International Wood International Wood 2008 | Page 28
Ipé Creates a
Sparkling Oasis in
Downtown Houston
Discovery Green Embraces Visitors
with the Warmth of Imported Wood
28 i m p o r t e d
wood
D
owntown Houston was growing. Tremendous invest-
ments were being made in the expansion of the George
R. Brown convention center, and in building a new
1,200-room hotel, the Toyota Center basketball arena
and a ballpark. But something was still missing.
“There wasn’t anything tying it together,” says Guy Hagstette. “It
was just those big facilities and a bunch of surface parking lots.”
The solution? Discovery Green, a 12-acre park that opened in
April with the goal of preserving green space, and providing a unique
destination for Houstonians and visitors of all ages. The non-profit
Discovery Green Conservancy was charged with all aspects of the de-
velopment, including raising funds, designing, constructing and oper-
ating the park.
Hagstette, AIA, is president of the Discovery Green Conservancy.
“I’m an architect and urban designer by training, and I came into this
project more through urban design rather than architecture. I’ve been
very involved with downtown Houston for two decades, so when this
project came my way I took its success very personally.”
As with many things done in Texas, the scope of the project is im-
pressive. It includes a one-acre lake, a children’s playground, interactive
water features, an amphitheater, small and large dog runs, public art
works and two restaurants, all while preserving the area’s 100-year-old
oak trees.
Planners say one of the most exceptional features of Discovery Green
is the way in which natural and structural boundaries create distinct
sections with fluid movement from one area to the next. Landscape
architects Hargreaves Associates, architects PageSoutherlandPage and
Lauren Griffith Associates carefully planned destinations to allow the
“It’s [ipé] like a miracle wood
for the end user – it’s unbelievably
durable, lasts four or five times longer
than other woods, requires no pretreating
or maintenance, and ages to a beautiful
gray/silver color.”
Guy Hagstette, AIA, Discovery Green Conservancy