Construction has begun on the first Ismaili Center in the U.S. in Houston. The facility will serve Ismaili Muslims in and around Houston, which has the largest concentration of Ismaili Muslims in the United States with over 40,000 members.
The Ismaili Center will consist of 11 acres of gardens, courtyards, and terraces and a 150,000 sf, five-story, tripartite building featuring three eivans, or elevated open terraces. The building will include a main atrium, interior courtyards open to the sky, a prayer room or jamatkhana, library, social hall, exhibit hall, council chamber, black box theatre, classrooms, administrative offices, and a café and kitchen for catering events. The center also features a 155,000 sf, 600-car garage beneath the gardens.
Details reflect Islamic design and its historically rooted, rich architectural heritage, combined with Western design that fits Houston’s climate. The building’s exterior is made of matte, sand-colored marble, crafted to create a clean patchwork of tessellated patterns. Ultra-high-performance concrete panels from Monterrey, Mexico compose the atrium, while light-colored stone from Turkey mimics the look of Texas limestone.
Perforated concrete with German glass glazing behind it allows natural light to pour in while keeping the building cool. The building will glow at night, lit from within. All concrete on the project, including sidewalks, feature custom finishes.
The center’s prayer hall, measuring 115 by 115 feet, features a perforated metal ceiling, with three layers of millwork along the walls. The lobby has board form walls, where custom-cut strips of wood are installed at 29-degree angles to create a unique pattern. The eivans are supported by 49 star-shaped columns, the tallest of which is 50 feet.
The design had sustainability in mind and the owners will seek LEED Gold certification. The campus is located adjacent to the Buffalo Bayou and within a flood zone. The building itself is above the flood plain, and the privacy wall that surrounds the gardens allows water in to mitigate flooding in the surrounding area. Landscaping is designed to withstand a flood, and native plants in the garden will work to filter stormwater.
The project is using a 3-D model to ensure each part of the construction process is well coordinated, and a robotic total station created the layout of the jobsite, removing user error and ensuring that all aspects of the site are accurate, according to a news release. McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. broke ground on the project in October 2021, with completion expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.
On the building team:
Owner and/or developer: Ismaili/Ismaili Council for the United States
Design architect: Farshid Moussavi Architecture, collaborating with DLR Group
Architect of record: DLR Group, gardens are designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
MEP engineer: DLR Group
Structural engineer: DLR Group, collaborating with AKT II Engineers
General contractor/construction manager: McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. (Houston office)
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Florida International University's cantilevered design
Suffolk Construction's Miami-Dade business unit is serving as GC for the $14 million School of International and Public Affairs building at the University Park Campus of Florida International University. Designed by Arquitectonica, Miami, the five-story, 58,408-sf building will have a café and three auditoriums on the ground level; the largest auditorium will have a 40-foot cantilever abov...
| Aug 11, 2010
Restoration gives new life to New Formalism icon
The $30 million upgrade, restoration, and expansion of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles was completed by the team of Rios Clementi Hale Studios (architect), Harley Ellis Devereaux (executive architect/MEP), KPFF (structural engineer), and Taisei Construction (GC). Work on the Welton Becket-designed 1967 complex included an overhaul of the auditorium, lighting, and acoustics.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction material prices drop slightly in April, extending the decline
The construction materials price index for nonresidential buildings fell 0.3% in April extending the decline since the September index peak to 13.1%. Prices for the mix of materials used in nonresidential construction prices are back to the December 2007 level before the 14% jump in prices from March through September.
| Aug 11, 2010
Research Facility Breaks the Mold
In the market for state-of-the-art biomedical research space in Boston's Longwood Medical Area? Good news: there are still two floors available in the Center for Life Science | Boston, a multi-tenant, speculative high-rise research building designed by Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, Boston, and developed by Lyme Properties, Hanover, N.
| Aug 11, 2010
Piano's 'Flying Carpet'
Italian architect Renzo Piano refers to his $294 million, 264,000-sf Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago as a “temple of light.” That's all well and good, but how did Piano and the engineers from London-based Arup create an almost entirely naturally lit interior while still protecting the priceless works of art in the Institute's third-floor galleries from dangerous ultravio...
| Aug 11, 2010
Precast All the Way
For years, precast concrete has been viewed as a mass-produced product with no personality or visual appeal—the vanilla of building materials. Thanks to recent technological innovations in precast molds and thin veneers, however, that image is changing. As precast—concrete building components that are poured and molded offsite—continues to develop a vibrant personality all it...
| Aug 11, 2010
Bronze Award: John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, Ill.
To complete the $55 million renovation of the historic John G. Shedd Aquarium in the allotted 17-month schedule, the Building Team had to move fast to renovate and update exhibit and back-of-house maintenance spaces, expand the visitor group holding area, upgrade the mechanical systems, and construct a single-story steel structure on top of the existing oceanarium to accommodate staff office sp...
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA Course: Building with concrete – Design and construction techniques
Concrete maintains a special reputation for strength, durability, flexibility, and sustainability. These associations and a host of other factors have made it one of the most widely used building materials globally in just one century. Take this free AIA/CES course from Building Design+Construction and earn 1.0 AIA learning unit.
| Aug 11, 2010
Blue-Light Schoolhouses
Add the explosion in the number of school-aged kids nationally to the glut of huge, vacant stores in many communities and what do you get? Big boxes being turned into schools. For districts facing population pressure, these empty retail buildings can be the key to creating classrooms quickly, and at a significant cost advantage.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Green Building
27. Next-Generation Green Roofs Sprout up in New York New York is not particularly known for its green roofs, but two recent projects may put the Big Apple on the map. In spring 2010, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts will debut one of the nation's first fully walkable green roofs. Located across from the Juilliard School in Lincoln Center's North Plaza, Illumination Lawn will consist ...
