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Home City Centers Chapter Board Members Event Calendars Photographs Member Directory Become a Member METROCON Annual Gala Annual Leader's Breakfast Chapter Newsletters Continuing Education Units NCIDQ Scholarships and Grants Legislative Jobs Links and Resources Sponsors Press Room Design Excellence Awards Judge Bios Community Bulletin Board Student Campus Center Back to Awards Hospitality Design Excellence Award Page Southerland Page, L.L.P. The Grove at Discovery Green Houston, Texas Project Description The Grove revels in being an extension of its memorable site, Discovery Green park, a lush, green, 12-acre oasis in the heart of downtown Houston. This restaurant is a series of long thin bars that run parallel to a magnificent double row of live oak trees on the north side of the site. The first bar contains dining spaces above and below in a steel frame with large fixed and operable glass panels. Each space has a different vista into the complex web of trunks and branches through various kinds of glass that admit soft north light. The second bar is made of a ruddy Gulf Coast brick and houses two grand exterior stairs as well as bathrooms, an elevator and interior circulation. The third, containing the kitchen, is wrapped in sustainability farmed ipe wood. The final bar is brick again and houses delivery and administration. By breaking the restaurant into a series of smaller parts defined by function and by using a range of warm, tactile materials, the building becomes a natural extension of the park and the trees with a scale, texture and color palette that complements its surroundings. Tall ceilings faced with wood match the rich, warm oak on the floors to create a natural sense of calm that is echoed in paint and fabric colors. The live oaks and the dappled light that comes through their canopies create all of the pattern and complexity. The interior itself is simple and deferential. Upstairs, the outdoor dining experience is dominant, with a skyline view to the west that is even more dramatic than below. The "treehouse," shaded decks that nestle into the upper branches of the live oaks, offers informal spaces for a drink or light meal. In inclement weather, these rooms can be fully enclosed by sliding glass panels. The Grove (and the surrounding park) will receive a LEED Gold rating from the USGBC. Some of its sustainability features include optimum solar orientation, FSB Certified wood products and a green roof. The provision of a large proportion of functional space in the building as unconditioned (but passively cooled) space significantly reduces the restaurant's overall fuel consumption. The exposed structure eliminates resource consumption by serving as both structure and finish. Every aspect of The Grove's design—its relationship to its site, massing, orientation to sun and breezes, ecological consciousness, and use of local materials—rejects artifice in favor of an authentic sense of place. Judges Comments quiet liked by all judges

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