The oeuvre of Houben's architecture is wide-ranging and includes projects such as universities, libraries, theatres, residential areas, museums and hotels.

According to her biography on her firm's website, she "bases her work on precise analysis coupled with an intuition built over three decades [by interweaving] social, technical, playful and human aspects of space-making together in order to create a unique solution to each architectural challenge.

In 2010 Francine Houben was granted lifelong membership to the Akademie der Künste, Architecture Department, in Berlin.

[9] In November 2015 Queen Máxima of the Netherlands presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize to Houben for her oeuvre.

Her most recent synopsis is "People, place, purpose, poetry: through these four words Francine Houben illustrates her practice's unique, humanistic approach to architecture.