Archinect - News

$1 billion Gensler plan could give ancient Houston Astrodome a brighter future

2024-11-21T16:55:00-05:00

The historic Houston Astrodome could soon receive a $1 billion revival courtesy of Gensler.

Plans for Vision: Astrodome from the Astrodome Conservancy called for the erection of four new smaller structures inside the stadium. An arching internal pedestrian boulevard comparable to the New York High Line then interjects itself as an elevated connector to the adjoining NRG Stadium and NRG Center venues.

Image courtesy Astrodome Conservancy

Officially a 450,000-square-foot plan that will rejuvenate the facility (at one point known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World") into a retail and entertainment destination for Houstonians, the endeavor is being supported by favorable results from the Conservancy's 2020 public engagement survey.

Image courtesy Astrodome Conservancy

If approved, the 86% majority of Harris County residents will get their wish in the form of the retail, office, cultural, hospitality, other commercial, and food/beverage offerings lining the selection of redeveloped spaces...

How private citizens helped to save the Astrodome

2018-04-11T14:23:00-04:00

Though Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is the public official most closely tied to the salvation of the Astrodome, many private citizens have played important roles, too. Without their many letters, petitions, documents and road trips – the tools of architectural preservation – Houston might have lost its most iconic building.

Houston Chronicle editor Allyn West retells the long and twisting tale of how the Astrodome went from designated wrecking-ball fodder to National Historic Landmark and the activism behind it.

Kirksey Architecture selected to retrofit Houston's Astrodome

2016-12-23T13:14:00-05:00

Harris County commissioners have chosen Houston-based Kirksey Architecture to design a project to retrofit the Astrodome by raising its floor and installing parking spaces underneath. The $105 million project -- unveiled by county officials in September -- is the most recent attempt to secure the building's future. [...] Many feared then that the world's first multi-purpose domed stadium for sporting events would face the wrecking ball.

Houston "Eighth Wonder of the World" previously in the Archinect news:

ULI report says Houston Astrodome “can and should live on”

2015-03-25T14:10:00-04:00

Houston’s iconic NRG Astrodome “can and should live on” as a multi-use park that will enhance the quality of life for residents of the city, serve as a popular tourist destination, and catalyze economic development that enhances the greater NRG Park and benefits the region as a whole, according to a report released today from the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Read the full ULI report, The Astrodome, Harris County Texas: A Vision for a Repurposed Icon, here.

Urban Land Institute issues recommendations for Houston's Astrodome

2014-12-19T19:06:00-05:00

"The latest proposal for the aging Astrodome calls for converting the structure into an indoor park and civic space, including an indoor grassy lawn and an outdoor promenade lined with oak trees. An Urban Land Institute panel, comprised of urban planners, economists and designers from around the country, released its preliminary recommendations Friday at the NRG Center."

The Astrodome: The World's Largest Indoor Garden?

2014-08-28T14:28:00-04:00

It's been a long time since the Houston Oilers or any other team called the Astrodome home, and voters rejected a bond measure to adapt and reuse this domed cathedral last year. But Emmett's not giving it up. Yesterday, he led the press on a tour of the Astrodome to introduce his own plan to restore it: By creating the world's largest indoor park. This isn't the first scheme mounted by preservationists who see a future for the dome.

Previously:

Can buildings be too young to save?

2013-12-10T11:59:00-05:00

There’s a reason it’s a struggle to save buildings like the Astrodome. They were built less than 50 years ago, the usual cutoff for inclusion on the government’s National Register of Historic Places... it’s relatively young buildings like these, from the 1960s, ’70s, and even ’80s, that preservationists are fighting to save. And in doing so, they are having to confront a tough question: What does tomorrow’s historic architecture look like?

Winners of the Reimagine the Astrodome ideas competition

2013-11-11T18:05:00-05:00

In a city where bigger is better, the endless possibitlies of what will happen to the Houston Astrome were to be expected in the Reimagine the Dome competition. Hosted by The Architect's Newspaper and YKK AP, entrants were limited to only their imaginations on determining how the aging Houston Astrodome will be repurposed.

The competition received 23 submissions whose concepts ranged from purely practical to creatively offbeat. The jury then selected four winners:

1st - AstroPark: Filling the Dome and Reclaiming Turf by David Richmond and Adam Wagner
2nd - The Houston Ark by HiWorks with Erica Goranson
3rd - The New Astrodome by Cruz Crawford and Elle Kuan
4th - The King of Texas by C_UP