Construction has begun on a school inside Houston’s historic J. A. Folger & Co. coffee plant. The Frank Liu Jr. Academy for Music and Arts is expected to open in August 2027.
The 1930s building is being converted into a 6,050-square-meter, tuition-free public charter school open to students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. OMA, led by partner Jason Long, designed the project, with RDLR Architects as architect of record and SWA Group handling landscape design.
The planned layout puts classrooms along the building’s edge for daylight, while new circular skylights will brighten shared spaces at its center. Original windows will be restored and adapted to meet current school energy standards. A double-height space combining a cafeteria and auditorium is designed for lunches, assemblies and performances.
The plant stands along the Buffalo Bayou East corridor, across from Turkey Bend, where a separate project is reshaping former industrial waterfront land into public spaces and flood-adapted landscapes.
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