Located in Houston’s Greater East End, this proposed community sporting center is intended to serve as both a neighborhood recreation space and a public viewing area for major sporting events, including the FIFA World
Cup 2026. The project should accommodate large crowds during events while remaining welcoming, accessible, and useful for everyday community use. Consider how the building will function during the World Cup, as well as
how it will continue to serve the community long after the tournament concludes.

Outdoor plazas, public amenities, open circulation areas, and welcoming entry points should encourage people to gather and flow comfortably through the site. Recreational and multipurpose spaces should provide
opportunities for visitors to connect through sport, wellness, and shared experiences. Large interior spaces and flexible rooms may be used to host FIFA and other viewing events, as well as to support local vendors and
community programming. All of this should remain adaptable for future community use.

Consider which sports and recreational activities can take place within the building and across the site. Think about the spatial and functional needs of different activities and how they may occur both indoors and outdoors. Potential activities may include soccer, tennis, kayaking, basketball, skateboarding, and other forms of community recreation. Spatial adjacencies should be carefully considered, distinguishing between spaces intended
for gathering and viewing and those designed for primarily active use.

Different activities will require varying ceiling heights and levels of enclosure. Embrace those changes in volume as an opportunity to shape the form of the building and express programmatic differences both internally and externally. Consider how the building opens to exterior spaces through the use of materials, canopies, shading devices, and openings to form strong connections between indoor and outdoor environments.

Take into account the surrounding context, including nearby housing, the bayou, and the site’s relationship to Downtown Houston. These physical site elements should inform the design to enhance the user experience and
reinforce a sense of place. Exterior elements such as seating, shaded gathering spaces, and pedestrian-oriented spaces should be integrated to encourage social interaction and a strong sense of community.

The entire MGMC 2026 Deisgn Competition packet and resources can be found here.