The Spanish moss draped on the nearby trees and the nearly blinding whiteness of the columned building conjure highly specific feelings of the “Old South.” The landscaping gabions at the foot of the loggia recall, with a bit of imagination, the stony Acropolis of Pericles. (Iwan Baan/Courtesy Kevin Daly Architect) (Iwan Baan/Courtesy Kevin Daly Architect) Section perspective (Courtesy Kevin Daly Architect) Gabions retain and divide the landcape next to the park. It will no doubt win recognition in design awards programs. This building, like an ancient Greek temple, is all about the exterior. The straightforward interiors, pleasantly illuminated with abundant daylight, are otherwise typical of what one would expect for a tastefully appointed corporate office space. The effect is intriguing, and, like many contemporary buildings featuring idiosyncratic design elements, it looks like a computer rendering come to life. At 32,000 square feet on just two floors, the building is not large, but its scale is ambiguous owing to the repetitive, undulating facades. The panels have a strongly scalloped profile and appear like the fragments of oversize, fluted Doric column drums piled up on an archaeological site. The exterior walls have a rainscreen cladding made of pressed aluminum panels. This elevation is composed of terraced volumes, interspersed with outdoor patio spaces on the ground and upper floors. Instead, facing the bayou, whose slow waters wind through the bucolic scene, the building’s carefully sculpted frontispiece is surmounted by an overhead sunshade supported by a row of thin steel columns. The architects created a relatively solid elevation facing the street. The Houston Endowment headquarters overlooks Buffalo Bayou.
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