Gensler recently completed a major renovation of the 1926 Julia Ideson Building - one of Houston's grandest public buildings and the former main public library.
The $32 million renovation resulted from a dynamic public/private partnership between the City of Houston and the non-profit Julia Ideson Library Preservation Partners (JILPP). The "new" building will serve as a repository of Houston memorabilia and rare archival material as well as the city's official reception space and a venue for exhibits, meetings and other special events.
Gensler served as architect, Balfour Beatty US was the project's contractor, and TBG Partners served as landscape architects.
Originally designed by noted Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram, the building is an outstanding example of the Spanish Renaissance-style replete with polychrome painted ceilings, intricate woodwork, marble columns and lofty public spaces. Cram's design included a south wing and a reading garden which were never realized due to budget cuts. The "new" Ideson has a south wing that is true to Cram's original design as well as a reading garden.
The restoration was executed with painstaking detail on both the interior and exterior. The project included: a new roof, replacements for missing cast stone pieces, a reconfigured and re- landscaped plaza that was careful to preserve the champion bur oaks and a new fence similar to the one shown in Cram & Ferguson's 1923 presentation drawings.
On the inside, the intricately painted and coffered ceilings in the public rooms were restored. Historic light fixtures were re-lamped and reproduction fixtures were added in spaces that had no original lighting. Ornamental iron and metal work was refurbished. Tile, wood and stone floors were repaired and refinished.
Most of the furniture in the public spaces is original to the library or to the 1904 Carnegie Library that preceded it. The built-in bookcases in the second floor Reading Room and the hand-carved children's furniture featuring fairy-tale scenes in the Norma Meldrum Room on the first floor are original.
Paintings and sculptures throughout are from the Houston Public Library's collection. Many of the works were previously displayed in the Ideson and/or Carnegie libraries. The Ideson contains the city's largest installation of public murals completed under the Works Progress Administration program after the Depression.
The Ideson building is among the first Texas Historic Landmark projects on track for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. An efficient air-handling system and recycled and low-emitting construction materials are key components of the sustainable design that was created by Gensler in partnership with MEP engineers Redding Linden Burr. BD+C
Related Stories
| May 3, 2014
4 easy steps to being a great project manager
Managing a team of people, especially creative people, is a task that not everyone is up for. Keeping your team on the same page while maintaining a schedule and budget that can keep your corporation happy will take confidence and bountiful people skills. Here are some tips for effectively managing a project. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | May 3, 2014
Fire-rated glass floor system captures light in science and engineering infill
In implementing Northwestern University’s Engineering Life Sciences infill design, Flad Architects faced the challenge of ensuring adequate, balanced light given the adjacent, existing building wings. To allow for light penetration from the fifth floor to the ground floor, the design team desired a large, central atrium. One potential setback with drawing light through the atrium was meeting fire and life safety codes.
| May 2, 2014
World's largest outdoor chandelier tops reworked streetscape for Cleveland's PlayhouseSquare
Streetscape project includes monumental gateway portals, LED signage, and a new plaza, fire pit, sidewalk café, and alfresco dining area.
| May 2, 2014
Norwegian modular project set to be world's tallest timber-frame apartment building [slideshow]
A 14-story luxury apartment block in central Bergen, Norway, will be the world's tallest timber-framed multifamily project, at 49 meters (160 feet).
| May 2, 2014
Top 10 countries for LEED buildings outside the U.S.
The list of the top 10 countries for LEED reflects the global adaptability of the world’s most widely used and recognized system guiding the design, construction, operations and maintenance of green buildings.
| May 1, 2014
First look: Cal State San Marcos's posh student union complex
The new 89,000-sf University Student Union at CSUSM features a massive, open-air amphitheater, student activity center with a game lounge, rooftop garden and patio, and ballroom space.
| May 1, 2014
Super BIM: 7 award-winning BIM/VDC-driven projects
Thom Mayne's Perot Museum of Nature and Science and Anaheim's new intermodal center are among the 2014 AIA TAP BIM Award winners.
| May 1, 2014
Tight on space for multifamily? Check out this modular kitchen tower
The Clei Ecooking kitchen, recently rolled out at Milan's Salone de Mobile furniture fair, squeezes multiple appliances into a tiny footprint.
| May 1, 2014
Chinese spec 'world's fastest' elevators for supertall project
Hitachi Elevator Co. will build and install 95 elevators—including two that the manufacturer labels as the "world's fastest"—for the Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed Guangzhou CTF Finance Center.
| Apr 30, 2014
Visiting Beijing's massive Chaoyang Park Plaza will be like 'moving through a urban forest'
Construction work has begun on the 120,000-sm mixed-use development, which was envisioned by MAD architects as a modern, urban forest.