Houston has some truly hidden gems and the Gragg Building is one of them. A unique and historic…read morebuilding in Houston, I was lucky enough to go on a tour of the building led by the Houston Parks and Recreation director, Joe Turner. This 1950's, Frank Lloyd Wright inspired building was the original Houston headquarters for NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) prior to the building of NASA Clear Lake. In 1976, the building (originally the Farnsworth & Chambers building) was purchased by the city of Houston and the surrounding land was purchased by Gragg family to create a city park. The building has served as the Houston Parks and Recreation Department's main headquarters since 1977. In 2007, the building underwent a $16 million dollar renovation designed to preserve the historic aspect of the building while modernizing it for future use. The building is now a LEED Gold certified building. The building is also recognized on local, state, and national historic registry sites.
All of that history can convey how beautiful this building is. As I drove up to the building (knowing nothing about it), I noticed the low flat roof and Wright inspired design. Walking in, the beautiful original green stone is visible everywhere. Inside the building there are three very prominent features. First, the green floor. Wow! The floor is incredibly shiny and incredibly green. I love it! Second, the original wood paneling is everywhere. The wood paneling was taken down, refurbished, and put back but in better placement throughout the building. And third, the natural lighting and windows. Everywhere you look is natural light and you can see through windows into the interior courtyard as well as outside. The building did not originally have so much natural light, but when the building was being renovated and large amount of asbestos were found, the building was completely gutted and the architects made the decision to add natural light to the plan.
I love this building and I'm not an architecture nerd at all. The designers thought of so many beautiful small touches. There are no lights in the ceilings, as everything is lit either by natural light or by upward facing recessed lights to conceal the actual light fixtures. The furniture matches the building, with many modern interpretations and recreations of mid century modern furnishings. The halls are long and bare allowing the structure to speak for itself. The grounds and interior spaces have large beautiful pieces of art. The director told us that the art was mostly taken from the storerooms of the Houston Public Library. The pieces have one thing in common, their names have to do with nature. There is one large commissioned piece outside the cafeteria by James Surls. The piece is reminiscent of "Point of View" which can be found in Market Square Park in downtown Houston.
The offices are open and light. The conference rooms are each named after a signature park in Houston. The largest conference table in the main meeting room is the original NASA era conference table. The day we toured, there was a Hurricane preparedness meeting going on where several people were sitting around the same table that John Glenn, Alan Shepard, and Gus Grissom sat. Even John F Kennedy Jr spent time in the building before heading to Rice University to give his famous speech.
The building doesn't forget its history. There is a large NASA sign in the front lobby along with photos from the era. The original building sign is still there, just covered with the Houston Parks and Rec sign now. There is a poster in the lobby that is signed by the final four crew members from the shuttle program, and the poster actually went into space with them.
The building just screams "mid century modern". I want to call the producers of Mad Men and tell them they need to shoot some scenes here.
It was an immense treat to have Joe Turner be our tour guide. His love for the building was apparent and he had a story about every hallway, design aspect, and conference room. What a treat it must be to work in such a beautiful building filled with art.
The building is located in Gragg Park, at South Wayside and Wheeler. This area was once the center of Houston's growth. The building is not open to the public, so if you are lucky enough to get a tour, go!
Information about the exquisitely done design and renovation can be found here: http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/ourparks/graggpark.html