Asia Society Texas Center

OWNER

Asia Society Texas

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Size: 38,000 SF

Acres: 2.3

Service: Site Development

Feature: three 2nd floor gardens

Asia Society Texas Center

Houston
Texas

Asia House, the new permanent home of the Asia Society Texas, was designed by distinguished Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi. Located in Houston’s Museum District, the two-story facility features wide foyers and public spaces, a theater, an art gallery, flexible meeting rooms, a garden café, and offices.

The civil and traffic design proved exacting and challenging. Mr. Taniguchi expected to see clean lines outside of every window; therefore, we provided a storm water detention solution using an underground detention system below the front lawn and below the parking lot across from the building to allow for maximum use of the site. Walter P Moore coordinated underground utilities with the 170 geothermal wells also located beneath the parking lot that are used to provide a cooling system for the building. A drop-off driveway was included in the design to accommodate limousines and other vehicles for special events. This geothermal energy system is the first of its kind in a commercial building in Houston, and is expected to reduce the Center’s energy bill by $7,000-$10,000 per month.