Houston's Canopy Walk at High Island
SWA Group, in conjunction with SCHAUM/SHIEH, have designed the Canopy Walk at High Island for the Houston Audubon Society.
High Island is a salt dome mound in the middle of the Gulf Coast flats in Houston, Texas, and has been an active site for oil extraction over the past century.
The Canopy Walk in Gulf Coast Flats in Houston, Texas. Image credit - Jonnu Singleton.
Today it is known as a birding destination, where a variety of migratory birds visit and nest in nature sanctuaries maintained by the Houston Audubon Society (HAS).
To transform the remote, post-industrial, 177-acre site at Smith Oaks Sanctuary into an accessible, bird-watcher’s paradise, SWA worked with the HAS to develop a facilities masterplan and create a ‘destination experience’ for the birdwatching community.
The area has been an active site for oil extraction over the past century. Image credit - Jonnu Singleton.
The new Katherine G. McGovern Canopy walkway, “meanders through the existing tree canopy, leading visitors to man-made overlooks where egret, spoonbill, and cormorant populations establish their nesting homes every year.”
This 700-foot long, 18-foot-high boardwalk, “elevates then threads visitors up into and through a canopy refuge long-known to the birding community as an important stopover for over 300 species of migratory birds.”
Today it is a birding destination maintained by the Houston Audubon Society (HAS).
The walkway is designed to withstand the area’s humid environment full of dense vegetation, while still being light on the ecology of the land. It mimics tree structures in order to blend in, and is shaped to work around existing heritage oaks and other large trees.
Its elevation protects the migratory birds and allows visitors to experience bird fallout, while also being wheelchair accessible.
SWA worked with the HAS to develop a facilities masterplan and create a ‘destination experience’ for the birdwatching community. Image credit - Jonnu Singleton.
A pumphouse will be coordinated into an open-air pavilion to welcome guests and host events at the entry to the boardwalk.
A path connects the pumphouse to a new structure with toilets, a water fountain and information kiosk, and a roof painted ‘Audubon Green’ in a nod to the HAS’s brand identity, while also blending in to the surrounding plant life
The walkway is designed to withstand the area’s humid environment full of dense vegetation. Image credit - Jonnu Singleton.
SWA’s design minimises disturbance to the existing habitat and uses materials to withstand the coastal environment, and the popularity of High Island, “has helped the Houston Audubon Society realise its mission to create healthier environment (sic) by leading and nurturing a community that values and supports birds.”
You can see more of the project in the short video below.
