Bennett Benner Pettit Wins New Honors for Two Highly Visible Fort Worth Projects
Two Very Different Projects Grew Out of Their Environments, Met Challenging Demands
FORT WORTH, Texas (Nov. 18, 2011) — Bennett Benner Pettit, one of Fort Worth’s most respected architecture and planning firms), has won new honors for two different projects that, although very different, reflect a deep respect for their environments while meeting unique design challenges.
The firm recently received industry accolades for the Rogers Road Pavilion, a compound of buildings along the banks of the Trinity River near University Drive, and for the Fort Worth Zoo’s Museum of Living Art (MOLA), whose architectural design was inspired by the area’s rolling prairie hills and limestone outcroppings.
Designed to meet several needs, the Rogers Road Pavilion centers on a casual outdoor dining courtyard — the site of the newest venue of renowned restaurateur Tim Love and opens onto the river and connects with the Trinity River trail system.
Completed late this summer, the pavilion recently received a 2011 Honor Award from the Fort Worth Chapter of The American Institute of Architects. It was one of only five projects to receive an Honor Award this year.
“The site for the Rogers Road Pavilion was really just a small, triangular piece of underutilized property, and now it offers an idyllic setting to enjoy the serenity along the banks of the Trinity River in the midst of a bustling hub of shopping and dining,” said Michael Bennett, principal and CEO of Bennett Benner Pettit.
“We wanted to focus on enhancing access to the river, on improving recreational opportunities along the Trinity and on public awareness of water-quality issues,” Bennett said.
The project’s construction materials — corrugated metal, exposed wood and wall ventilation fans — reflect the industrial vernacular historically found along the river and in the nearby rail yards, further reflecting the firm’s intention to honor a project’s environment, in every sense of the word.
“The Rogers Road Pavilion is meant to serve as an example of how sustainable development can occur in a natural environment and at the same time take advantage of the amenities the Trinity River offers,” Bennett said.
The Fort Worth Zoo’s Museum of Living Art (MOLA), designed by Bennett Benner Pettit and opened in March 2010, recently received a Top Honors Exhibit Award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Founded in 1924, the AZA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science and recreation.
MOLA also recently was one of 10 projects to win a 2011 Topping Out Award. Topping Out is an annual fundraising event among development, architecture and construction firms in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Topping Out Awards honor excellence for projects that have a positive impact on their communities and reflect “the collective accomplishments of the entire team responsible for a project’s success,” according to the organization.
Last year, MOLA received a 2010 Building of America Award. The Building of America Network recognizes the country’s most innovative, unique and challenging projects — projects that are particularly significant or that give back to their respective communities.
“It’s incredibly gratifying to be honored within our industry, as well as by the natural sciences community, for what we helped accomplish with MOLA,” Bennett said.
The 17,000-square-foot MOLA replaced the Fort Worth Zoo’s 50-year-old herpetarium, a favorite destination for the more than 1 million zoo visitors a year. The program for MOLA required not only the space and infrastructure to accommodate the zoo’s complex program for animal display and conservation, but also required that the building break away from more traditional zoo architectural forms.
“The panels of the roof float above the building and recall the rolling hills of the prairies west of Fort Worth,” Bennett said. Roof panels curve like scales to follow the roof’s complex shapes. Changing light and shadow patterns on the interior stone walls are reminiscent of reptile scale patterns.
The design of MOLA intentionally and effectively blurs the line between inside and outside and the enclosures between animal and human, Bennett said.
The interiors of the buildings frame and display MOLA’s animal exhibits as natural pieces of art. Low-level accent lighting illuminates the interior volumes of the roof, looking to the Texas sky for its inspiration. Translucent ceiling panels with a stylized leaf design allow diffused light to dapple onto visitors in MOLA’s walk-through exhibits.
A 7,000-square-foot café provides dining and underwater viewing. Open encounter areas allow guests to come face to face with exotic reptiles such as the Fiji Island banded iguana or the Puerto Rican crested toad.
“Our greatest challenge was balancing the creative desires of the zoo with the functional needs of their curators and the animals,” Bennett said. “The herpetarium was envisioned as a museum, with a lot of thought given to providing an environment that was equally as sensitive to viewing the inhabitants as to conservation efforts.”
About Bennett Benner Pettit
Bennett Benner Pettit is a multidisciplinary design firm, offering architecture, urban design and planning, economic development, interior design and landscape architecture. Our objective is to create projects that make a positive difference in the environment, improve communities, and heighten the capabilities and brand value of our clients. With the personal attention of its leaders, Bennett Benner Pettit applies keen insight, problem-solving skills and a collaborative approach to complex situations, helping us understand the fabric of the communities in which we work and thoughtfully design in concert with our clients. Bennett Benner Pettit is based in Fort Worth, Texas, and on the Web at www.bbptx.com.
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