The Machine Garden transforms a defunct coffee roasting plant into an occupiable rooftop garden in Houston's  East End.

Following a detailed inventory of existing rooftop equipment, the proposed plan relies on the selective removal and demolition of equipment parts and accessories to create a series of intentional gathering areas of different sizes. The remnants of the building's coffee roasting equipment are recast as sculptural figures in the garden surrounded by planting and supplemented by a cooling mist system that provides thermal comfort in Houston’s hot climate.

Houston, TX

Machine Garden

Dept. is a landscape architecture and urban design studio that provides creative, useful, and adaptive design responses for the public and the environment.