Houston Audubon High Island Masterplan & Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary Visitor Center

The Visitor Center at the Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary is part of a master plan rehabilitation project for the Houston Audubon Society’s High Island sanctuaries, intended to enhance the experience for the staff, wildlife enthusiasts, and birds alike. It was designed and restored to complement a new 700-foot-long canopy walk designed by the SWA Group. The work involved stabilizing and adding skylights to a historic 1920s brick pump house to prepare it for future use as a visitor center, and designing a new masonry and standing seam metal restroom building that also functions as a meeting point and display for the Audubon Society’s educational materials. Both structures are unconditioned, designed to limit energy use through passive ventilation strategies. The bathroom structure complements the natural backdrop of the sanctuary and was built to withstand the harsh environment, with its form referring to native trees bent by strong coastal winds. (With SCHAUM/SHIEH)