OMA/Jason Long have unveiled their design for The Terminal, a 5,000-capacity music venue for Houston, Texas. The scheme, developed in partnership with global live entertainment company Live Nation, will form the cultural anchor for POST Houston, a hub for culture, food, shopping, and recreation set within the rejuvenated historic Barbara Jordan Post Office.

OMA’s scheme features a large, flat general assembly area with a balcony of raked seating hovering above the main floor. The flat central area allows for flexible arrangements and complex scenography, while the balcony seating is clad in fiberglass grating to provide expansive views. Behind and below the balcony, a sheltered space is formed for visitors to gather away from the main act, while not being completely removed from it. The design team compare this anomaly to “students hanging out under the bleachers during a homecoming game.”

“A performance venue is a vessel for gathering and a machine for generating spectacle, but beyond the stage and the central crowd, the energy of the show can often be shrouded in darkness,” says Jason Long, the OMA partner in charge of the project. “We wanted The Terminal to be a place where you could be simultaneously connected to the stage and creatively disengaged, so we tried to bring the performance and its aura to every corner of the venue.”

On approach to the main performance area are a series of spaces defined by industrial materials and unique lighting effects. The lobby bar is clad in aluminized fabric heat shields in reference to Houston’s long history with NASA; a sealed “airlock” environment for decompression and building anticipation before the main event. Stainless steel grids supported by cattle fence insulators line the walls to allow for the display of merchandise and posters.

Between the lobby, a double-height polycarbonate wall forms a translucent divider, creating a separate band of circulation to the west and a central void to the east. The west band caters for intimate gatherings and social encounters, while the central void is adaptable, offering room for mass spectacle. Within the translucent band, a bright yellow stair links the various audience levels, culminating in a hidden lounge where a landscape of seating encourages informal interaction.

OMA worked in collaboration with local partner Powers Brown Architecture in the execution of The Terminal and POST Houston.