Civic/Cultural

Civic and cultural buildings are essential to every community. These buildings are used by the public for many different purposes - whether for performances, displaying artifacts, holding public proceedings or conducting daily government business. The firm has designed numerous notable civic and cultural buildings and is currently working on the new Tarrant County Jail which is registered with the US Green Building Council and is expected to earn LEED Gold certification for its excellence in energy efficient design.

The Museum of Living Art rises out of a landscape of native grasses and canyons. Limestone walls replicate the striations of the canyon, while steel beams and metal roofs rise and fall in soft waves. The line between inside and outside and the enclosure between animal and human are blurred.

While the 7,000-square-foot café provides dining and underwater viewing, the herpetarium includes...

Renowned as the home club of Ben Hogan (also the course architect), Shady Oaks Country Club’s 1958 building was an eclectic mix of southwestern ranch and period interiors. A fire in 2003 rendered the beloved building uninhabitable.

The new building maintains a strong connection to the old building by reusing many salvaged elements from the original. These remnants include walnut and...

The new Fort Worth Museum of Science and History serves as a capstone to Fort Worth’s Cultural District, which has developed into an international destination for the architecture of its museum facilities over the past five decades. Built adjacent to a natural plaza, the pedestrian-friendly museum is anchored by the building’s iconic signature attraction: a 76-foot-tall glass and stone tower...

As the Architect of Record, Bennett Benner Pettit partnered with the Design Architect, David M. Schwarz Architects, Inc., on the Tarrant County Family Law Center and Parking Garage, one of the most significant new projects in downtown Fort Worth. Incorporating open space and natural light, the courthouse provides a high level of security and is sensitive to the needs of families during...

Housing the district’s engineering and information services departments, the 26,000-square-foot building was awarded USBC Gold Level LEED certification. The Annex boasts one of the largest roof-mounted solar electric systems in the state of Texas. The 236-kilowatt system of 1,157 solar photovoltaic panels will provide 70 percent of the building’s energy as well as surplus electricity for the...

Bennett Benner Pettit served as Production Architect for this high-end golf clubhouse in Hawaii. The project consists of a unique golf clubhouse of approximately 15,000 square feet in the Kuki’o private oceanfront club and residential community. Kuki’o is located in the Kailua-Kona district and is the first and only private equity golf and beach club on Hawaii’s Big Island. The clubhouse...

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth’s Cultural District, adjacent to the existing Modern Art Museum and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. As the Architect of Record, Bennett Benner Pettit partnered with the Design Architect, David M. Schwarz Architects, Inc., to ensure the successful completion of the project’s design and construction.

The Tarrant County Charles Griffin Sub-Courthouse began as a 7,000-square-foot building at the intersection of Miller Avenue and Berry Street in Fort Worth’s Poly neighborhood in 1981. The Justice of the Peace and Commissioner’s Office were added on to in 1997 to include a Tax Assessor’s Office and a Public Health Clinic, creating a 14,000-square-foot building. By 2005, the structural...

The 9/11 Tribute exhibit, to be located on the front lawn of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, will offer a peaceful and emotional opportunity for the citizens of Fort Worth and surrounding communities to view a significant structural artifact recovered from the World Trade Center collapse.

Placed prominently at the center of a concrete and stone plaza, the fallen tri-column...

The Levitt Pavilion is located at the new Founders Plaza across from City Hall in downtown Arlington. Founders Plaza, also designed by Bennett Benner Pettit, includes a spacious lawn, an interactive water fountain and the Levitt Pavilion.

Surrounding the pavilion’s amphitheater, a large, grassy area offers casual seating for its guests. This outdoor music pavilion houses free...

The center consists of educational and museum space concerning nature, with specific emphasis on riparian life of the Trinity River. While concentrating on the preservation of the site’s natural ecosystem, the design of the facility incorporates the concept of sustainable design, using recycled or renewable-resource building materials for the structure. This effort included the use of salvaged...

The new Tarrant County Jail is a five-story maximum-security facility that primarily contains single-occupancy cells for male and female inmates, medical facilities for male inmates, and a new kitchen that will serve the entire downtown campus and their Cold Spring Facility and, in some capacity, their Green Bay Facility. The new jail is located between Weatherford and Belknap streets and...

The TRWD headquarters is located above the Trinity River flood plain and as close to the levee as the Corps of Engineers allows. The building is constructed of regionally contextual materials blended with a sophisticated structure of Texas limestone and brick, glue-laminated beams, exposed steel beams and a standing-seam metal roof. The deep overhangs confirm the indigenous Texas identity,...

The Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) was the first phase of the commuter rail system linking Dallas and Fort Worth. The ITC serves as the hub for passengers changing transportation modes between city bus service, Amtrak rail service, excursion rail, future high-speed rail and inter-city commercial bus carriers.

Casa Mañana Theatre, built in 1959 using a kit of parts marketed by Alcoa, is one of the few aluminum geodesic dome structures remaining in the U.S. Bennett Benner Pettit was charged with reconfiguring the performance space into a more flexible modified thrust/proscenium arrangement while adding appropriately scaled public spaces and related amenities for the resulting 1,082 seats.