Martha Turner SIR agents docents for Rice Design Alliance Architectural Tour
The theme for the 41st Rice Design Alliance Architectural Tour was “Living in the Flood Plain.”
Bob Mitchell and Lorian Welsh, Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty agents, served as docents for this year’s tour. In 1972, David Crane, then dean of the Rice School of Architecture, and a small group of academicians and civic-minded community members organized the Rice Design Alliance. It has grown to almost 2,000 members and is recognized as the preeminent public forum in Houston for the critique, experience, and discussion of design and the built environment.
“I am so happy for my neighbors who built this wonderful home on their beautiful lot,” Lorian Welsh said. “Their architect, Brett Zamore, did a great job showcasing both the house and the yard. The folks with the RDA who prepare and conduct this annual home tour do a great job. Of the 1,000 people who attended, I venture to say everyone walked away with newfound knowledge, whether it be an interior design idea or something of a more structural nature.”
The H2Ouston, RDA’s 41st annual Architecture Tour, featured homes and buildings in Houston built on flood plains. Six self-guided tour stops, homes built as early as 1910 to new construction in 2017, were chosen as examples of resilience during past flood events.
Bob Mitchell reported that RDA facilitates an actionable understanding of how design influences the built and natural environments. The Welsh house, 3811 Linkwood, by architect and builder BZD, features a design elevated to code, an abundance of natural materials and light, a preservation of the mature oaks on the original lot and an energy efficient design among other features.
The Rice Design Alliance is greatly appreciated by the associates at Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty. The Alliance’s mission of transforming Houston into a better place to live and a model for 21st Century design, is very close to the heart of each agent as they promote and sell the city on a daily basis to prospective buyers from all over the world.