city of houston alief neighborhood center
houston, texas

The project combines three City of Houston departments (Library, Parks, & Health) to create a civic center at the heart of the redeveloped 37-acre urban park. Raised out of the floodplain, the building’s elevated ‘front porch’ frames a space for the diverse community to come together, share ideas, and express an identity unique to Alief. The Center is a model for resilient design in a post hurricane Harvey environment – a ‘lilly-pad’ for those seeking shelter from the storm.

The 70,000sf 2-story new building is elevated over a parking area providing convenient access to the building programs directly above. Health Department programs provided include W.I.C. (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), DAWN (Diabetes Awareness Network) that provides support for a variety of chronic illnesses and a Senior’s Center. The Parks Department programs include a full-size competition gymnasium with a perimeter elevated walking track above, a community fitness center and spaces to support youth after-school and summer programs. The library, located on the second floor, and accessed through a grand ‘stair-a-torium’ in the lobby, contains light-filled stack-space and reading areas with expansive views both to the park to the south, and the existing grove of preserved trees on the north. Directly adjacent to the library, HPL’s technology-rich TechLINK youth maker-doer program contains spaces for collaboration, a 'Tiny Techs' children's area, music recording studio, virtual reality stations, photo/video lab, and a maker space.

Site amenities include a competition soccer field, two full-size practice soccer fields, two futsal courts (fast-paced soccer played on a hard-surfaced smaller court) baseball field, skate park, tennis courts, children’s playground, outdoor swimming pool facility, community gardens, a marketplace venue and outdoor event space areas.

project cost $57M
completion date december 2021
contractor manhattan