OMA adapts historic houston coffee plant into music and arts academy

inspired by montessori principles, the adaptive reuse project organizes classrooms, libraries, and performance spaces into a connected learning environment, giving new life to an industrial landmark.

thomai tsimpou October 12, 2026 4 min

OMA reimagines a Houston coffee plant as a school

OMA transforms Houston’s historic 1930s J.A. Folger & Co. coffee plant into the Frank Liu Jr. Academy for Music and Arts (FLAMA), a tuition-free public charter school designed around music, creative learning, and community. Led by OMA partner Jason Long and project architect Salome Nikuradze, the 6,050-square-meter project sits along Houston’s Buffalo Bayou East corridor, across from the future Turkey Bend development. Now under construction, the school combines the adaptive reuse of an industrial building with a spatial approach that treats education as a collective cultural experience.

Exterior view of FLAMA showing the restored industrial brick facade, original grid windows, colorful courtyard structures, and school entrance — all renderings courtesy of OMA

FLAMA organizes learning around shared spaces

The architects at OMA organize FLAMA across three stories, arranging its programs according to the developmental stages of its students, with younger children occupying the lower levels and older students moving upward. Drawing on Montessori principles, the design supports independence, openness, and collaborative learning through a series of shared spaces that OMA calls ‘neighborhoods.’

Each floor is organized around two central gathering areas, or ‘cymbals,’ with classrooms, practice rooms, and academic programs arranged around them. Rather than treating circulation as a means of moving between enclosed classrooms, the design makes shared space an integral part of the educational experience. These commons accommodate informal gatherings, independent study, project work, and performances, allowing everyday activities to overlap.

Students play in a landscaped school courtyard with trees, planting beds, colorful geometric structures, and large industrial-style windows — a landscaped courtyard introduces colorful geometric forms alongside the restored industrial facade of FLAMA

music shapes the architecture

At ground level of FLAMA, the youngest students share an intimate common area for play, movement, and drum circles, reflecting the Montessori emphasis on physical development. Nearby, students in grades one and two gather around a larger open space, where a sculptural staircase curves like a French horn and provides a setting for informal performances. On the upper floors, the shared spaces shift toward reading, collaboration, and more focused study. Students in grades three through five use an open library with flexible furniture that accommodates group projects and after-school activities.

Above, a second library commons serves grades six through eight, with more concentrated areas for independent work. The two libraries connect through an opening in the floor shaped like the letter ‘f.’ The form references the forte symbol in musical notation, the f-shaped sound holes found on string instruments, and the academy’s own name. Beyond its visual reference, the opening establishes a connection between floors that allows light and sound to pass between the two learning environments. At the center of the school, a double-height cafetorium brings students together for lunch, assemblies, and performances. A large circular opening and curved auditorium staircase recall the body of a banjo, transforming a space for daily meals into a setting for collective gathering and musical expression.

students sit on a yellow stepped platform beneath illuminated FLAMA lettering in a shared music and performance space — a stepped yellow platform creates an informal setting for gathering, music practice, and performances at FLAMA

bringing daylight into an industrial structure

One of the main challenges in turning the former coffee plant into a school is bringing natural light into the building. OMA places classrooms along the exterior walls to give them access to daylight, while new circular skylights bring light into the central shared spaces. The team also preserves elements of the building’s industrial past. The original windows along the street facades are restored and upgraded to meet current energy standards. Inside, a landscaped courtyard introduces a more playful approach, with colorful geometric window divisions that give the historic building a new identity. The courtyard connects the industrial history of the building with its new role as a school.

Students practice instruments and gather in a circular music library with yellow shelving, colorful seating, and a looping yellow ceiling feature — FLAMA’s music library features yellow built-in shelving, curved seating, and a sculptural ceiling inspired by musical forms

oma-historic-houston-coffee-plant-music-arts-academy-frank-liu-jr-flama-designboom-large01 — a sweeping turquoise staircase forms the centerpiece of FLAMA’s double-height cafetorium

Students play instruments and read in a library with floor-to-ceiling yellow shelving, curved benches, and circular skylights — circular skylights bring daylight into FLAMA’s shared library

Students work around tables in a bright classroom with large windows, light wood storage cabinets, and yellow chairs — classrooms at FLAMA line the building perimeter to bring natural daylight into the learning spaces

project info:

name: Frank Liu Jr. Academy for Music and Arts (FLAMA)
architect: OMA New York | @omanewyork

location: Houston, Texas, United States

area: 6,050 sqm (65,120 sq ft)

partner: Jason Long
project architect: Salome Nikuradze
client: Lovett Commercial
architect of record: RDLR Architects
landscape architect: SWA Group
structural engineer: IMEG
MEP: DBR Engineering
acoustics: Salas O’Brien