Dept. is working with Buffalo Bayou Partnership on the Gravel Silos and Stormwater Park, a nearly 5-acre site   located on the East End of Buffalo Bayou in Houston’s Second Ward neighborhood. 

Formerly the site of a concrete and gravel operation, the Gravel Silos Park will celebrate the remaining relics of the area’s industrial past – four large concrete silos, ‘rocks’ made of disposed concrete slurry, and buried concrete walls – and create a generous open space at the water’s edge. The Stormwater Park takes advantage of the site's naturally low elevation to provide a neighborhood stormwater retention space and  wetland. The wetland  also recirculates water from Buffalo Bayou through a large pipe that forms a symbolic gateway to the east side of Buffalo Bayou's linear hike and bike trail system.

This project addresses infrastructure concerns around flooding and erosion by elevating the main trail out of the 100-year floodplain and by  subsequently creating generous open spaces and viewing platforms at the bayou's edge. It is part of the larger Buffalo Bayou East master plan and   is an an ongoing collaboration with SWA Group. 

Houston, TX

Gravel Silos and Stormwater Park

Dept. is a landscape architecture and urban design studio that provides creative, useful, and adaptive design responses for the public and the environment.