Houston CultureMap contributor Barbara Kuntz collected all the project proposals the website covered in 2014 and recapped four daring developments that could alter the cultural landscape in Bayou City:
A New Swimming Hot Spot
In December, three entrepreneurs proposed a natural public swimming pool in Houston, Kuntz reports. Today, the project already has more than 270 backers making pledges on the project’s Kickstarter page. The project is also receiving support from civic leaders and organizations, including the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, the Greater East End District, the city of Houston Sustainability Office, and the Shell Center for Sustainability at Rice University.
Grand Texas: The Lone Star State’s New Entertainment District
Back in 2013, developer Monty Galland announced that the Grand Texas theme park is just a single component of a larger plan that involves 450,000 sf for retail, dining, an RV area, and a 6,000-seat stadium for minor league baseball games. As of last fall, bulldozers have started clearing out space on the site along Highway 59. By 2020, officials expect 4.5 million annual visitors to this theme park district.
Farming in the Astrodome
The Urban Land Institute presented what Kuntz called an “ambitious plan” to repurpose the iconic stadium after Houston voters rejected a $217 million bond to transform it into a special events center. This plan involves constructing an oak-lined promenade from the METRO light rail station to the Astrodome, where the space could be used for functions including a park, sustainable farm, farmer’s market, festivals, and museums. The dome’s top area would include a vieweing area with zip-lining, hike-and-bike trails, and indoor rock climbing.
Memorial Park Long-Range Master Plan
This April, the final design for Houston’s Memorial Park goes before the Houston city council for consideration. The so-called Long-Range Master Plan by Thomas Woltz, principal with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, highlights updates from public input, such as 8.5 miles of mountain bike trails and 17 miles of paved walkways for bikers and pedestrians.
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| Nov 9, 2010
Designing a library? Don’t focus on books
How do you design a library when print books are no longer its core business? Turn them into massive study halls. That’s what designers did at the University of Amsterdam, where they transformed the existing 27,000-sf library into a study center—without any visible books. About 2,000 students visit the facility daily and encounter workspaces instead of stacks.
| Nov 9, 2010
Turner Construction report: Green buildings still on the agenda
Green buildings continue to be on the agenda for real estate owners, developers, and corporate owner-occupants, according to the Turner 2010 Green Building Market Barometer. Key findings: Almost 90% of respondents said it was extremely or very likely they would incorporate energy-efficiency improvements in their new construction or renovation project, and 60% expected to incorporate improvements to water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and green materials.
| Nov 5, 2010
New Millennium’s Gary Heasley on BIM, LEED, and the nonresidential market
Gary Heasley, president of New Millennium Building Systems, Fort Wayne, Ind., and EVP of its parent company, Steel Dynamics, Inc., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the Steel Joist Manufacturer’s westward expansion, its push to create BIM tools for its products, LEED, and the outlook for the nonresidential construction market.
| Nov 3, 2010
First of three green labs opens at Iowa State University
Designed by ZGF Architects, in association with OPN Architects, the Biorenewable Research Laboratory on the Ames campus of Iowa State University is the first of three projects completed as part of the school’s Biorenewables Complex. The 71,800-sf LEED Gold project is one of three wings that will make up the 210,000-sf complex.
| Nov 3, 2010
Park’s green education center a lesson in sustainability
The new Cantigny Outdoor Education Center, located within the 500-acre Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., earned LEED Silver. Designed by DLA Architects, the 3,100-sf multipurpose center will serve patrons of the park’s golf courses, museums, and display garden, one of the largest such gardens in the Midwest.
| Nov 3, 2010
Public works complex gets eco-friendly addition
The renovation and expansion of the public works operations facility in Wilmette, Ill., including a 5,000-sf addition that houses administrative and engineering offices, locker rooms, and a lunch room/meeting room, is seeking LEED Gold certification.
| Nov 3, 2010
Sailing center sets course for energy efficiency, sustainability
The Milwaukee (Wis.) Community Sailing Center’s new facility on Lake Michigan counts a geothermal heating and cooling system among its sustainable features. The facility was designed for the nonprofit instructional sailing organization with energy efficiency and low operating costs in mind.
| Nov 3, 2010
Seattle University’s expanded library trying for LEED Gold
Pfeiffer Partners Architects, in collaboration with Mithun Architects, programmed, planned, and designed the $55 million renovation and expansion of Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons at Seattle University. The LEED-Gold-designed facility’s green features include daylighting, sustainable and recycled materials, and a rain garden.
| Nov 3, 2010
Recreation center targets student health, earns LEED Platinum
Not only is the student recreation center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, the hub of student life but its new 54,000-sf addition is also super-green, having recently attained LEED Platinum certification.
| Nov 3, 2010
New church in Connecticut will serve a growing congregation
Tocci Building Companies will start digging next June for the Black Rock Congregational Church in Fairfield, Conn. Designed by Wiles Architects, the 103,000-sf multiuse facility will feature a 900-person worship center with tiered stadium seating, a children’s worship center, a chapel, an auditorium, a gymnasium, educational space, administrative offices, commercial kitchen, and a welcome center with library and lounge.
