As part of a special focus on the United States, the workshop of the gmp Foundation’s aac Academy for Architectural Culture explored new uses for the ExxonMobil Building, a high-rise in Houston, Texas. 

Located on Bell Street in the heart of downtown, the building once stood as a symbol of the energy industry’s growth and played a key role in Houston’s rise as a center of oil and commerce. However, the 45-storey building from the 1960s has now stood vacant for some time. So how can the potential of this empty office tower be reimagined to help meet the city’s urgent need for housing while also revitalizing the surrounding urban environment?

Over a four-week period, the 16 aac scholarship students engaged intensively with this question, developing proposals that balanced functional needs with social considerations. Their concepts were informed by detailed building data and thorough analyses of the site’s urban context. 

Rather than viewing the 800 Bell Street tower in isolation, the teams approached it as part of a larger urban fabric, integrating it and the surrounding lots into a multifunctional “superblock.” 

The results of the workshop are available to view in an exhibition at the aac studios on the Rainvilleterrasse Campus until 1 August 2025.

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