Shedding More Light on a Non-Profit’s Work Spaces
Houston Endowment’s New Headquarters on the Bayou
Southwest view Houston Endowment Headquarters – Photo Ivan Baan, courtesy Kevin Daly
Following in the footsteps of other major non-profits—The Ford Foundation and LA’s California Endowment Center in particular—the Houston Endowment’s new headquarters, located on a grassy knoll just above the Buffalo Bayou in the city’s outskirts, has also made a strong architectural statement. Similar to the California Endowment, this project was also the result of a design competition, won by the California firm, Kevin Daly Architects.
Houston is no stranger to competitions, especially when the projects are located in close proximity to the Buffalo Bayou. Going back to 1986, the first competition dealing with the Buffalo Bayou (Sesquicentennial Park) was initiated by the Rice Design Alliance, a non-profit supported by the Rice School of Architecture. The Alliance was subsequently involved in the Hermann Park competition (1993)—also on the Bayou—and this marks the third competition bordering on that body of water. Here one had to note that Maria Nicanor, Executive Director of the Rice Design Alliance, was on the Technical Review Panel. So the Rice Design Alliance was either the initiator or closely connected with all three of these projects.
The Process
Located in a downtown highrise, the Endowment never had a pubic face; so it was only logical that the non-profit with an endowment capacity of $2.5B to draw on, would search for a location where its mission would visually establish its connection to the community and send a message of transparency. So a competition was certainly one instrument that could launch a new phase of the organization’s relationship to potential grant recipients.
To administer the competition, the endowment turned to Malcolm Reading Consultants of London, a firm with worldwide experience, from Sydney to Mumbai to Baltimore. The competition was launched in February 2019 with a Request for Qualifications and attracted 121 teams comprising 343 individual firms from around the world. From those portfolios, four teams were shortlisted for a competition stage, with each team to receive $50,000 after submission of their proposals. The four teams were:
- Deborah Berke Partners with DAVID RUBIN Land Collective and Atelier Ten
- Kevin Daly Architects with TLS Landscape Architecture, Productora and Transsolar
- Olson Kundig with Surfacedesign, Inc.
- Schaum/Shieh Architects HKS and Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture
All of the teams, regardless of their size, were required to include a Texas-based firm as part of their team. The new building itself is to be approximately 40,000 square feet and have a construction budget of $20M. (See: https://competitions.org/2020/03/houston-endowment-competition/)
Aerial view Houston Endowment Headquarters – Photo Ivan Baan, courtesy Kevin Daly
Much has already been said about the new building, not only its welcoming aura to the outside world, but the use of the canopy supported by what may appear to some like a series of giant pickup sticks, a classical motif with a light modern touch. Some say adding the canopy even suggests a “porch” theme, so relevant to Houston. Addressing the impact of the brutal humid summers, more often than not in the 100-degree range, is not only by the shade provided by the canopy, but the use of geothermal and even fans as intended measures to provide a manageable working environment. And working in a building, where the interior was an extension of a park, rather than in an office located high atop a downtown skyscraper, was described in the following terms by one employee: “To get to the old office, you had to drive into downtown, park in the garage, and take three escalators and two elevators to get there. But now I find myself looking forward to coming into work every day. I really enjoy the sense of light and space, and it feels like the teams and our organizations all know each other much better now.”*
KDA Competition rendering (2019) ©Kevin Daly Architects
In examining the original competition entry vs. the completed project, it would seem the most notable adjustment made in design development was in the height of the building: instead of three stories, there now are two. The effect this reducthas on the front side looking out on the park appears to be negligible; but in the back, where parking exists, the building would appear smaller. Now that the project is complete, we know that the $20M estimate was pretty optimistic. The construction/design costs finally came in at $30.8M . Overruns or not, the client certainly got their money’s worth.
*The Guardian, 5 December 2022
 
South facade East facade
North facade
 
Lobby Lobby from second level
Unless otherwise noted, all above images: Houston Endowment Headquarters ©Ivan Baan, courtesy Kevin Daly
Long section (above)
1st floor plan
2nd floor plan
Above diagrams from Development phase ©Kevin Daly Architects
 Unless otherwise noted, above photos: ©Elizabeth Lawrence Knox, courtesy Houston Endowment |
The Makasiiniranta South Harbor Competition
 Helsinki South Harbour and Tori Quarter Suomen Ilmakuva Helsinki. Image credit/ Tietoa Finland, Janne Hirvonen
As a prelude to a competition for the design of a new Architecture and Design Museum to be located in Helsinki’s South Harbor, the City of Finland staged an open competition to establish a roadmap for the future redevelopment of the Makasiiniranta harbor area, the last old harbor area to be transformed for public use in Helsinki. The competition for the museum is scheduled to take place later this year; but the entire surrounding area has come up with a plan to review improvements for the entire harbor environment.
Read more… Young Architects in Competitions When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality 
by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer
published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020
271 illustrations in color and black & white
Available in PDF and eBook formats
ISBN 9781988962047
What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset? This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions. Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link: https://crc.umontreal.ca/en/publications-libre-acces/ Vltava Philharmonic Hall Design Competition 
View to Concert Hall from bridge ©BIG
Classical music is still part of a vibrant musical scene in Prague, with at least four principal venues hosting concerts, ballet and opera. As a modern European city, the only missing venue from these choices is a state of the art concert hall. Other European neighbors have also recently staged competitions for such projects: Munich, won by Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architekten of Bregenz, Austria; Belgrade, won by AL_A of London; and Vilnius, Lithuania, won by Arquivio Architects of Spain. It should be noted, however, that one of the most important competitions for a concert hall, not only in Europe, but the world, was the 1961 Berlin Philharmonic hall competition, won by Hans Scharoun (below). It was the interior of that building, in particular, that served as a model for many others that followed, one of the first being Los Angeles’ Disney Hall by Frank Gehry. Read more… Budapest’s Nyugati Rail Station Competition 
Image courtesy Budapest Development Agency ©Grimshaw
Completed in 1877, Budapest’s Nyugati Railway Station has witnessed many of the twists and turns of Hungarian history: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, revolutions of post-World War I and 1956, and various shades of expansion and shrinkage in their territory. Its important location in Europe’s history as a contested land in southeastern Europe has not only served as a path for armies of conquest, but as a matter of great interest for major powers. Amid all the changes it has experienced, Hungary, and Budapest in particular, has retained a fascination for outsiders, making it one of Europe’s high profile tourist attractions. Read more… A Quest for that Elusive Connective Formula 
First Place: Pedestrian perspective from Parliament – Zeidler Architecture in association with David Chipperfield Architects
How do you find a common thread that can connect an eclectic collection of buildings, visually as well as physically, all located within a one-block site, located just across from Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa. To identify this common thread that could tie everything together, the client turned to a design competition for answers. With the aid of consultants, [phase eins] from Berlin and experts from Canada’s’ own Université de Montréal’s School of Architecture, the client turned to an invited international format to finally settle on six teams that could rethink the site. Read more… Vilnius Railway Station and Public Square Competition 
Vilnius Station competition Image: ©Zaha Hadid Architects
In European cities, recent history has seen their central railway stations become the subject of upgrades, or totally new projects, many of them springing up in Eastern Europe. In most cases, the focus on this phenomena occurred several decades after earth-shaking political events. In Germany it was the construction of a new main central station (Hauptbahnhof) shortly after the reunification of Germany and Berlin. in Estonia, and now Lithuania, it has occurred after the independence of those countries in conjunction with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. And in Hungary, it was the subject of a recent competition encompassing a large area surrounding the station. Read More… |
