West 8 reveal design details for vast Houston Botanic Garden
Landscape architects West 8 have revealed their first clear-cut plans for a new 120 acre Houston Botanic Garden set to open to the Texas public in 2020.
The firm have released details of ‘Botanic Beginnings’, the first phase of their 120-acre masterplan for the site, which will be developed over the next three decades on a site located a short distance outside downtown Houston.
The Garden, conceived as “Houston’s next major cultural institution,” will include wetlands, a children’s garden and nature play area, picnic groves, a tree farm, trails and an events lawn. The Global Collection Garden will be the main attraction, with zones for tropical, subtropical and arid collections.
Described as a “living museum that showcases international and native plant collections,” West 8 said the first phase of the Garden will “be emblematic of the energy, diversity and spirit of Houston, America’s fastest growing, most multicultural metropolis.”
The design team will shape and sculpt the existing topography along a bayou edge to absorb and invite flooding above Houston’s 100-year floodplain, protecting the city’s buildings. Native waterways, meanwhile, will be integrated into the site, creating an immediate landscape identity and an important backdrop for some of the naturalistic and cultivated gardens, promoting and conserving plants from around the world.
“The astonishing array of plant life that can be grown in Houston, combined with this city’s love of gardens will make this one of the most beloved collections in the world,” said Claire Agre, principal of West 8’s design team, based in New York and Rotterdam.
“To be involved in the design of a cultural and scientific institution of such great relevance in our nation’s most diverse city is truly a once-in-a-career commission.”
Claudia Gee Vassar, president and general counsel of Houston Botanic Garden, added: “We’re honoured to be working with West 8, a visionary leader in landscape design,” said “With their expertise, we hope to bring Houstonians an urban oasis where they can disconnect and appreciate the beauty of nature—from rare and exotic plants they have never encountered to natural areas reflecting Houston’s ecosystems.”
The masterplan was approved by the city’s mayor in 2016. Construction and landscaping work is expected to begin this year.
The founder of West 8, Adriaan Geuze, is profiled in the last issue of CLADmag, and you can read the interview here.
West 8 Houston Botanic Garden TexasWest 8 to transform Dutch royal palace into leisure and innovation hub
'Forbidden land' to become public park as West 8 unveil vision for vacated military base in Seoul
West 8 unveil plans to revamp The Hague's seafront by building new dunes
Houston Botanic Garden: Landscape architects West 8 masterplan stunning natural attraction for Texas
FEATURE: Interview – Adriaan Geuze


Nike's Serena Williams Building, designed by Skylab, follows the concept of flow

Saudi Arabia's Neom mega-development to include 100-mile long 'horizontal skyscraper city'

David Adjaye and Ralph Appelbaum selected for £57m International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum project

Virgin Active opens at Milan’s sleek new Bocconi University by SANAA

Swedish architects Wingårdhs create year-round resort with waterpark and hotel for Liseberg

Juneteenth Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group has been designed to inspire spiritual uplift

BIG and HOK's timber concept wins Zurich Airport competition

Christoph Ingenhoven reveals Lanserhof Sylt, featuring the largest thatched roof in Europe

BIG's designs Prague concert hall to be vibrant centre of life

Mather & Co-designed Gretna Green Experience opens to the public

Project to save last major bellfoundry which cast bells for St Paul's and Washington National Cathedral

Perkins & Will reveals designs for net-zero sports and cultural centre in Toronto

World’s first living waterslides announced for Therme Manchester

Heatherwick reveals Volcano-inspired opera house designs for Hainan

Natural history museum planned for Abu Dhabi

Controversial London music venue, MSG Sphere, gets full planning permission

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Clifford's Tower opens to the public after £5m redevelopment

Glasgow's iconic Burrell Collection reopens after five-year, £68.5m revamp

SB Architects delivers Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Costa Rica with tree-house spa and private residences

Ole Scheeren designs vertical jungle resort complex in China

Designer Brian d’Souza launches Swell to create evocative soundscapes for physical environments

Basalt Architects create geothermal Forest Lagoon in the wilds of Iceland

Hot Pickle design £73m Guinness visitor attraction for Diageo in London

Amsterdam's new digital art centre Fabrique des Lumières will use tech to bring art alive

Pharrell Williams to launch tropical Bahamian beach resort

Banyan Tree curating solar-powered wellness retreat on private Mozambican island

Dubai Expo hits 10 million visits

Foster + Partners designs Dorchester Collection's first hotel in Middle East
