The Cherie Flores Garden Pavilion and the McGovern Centennial Gardens celebrate the Hermann family’s gift of the park to the citizens of Houston in 1914.
The Pavilion marks the entry to the new 15-acre Gardens and sits on an axis that runs from the public approach straight on to the great spiral mount at the far end of the Gardens.
Visitors approach through a grove of Crepe Myrtle trees towards the chiseled granite wall of the Pavilion and a measured opening marked by a low roof overhang and lantern-like volumes on either side.
One passes through a gateway of angled shimmering stainless steel walls under a metal ceiling that tilts up towards the Gardens and mount.
The entrance is flanked by a zinc clad meeting room to the north and a small contemplative courtyard to the south, spaces which provide indoor and outdoor amenities for Houstonians to enjoy and reinforce the connection to the landscape with broad views of the garden.
A light metal trellis serves as a front porch for the Pavilion and mitigates direct sun exposure while allowing the Pavilion’s garden side to remain open and transparent. Source by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.
- Location: Houston, Texas, USA
- Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
- Client: Hermann Park Conservancy
- Area: 12,000 SF
- Year: 2015
- Photographs: Casey Dunn, Courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
