistic journey.
FLAMA Organizes Learning Around Shared Spaces
Spanning three stories, FLAMA’s layout is carefully tailored to the developmental stages of its students. Younger children occupy the lower levels, while older students progress upward through the building. Drawing heavily on Montessori principles, the architecture fosters independence, openness, and collaborative learning by grouping programs around a series of shared, central gathering areas that OMA refers to as "neighborhoods."
Each floor is anchored by two central commons, or "cymbals," around which classrooms, practice rooms, and specialized academic programs are arranged. Instead of treating corridors merely as functional pathways for moving between enclosed rooms, the design integrates shared space directly into the educational experience. These commons accommodate informal gatherings, independent study, hands-on project work, and impromptu performances, allowing various daily activities to seamlessly overlap and enrich the school community.
Music Shapes the Architecture
The overarching theme of music and the arts profoundly influences the building’s spatial configuration. At the ground level, the youngest students share an intimate common area dedicated to play, movement, and drum circles, aligning with the Montessori emphasis on physical development. Nearby, students in the first and second grades gather around a larger open space defined by a sculptural staircase that curves gracefully like a French horn, providing a natural setting for informal performances and gatherings.
On the upper levels, the shared spaces shift toward reading, collaboration, and focused study. Students in grades three through five utilize an open library equipped with flexible furniture designed to accommodate group projects and after-school activities. Directly above, a second library commons serves students in grades six through eight, offering more concentrated zones for independent work.
A striking architectural gesture connects the two libraries through an opening in the floor shaped like the letter "f." This form is a direct nod to multiple musical references: the forte symbol in musical notation, the traditional f-shaped sound holes found on stringed instruments, and the academy’s own name. Beyond its strong visual identity, the opening establishes a vertical link between floors, allowing natural light and acoustic resonance to filter fluidly between the two distinct learning environments.
At the very heart of the school, a double-height cafetorium brings students together for daily meals, school-wide assemblies, and larger performances. Featuring a large circular opening and a curved auditorium staircase that recall the body of a banjo, the space successfully transforms a routine cafeteria into a vibrant venue for collective gathering and musical expression.
Bringing Daylight into an Industrial Structure
One of the primary design challenges in converting a massive 1930s coffee plant into a modern educational facility involved maximizing natural daylight within a deep industrial footprint. OMA addressed this by positioning classrooms along the building’s exterior perimeter, ensuring that every learning space has direct access to natural light and outdoor views. Simultaneously, new circular skylights were introduced to pierce the roof and flood the central shared spaces with daylight from above.
The design team also prioritized the preservation of the building’s rich industrial heritage. The original grid windows along the street-facing facades have been meticulously restored and upgraded to meet contemporary energy standards, maintaining the building’s historic character on the exterior. Inside, the insertion of a landscaped courtyard introduces a playful, human-scale element to the site. Featuring colorful geometric window divisions, the courtyard creates a striking visual dialogue between the heavy industrial history of the structure and its vibrant new life as an educational campus.
Project details for FLAMA highlight a collaborative multidisciplinary effort. The architecture is led by OMA New York under the direction of partner Jason Long and project architect Salome Nikuradze, working alongside client Lovett Commercial and architect of record RDLR Architects. The project team also includes SWA Group as landscape architect, IMEG for structural engineering, DBR Engineering for MEP, and Salas O’Brien handling acoustic design for the music-centric facilities.
