September 14, 2004

Burdette Keeland III speaks at the roof raising event for the Burdette Keeland, Jr. Design Exploration Center.

It’s rare that so much fanfare is directed toward ‘recycled goods,’ but for the roof raising for the University of Houston’s Burdette Keeland Jr. Design and Exploration Center, there was cause for much celebration.

With plenty of sunshine, music, spectators and dignitaries on hand, the center’s official roof raising Sept. 9 was an event that honored both the historic structure and the man for whom the design center is named.

The empty building shell – next to the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture – was once the Band Annex building and before that served as a vocational training facility following World War II.

Instead of being destroyed, it will be refurbished to accommodate the center, which will open in January and will house the college’s Design-Build Studio, the Environmental Simulation and Modeling Lab and the Architectural and Industrial Prototyping Center.

Named for Keeland, an alumnus and former professor of architecture, the center’s goal is to preserve his creative spirit and dedication to excellence in architecture.

“This building will forever recognize the contributions of one of our alumni, a gifted designer and beloved professor at UH for more than 40 years,” said Joseph Mashburn, dean of the College of Architecture. “The center will play an important role in fulfilling our vision for this college as a design center for Houston and beyond.”

Adding to Mashburn’s praise of Keeland was his son, Burdette Keeland III, who proudly wore one of his father’s flamboyant ties and shed a tear as he shared memories.

“Buildings are usually named for people with a lot of money or who are very prominent,” Keeland III said. “My dad had neither of these things. He had a lot of friends and a lot of soul. With this building that carries his name, a piece of his soul will be part of future students and this school forever.”

Recycling an existing structure to create a new building will prove environmentally sound, but the center will also utilize an earth-friendly roof design.

“We’re building a vegetative roof,” said Chula Ross Sanchez, UH architecture alumnus and member of Green Team Houston, which is helping develop the center’s ‘green roof.’ “There are going to be plants growing on the roof. It will benefit the environment by replacing the biodiversity that was taken away when the building was raised and controlling storm water runoff that creates flooding.”

In addition to Sanchez, Green Team Houston consists of two other UH architecture alumni, Mike Drez and Lucia Tschen.

The center received a $200,000 gift from Harvey Houck, a close friend of Keeland. In addition to this gift, the reconstruction project will rely on donated labor and materials from individuals and companies in Houston’s design and construction community. (For a list of contributors to date, visit http://www.arch.uh.edu/keelandcenter/donorlist.html)

The center’s designer, Geoffery Brune, a UH architecture alumnus and currently the college’s undergraduate adviser, is no stranger to creating imaginative, functional structures from used or donated materials.

Brune, designer of Houston’s Star of Hope Mission, feels that projects such as the Burdette Keeland Jr. Design and Exploration Center are essential in not only preserving the environment, but also history.

“Recycling structures like this is very important for the university and the city,” he said. “A large part of my architecture practice has been the rehabilitation of older structures. When one can give renewed life to an existing building, it maintains its legacy to the community.”

Mike Emery
Memery@central.uh.edu