Student Design Competition

Overview

Gulf Coast Green has paired its conference theme with a student competition for the last 18 years. This year, the Gulf Coast Green 2025 committee invites current students studying architecture, landscape architecture, planning, urban design or any related curriculum or study to participate in an open innovation challenge for the conceptual design of a key link between the Texas Medical Center and the new TMC3 at Helix Park. This year’s conference, Symbiotic Resilience: Building Better Growth, aims to explore how we can build better and be more resilient in anticipation of an increasingly volatile climate. Participants are invited to submit innovative designs, based on the theme of Symbiotic Resilience, for a space to connect these two innovative developments for the Gulf Coast region. 

BACKGROUND
In 1945, the Texas state legislature created the Texas Medical Center – a cluster of hospitals and research facilities dedicated to the treatment and eradication of cancer. Along with the rapid advancement of technology and understanding of life sciences, the Texas Medical Center has expanded to become what is now the world’s largest medical center complex. This expansion quickly outgrew the confined footprint between Hermann Park, Rice University and Brays Bayou. This sparked the development of TMC3 Innovation campus on the other side of Brays Bayou.

Brief

The members of Gulf Coast Green challenge students to provide a graphic site plan that addresses the connection of the Texas Medical Center (TMC) across Brays Bayou. 

By imagining a relocation of the energy plant, the goal of the new program is to find a better connection between the north and south sides of Brays Bayou in the Texas Medical Center. The new space is to provide a green space for visitors and employees of the nearby facilities all while complementing the waterway. The proposed site includes about 15 acres of land of which the existing energy plant currently covers roughly 53% of. Not all the 15 acres need to be used, but the proposed impervious cover should be a maximum of ~25-30%. Although a bridge component may be a significant aspect to the proposed design, consider other features and spaces that can integrate or redefine what that “bridging” connection could look like. Student teams should provide any additional documents or models to best support their concept (left to their discretion), including but not limited to sections, elevations of any site elements, renders, physical models, or inspirational pieces. 

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

• Consider natural features and landscape complementary to the bayou and overall region
• Consider a design that ties into Helix Park and the Brays Bayou Greenway Trail 
• Provide an estimate of impervious cover on their site plan 
• Design at least 15,000 SF of space(s) for respite, physical activity, and/or commercial activities; spaces could include cafés, shops, and/or services that visitors and employees of TMC could benefit from
• Consider sustainable design elements including but not limited to renewable energy, water harvesting, embodied carbon, flooding mitigation, and urban heat island effect 
• Consider resiliency throughout the design 
• Create a sense of place through design concepts