May 21, 2018

Text: Anna Gibertini

Houston’s Jones Plaza Gets a Green Update by Rios Clementi Hale Studios

View of Bayou Bluff section of re-designed Jones Plaza. Rendering courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios.

Houston is growing even greener. Texas’s largest city just announced that multi-disciplinary firm Rios Clementi Hale Studios will redesign the Jones Plaza theater district into one of the city’s premier outdoor spaces. The one-and-a-half-acre project, called Urban Choreography, borrows graceful curving and bending forms from the performing arts. It also features five distinct gathering spaces awash in greenery, water features, and open-air performance venues. The project will serve as a gateway to Houston’s other cultural offerings and as a connection to the city’s growing open space network.

Aerial view from the south. Rendering courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios.

“This is a remarkable opportunity to bring together the two things—public open space and venues for the performing arts—which have been at the heart of our most rewarding work,” says Nate Cormier, principal-in-charge at Rios Clementi Hale Studios. “Our design concept celebrates this dual role which Jones Plaza will play in downtown Houston. It must be an inviting green oasis that contributes to the daily life of downtown residents, workers, and visitors—and at the same time, it must flexibly accommodate a wide range of cultural programming and special events.”

Construction began in May and is slated for completion in November 2020.

Aerial view from the north. Rendering courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios.
Houston Street Theater street view. Rendering courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios.
Nighttime view of Center Green. Rendering courtesy of Rios Clementi Hale Studios.
Illustrative site plan. Rendering courtesy of Rio Clementi Hale Studios.

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