Pen People Mar 2018

Philanthropy
by design
Houston/Tyner CFO and principal architect Gary Houston. Photo by Brad Jacobson
(CivicCouch.com) Inset: A lean, modern 6,000 square foot expansion of the Richstone Family
Center designed by Houston.
Architect Gary Houston balances work on the Manhattan Beach Marriott
with pro bono work for Richstone Family Center
by Robb Fulcher
Torrance-based architects Houston/Tyner have built an impressive
portfolio with the design of large-scale developments, such as luxury
resort hotels and theme park attractions. But much of their more important
work is little known, and done free of charge.
The beneficiaries of that work include the Richstone Family Center. The
local provider of services for the prevention and treatment of child abuse
is undertaking a 6,000 square-foot expansion of its Hawthorne facilities.
Houston/Tyner was instrumental in securing a $1 million grant for the expansion,
and is undertaking its design.
Gary Houston, who is heading up his firm’s pro bono work for Richstone,
will be honored by Richstone at its yearly gala on March 10.
Roger Van Remmen, president and CEO of Richstone, praised Houston
and the firm’s co-founder, Russel Tyner, for creating a “culture and chemistry
that really stands as a testament to who they are.”
“We are honored to be partners with them,” Van Remmen said.
Distinguished design
Houston was born in Scotland, and moved with his family to the Los Angeles
area when he was 11 years old. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo in 1983, and co-founded Houston/Tyner in 1988.
The partners moved into a former furniture store on Pacific Coast Hwy.
in Torrance, created a large, open design studio within its two stories, and
went on from there.
“We’ve been full tilt since 1990. Our clients are long-term clients who
call us with projects. Fortunately, we have a great clientele,” Houston said.
“We’ve been at our current size for a long period of time,” he said. “We
decided not to grow larger than this, in keeping with the principle of handson
design and construction. If we grew larger, we would become administrator/architects,
as opposed to hands-on design architects.”
Houston serves as principal architect and CFO of the firm, and enjoys a
reputation as an expert in code research, through his mastery of complex
community, city, and state regulations, permits, codes and variances.
Large-scale appeal
For the past 20 years, Houston/Tyner has designed luxury resort hotels,
from Hawaii to Florida. Among the firm’s recent triumphs is a “rebranding”
of the Marriott hotel in Manhattan Beach, elevating it to the status of the
hotelier’s “Autograph Collection” properties.
The site-wide redesign of the hotel – set to reopen under the new name
Westdrift – was performed with the beach-community feel in mind, Houston
said. The result is a “boutique hotel, but at a larger scale,” making use
of natural materials such as driftwood for an “upscale coastal” appeal.
The firm also designs rides and other attractions for the Universal Studios
theme parks, including those fashioned after the motion pictures “Transformers,”
“Despicable Me” and “The Mummy.”
“Each attraction took two to four years to develop, utilizing a group of
very talented contributors with a variety of engineering and artistic backgrounds,”
Houston said.
“We’re trying to change the guests’ perception of where they are, and
alter their perception of reality,” he said.
Tyner said the most significant trends in architecture are being driven by
36 Peninsula • March 2018