Hermann Park, Rice University, and The Texas Medical Center have shared a long neighboring relationship in Houston. Their paths come together at a small triangular site where the Rice Building Workshop erected a pavilion in honor of the Park’s Centennial Celebration.
Situated within four existing trees, the pavilion is composed of a quadrilateral ground plane containing integrated benches and, rotated above the base, a triangular frame. The cast concrete benches for seating are engineered to act as foundation elements (taking the place of costly and invasive footings). The triangulated steel structure is designed to provide a rigid framework and to visually extend into the lower tree canopy. The infill of woven cord gives a sense of enclosure and operates as an ephemeral scrim to the larger site beyond.
The project as a whole offers a rich collaboration between Rice University School of Architecture and the Hermann Park Conservancy. Students in the Rice Building Workshop succeeded in transforming a design idea into a built project that will be enjoyed by the Houston community over the year-long installation at Hermann Park. After the installation, the building components can be re-assembled at a site on the Rice campus.