From AIA Houston

Cistern at Houston’s Waterworks website

An amazing structure was rediscovered below what is to become the signature Sky Lawn at The Water Works (north of the existing Lee & Joe Jamail Skatepark) when the Buffalo Bayou Park – Shepherd to Sabine project began in 2010. The “Cistern,” as it has been dubbed, was the City of Houston’s first underground drinking-water reservoir. Built in 1927, it provided decades of service until it was drained when it sprang a leak that couldn’t be located or contained.

Unused for years, the 87,500-square-foot expanse includes 25-foot tall, slender concrete columns set row upon row, hovering over 2 inches of water on the reservoir’s floor. Buffalo Bayou Park designers recognized immediately that this highly unusual space brims with potential for new life for a public space. Read this Houston Chronicle article by Lisa Gray from January 2012 and watch this July 2013 Channel 11 interview with Guy Hagstette.

Since the Cistern was discovered after the park’s budget was finalized, this project is not within the scope of Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s Shepherd to Sabine Master Plan. Furthermore, the space is only accessible via small hatches that open to 14-foot ladders creating enormous logistical difficulties in viewing and navigating the area. However, thanks to Houston-based SmartGeoMetrics, park users are able to get an unprecedented view of the Cistern.

SmartGeoMetrics is known primarily for providing 3D high definition laser services to the petrochemical, civil engineering and architecture industries. The company also has a passion for providing 3D imaging of special landmarks and interesting spaces like the Texas tall ship Elissa and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Taking a keen interest in the Cistern’s size, beauty and untapped potential, SmartGeoMetrics volunteered time and resources to join Buffalo Bayou Partnership on an excursion into the Cistern in early 2012. Their goal? To acquire 3D imaging data of the cavernous space to document its as-is condition. The result? An impressive array of 3D imaging, photographs and autosteroscopic holograms which Buffalo Bayou Partnership will use in developing future plans for the Cistern, once funding is available. You can see a 3D fly-through of the Cistern here. Buffalo Bayou Partnership is grateful to SmartGeoMetrics for providing a stunning and unique study of Buffalo Bayou Park’s hidden treasure.

From AIA Houston

Cistern at Houston’s Waterworks website

An amazing structure was rediscovered below what is to become the signature Sky Lawn at The Water Works (north of the existing Lee & Joe Jamail Skatepark) when the Buffalo Bayou Park – Shepherd to Sabine project began in 2010. The “Cistern,” as it has been dubbed, was the City of Houston’s first underground drinking-water reservoir. Built in 1927, it provided decades of service until it was drained when it sprang a leak that couldn’t be located or contained.

Unused for years, the 87,500-square-foot expanse includes 25-foot tall, slender concrete columns set row upon row, hovering over 2 inches of water on the reservoir’s floor. Buffalo Bayou Park designers recognized immediately that this highly unusual space brims with potential for new life for a public space. Read this Houston Chronicle article by Lisa Gray from January 2012 and watch this July 2013 Channel 11 interview with Guy Hagstette.

Since the Cistern was discovered after the park’s budget was finalized, this project is not within the scope of Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s Shepherd to Sabine Master Plan. Furthermore, the space is only accessible via small hatches that open to 14-foot ladders creating enormous logistical difficulties in viewing and navigating the area. However, thanks to Houston-based SmartGeoMetrics, park users are able to get an unprecedented view of the Cistern.

SmartGeoMetrics is known primarily for providing 3D high definition laser services to the petrochemical, civil engineering and architecture industries. The company also has a passion for providing 3D imaging of special landmarks and interesting spaces like the Texas tall ship Elissa and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Taking a keen interest in the Cistern’s size, beauty and untapped potential, SmartGeoMetrics volunteered time and resources to join Buffalo Bayou Partnership on an excursion into the Cistern in early 2012. Their goal? To acquire 3D imaging data of the cavernous space to document its as-is condition. The result? An impressive array of 3D imaging, photographs and autosteroscopic holograms which Buffalo Bayou Partnership will use in developing future plans for the Cistern, once funding is available. You can see a 3D fly-through of the Cistern here. Buffalo Bayou Partnership is grateful to SmartGeoMetrics for providing a stunning and unique study of Buffalo Bayou Park’s hidden treasure.

By Lisa Gray | August 18, 2013

Ideas are being sought for the future of the city’s abandoned drinking-water reservoir.

“We do a lot of work in scary places,” said Douglas Smith.

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Charles Kuffner | Sunday, July 29, 2012

Transformation of Buffalo Bayou Park, one of Houston’s most iconic green spaces, is well underway. With an historic $30 million catalyst gift from the Kinder Foundation, a strong public-private partnership has been created to include Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP), City of Houston led by the Houston Parks & Recreation Department and Harris County Flood Control District. BBP has been charged with leading the enhancements of the 160-acre, 2.3-mile bayou stretch from Shepherd Drive to Sabine Street.

Likened to Houston’s own Central Park, the ambitious $55 million project will:

Restore the bayou to a more natural and self-sustaining version of what exists today
Reintroduce native park landscape
Add amenities to enhance safety and visitor experience
After two years of design and engineering, trail work is being constructed and additional improvements are slated to begin this summer. The entire project is expected to be complete in mid-2015. Here’s the Master Plan.

Buffalo Bayou Park Phase I Begins

Phase I work will be executed in two stages. The first stage includes a new pedestrian bridge at Jackson Hill, a new bridge and trails providing access to the Police Memorial, and a new footbridge, stairs and earthwork at the Crosby Outfall area at the intersection of Sabine Street and Allen Parkway.

The 345-foot Jackson Hill Bridge will be the first bayou spanning bridge to be built, and it will connect via a small plaza to the existing pedestrian bridge which crosses over Memorial Drive. Similar in aesthetic to the Hobby Center Bridge, it will provide a safe and convenient route for cyclists and pedestrians to cross over Buffalo Bayou. A trail connector to the east and a footpath connector to the west will also be added.

Improvements planned at Sabine Street and the Crosby Outfall will complement the existing trail into Eleanor Tinsley Park. The new footbridge will be 53 feet long and stairs will be upgraded to resemble those at the Sabine Promenade.

Phase I construction is expected to be completed by September 2013.

Harris County Flood Control District Begins Work at the Police Memorial

In August, the Harris County Flood Control District will start its channel conveyance restoration project. Work includes restoring the conveyance capacity of the bayou by removing accumulated sediment, repairing erosion and stabilizing bank failures. The District will also conduct selective clearing to remove invasive vegetation and, ultimately, implement a tree planting plan.

The District’s work will begin on the bayou’s north bank near the Police Memorial (north of Memorial Drive) and then proceed in seven phases to Shepherd Drive. This work will continue until late 2014 and is a continuation of the successful Pilot Project the District completed in 2010.

Overall, trail use in this area should not be heavily impacted. However, trails may be temporarily closed due to construction traffic crossing the trails. During these times, the construction contractor will have flagmen on-site directing pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Canoeists and kayakers should note there will be times when the bayou will be closed for safety reasons due to the construction.

South Bank Trail Closure at Taft & Allen Parkway

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the City of Houston continued work on the 4.6-mile Sandy Reed Memorial Trail on the south side of the bayou at Taft and Allen Parkway, extending eastward to Sabine Street. Trail users: Please note that for safety reasons the trail on the south side of Buffalo Bayou at Montrose (on the west) and Sabine (on the east) will be closed through approximately October 2012. Trail users are asked to stay on the north bank trails or detour from the south across the Rosemont Bridge.

The Water Works Cistern

In early January, the Houston Chronicle highlighted one of Buffalo Bayou Park’s most fascinating features. Below the signature lawn being developed as The Water Works performance area, north of the existing Lee and Joe Jamail Skate Park, sits an unused City of Houston water reservoir. This 100,000-square-foot area has enormous potential. While there is currently no funding to develop the “Cistern,” as it has been dubbed, Houston-based SmartGeoMetrics has volunteered to produce 3D imaging of the cavernous space. Their work will help BBP accurately document the Cistern’s current as-is condition, conceptualize ideas for developing the space, and, with luck, facilitate funding. Imaging is expected to be completed by late summer. SmartGeoMetrics’ imaging will be given to the University of Houston’s Texas Learning and Computation Center (TLC2) who will vet a web-based public ideas process to come up with creative and sustainable potential uses. Stay tuned for details on this public ideas process!

Behind the Scenes: Familiar Faces-SWA Group

Friends of Buffalo Bayou Partnership will recall SWA Group leading the award-winning Sabine Promenade Project. SWA Group is once again collaborating with Buffalo Bayou Partnership on the design of Buffalo Bayou Park improvements. As one of the world’s top landscape architecture and planning firms, SWA has designed countless projects in Houston and around the world. Their work includes revitalization of the landscape architecture of Hermann Park and framework planning for Houston’s Brays Bayou Corridor, among others. The Buffalo Bayou Park team is led by President Kevin Shanley, who has been involved in innovative flood management projects along a majority of Houston bayous. Rounding out the skilled team are Scott McCready, lead designer, and Tim Peterson, project manager.

The images give an accurate record of the hull shape that will detect any aging problems in the future. SmartGeoMetrics used a Leica HDS7000 laser scanner to produce a 3D representation of Elissa in dry dock at Bollinger Shipyards.

More Images

The images give an accurate record of the hull shape that will detect any aging problems in the future. SmartGeoMetrics used a Leica HDS7000 laser scanner to produce a 3D representation of Elissa in dry dock at Bollinger Shipyards.

More Images

From Citizens’ Environmental Coalition

Buffalo Bayou Park – Discovery of the “Cistern”
6pm reception; 6:30 pm presentation
AIA Houston
315 Capitol Street, Suite 120
Free
Join BBP and host Architecture Center Houston for a presentation with Guy Hagstette, BBP consultant and project manager for Buffalo Bayou Park – Shepherd to Sabine and Douglas Smith, Vice President of SmartGeoMetrics to discuss what was found below the future site of The Water Works Sky Lawn along Buffalo Bayou and Sabine Street.

The “Cistern,” as it has been dubbed, was the City of Houston’s first underground drinking-water reservoir. Built in 1927, it provided decades of service until it was drained when it sprang a leak that couldn’t be located or contained.

Unused for years, the 87,500-square-foot expanse includes 25-foot tall, slender concrete columns set row upon row, hovering over 2 inches of water on the reservoir’s floor. Buffalo Bayou Park designers recognized immediately that this highly unusual space brims with potential for new life as an imaginable public space. Read this Houston Chronicle article by Lisa Gray from January 2012 and watch this Channel 11 interview with Guy Hagstette.
Because this space is not accessible to the public, thanks to Houston-based SmartGeoMetrics, park users are able to get an unprecedented view of the Cistern, through their 3D imaging. During the presentation, a number of images and videos will be shown to experience this unique space.

From Citizens’ Environmental Coalition

Buffalo Bayou Park – Discovery of the “Cistern”
6pm reception; 6:30 pm presentation
AIA Houston
315 Capitol Street, Suite 120
Free
Join BBP and host Architecture Center Houston for a presentation with Guy Hagstette, BBP consultant and project manager for Buffalo Bayou Park – Shepherd to Sabine and Douglas Smith, Vice President of SmartGeoMetrics to discuss what was found below the future site of The Water Works Sky Lawn along Buffalo Bayou and Sabine Street.

The “Cistern,” as it has been dubbed, was the City of Houston’s first underground drinking-water reservoir. Built in 1927, it provided decades of service until it was drained when it sprang a leak that couldn’t be located or contained.

Unused for years, the 87,500-square-foot expanse includes 25-foot tall, slender concrete columns set row upon row, hovering over 2 inches of water on the reservoir’s floor. Buffalo Bayou Park designers recognized immediately that this highly unusual space brims with potential for new life as an imaginable public space. Read this Houston Chronicle article by Lisa Gray from January 2012 and watch this Channel 11 interview with Guy Hagstette.
Because this space is not accessible to the public, thanks to Houston-based SmartGeoMetrics, park users are able to get an unprecedented view of the Cistern, through their 3D imaging. During the presentation, a number of images and videos will be shown to experience this unique space.

By Allyn West | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

DUDE! Got a snazzy idea for that 1927 underground water reservoir near Sabine St. on Buffalo Bayou, but you just can’t picture what’s down there? Well, grab the potato chips and crank up Pink Floyd, because now you can. The Buffalo Bayou Partnership is reaching out in the hope that entrepreneurs, artists, and visionaries the city over will use the above video, created by SmartGeometrics, for inspiration. (And more 3D images are forthcoming on the partnership’s website.)

Last week, the BBP’s Guy Hagstette unveiled this woozy sequence and some additional renderings of the so-called Sky Lawn at the Water Works, just north of the skatepark. This would become a kind of entry point for the park, with a snack bar, restrooms, and a greenspace fronting a pavilion and stage. Underneath that greenspace the cistern would sit. (It was abandoned by the city when a leak, never found, sprung.) And doesn’t it seem a shame not to — you know — do something with it? Right now, says Hagstette, there’s just no money in the budget for the 87,500-sq.-ft. “accidental cathedral.” And so the BBP’s hoping that this fly-through, donated by SmartGeometrics, will spur some Houstonian to plug it into her design software and come up with something grand. (And, yes, they’ve already talked to James Turrell.)

The Water Works Underground “Cistern”: A Historic Houston Space With Enormous Potential [Buffalo Bayou Park]
Previously on Swamplot: Using Pictures To Picture Uses for Buffalo Bayou’s Basement, Poking Around in Buffalo Bayou’s Abandoned Basement
Video: YouTube user alexaporter88

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2013 | AARON SEWARD.

THE “CISTERN,” CONSTRUCTED IN 1927, WAS HOUSTON’S FIRST DRINKING WATER RESERVOIR. (COURTESY BUFFALO BAYOU PARTNERSHIP)

During construction on the Buffalo Bayou Partnership‘s (BBP) Buffalo Bayou Park Shepherd to Sabine project—which began in 2010 and is seeking to transform the downtown park into a catalyst for making Houston a more livable city—workers rediscovered an underground concrete cistern that had been built in 1927 as the city’s first drinking water reservoir. It performed decades of service before springing a leak that couldn’t be located or contained, at which point the 87,500-square-foot subterranean chamber was sealed up and forgotten. Today, the old piece of infrastructure is an inspiring, if somewhat erie space. Accessed through manholes and 14-foot ladders, the man-made cavern features row upon row of cathedral-like 25-foot-tall columns standing in several inches of still water. BBP would like to see the space adaptively reused, but such an endeavor currently lies outside the scope of its Shepherd to Sabine project. So to drum up interest in renovating the space, the organization commissioned Houston company SmartGeoMetrics to create a 3D fly-through of the cistern.