Hermann Park
Located between the Texas Medical Center, Rice University, and the Museum District, the 445-acre Hermann Park is an iconic green space within Houston. MVVA began working with the Hermann Park Conservancy in 2015, developing a masterplan for stitching the fragmented park back together and reinventing its underutilized periphery with new facilities for active recreation.
2017 Hermann Park Master Plan
Four Park Areas
The Commons at Hermann Park
MVVA’s first major project at Hermann Park is the Commons: the reinvention of a 25-acre section of the park bounded by two major roads and the service area of the Houston Zoo.
MVVA’s design for the Commons builds up the edges of the site with lush plantings around a gently rolling central lawn. The plan calls for preserving the vast majority of existing trees and improving the soil by planting cover crops and native grasses.
A two-acre playground set into a sculpted landform anchors the Commons. It features interactive landscapes that draw on important parts of Houston’s identity: a space-themed play area set in a cratered lunar landscape, a primordial discovery forest, and a large water-play area, which draws inspiration from the region’s natural bayous and the heavy industry of Galveston Bay.
