Hines, a world leader in real estate investment, built an elegant public space at the corner of Lamar and Louisiana Streets in downtown Houston. The area had been a large open paved patio with a large contemporary sculpture that 99.9% of the public hurried past–it did not contribute to their day. (more…)
Houston Center is a business, living and leisure complex of sky-walk connected buildings in downtown Houston. The buildings and the centrally located garden in this photo are managed by Crescent Real Estate Equities, Ltd. The garden, at the corner of McKinney and Caroline, is a great place to get away from the glass, metal and concrete world of the inner downtown Houston office towers. (more…)
I have driven through roundabouts in England but do not recall how the pedestrian space around them was used. In the case of one of the new roundabouts here in Houston the design provided great garden-like open spaces with benches and large plants. This space is part of the Washington on Westcott Roundabout Initiative, Inc.–a non-profit organization of neighborhood associations and community leaders donating their time. (more…)
The Travis St. Bayou Portal to Buffalo Bayou was built by the Cotswold Project as a pedestrian connection from the street down to the future walkway along the bayou. The winding, tree lined, lighted walkway is on the west side of the Travis St. bridge on the south side of the bayou across the street from the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant. In this photo it is on the right side of the image. The simpler walkway on the left side of the image is the accessible route. More about that below. (more…)
Yes there is a secluded, totally shaded space on Main Street in the heart of Downtown Houston. It is on the north side of the Harris County Administration Building sandwiched between that nine-story building and the far older three-story buildings facing Congress. This is between Preston and Congress and can be entered from Main St. or Fannin St. The space is owned and maintained by Harris County. (more…)
