BRAVA

The Houston skyline just got more interesting.

Brava, Houston’s latest residential tower and Gerald Hines’s final legacy project, stands taller than any other downtown residential community at 47 stories.

The building’s unique and deceptively slender shape toes the line of defying the rules of geometry. The base of the structure, which provides for the ground floor resident lobby and future restaurant as well as all parking, is the sturdy hull from which the glassy residential tower bursts upward as a taut sail frozen in motion. The cherry on top of this architectural marvel is the twisting appearance of the building’s balconies, which were designed at varying angles to create the illusion of tilted, swaying fabric.

The interiors are equally striking, again invoking captured motion. The ground floor lobby is punctuated with an undulating plaster wall, like paper in a breeze. The team’s referential design is deliberate — the tower stands on the former home of the Houston Chronicle’s parking structure. Numerous nods to the newspaper’s legacy are peppered throughout, some more subtly than others. The unfolding narrative is a joy for first timers and long-time residents alike.

Uninterrupted panoramic views, abundant natural light, unique unit layouts, and comfortable amenities at the convergence of Downtown Houston’s Theater, Business, and Historical districts makes Brava one of the few places in the city where you can actually live, work, and play.

There’s a good reason why most buildings are rectangular boxes. They’re easy to design and easy to build. Brava breaks with “easy” and we’re all better for it.