Project Statement
Pump House is a deconstructed residential
garden; a re-creation of an old pumping station. It
is a transformation of the industrial into the artistic,
incorporating original mechanical equipment, gears,
and valves, as well as elements of sustainable design.
Such elements include an absorptive paving system and
a sod roof, and the consistent use of native plants.
Creative elements include a splash basin serving as
a floorway, and an interactive clay tile piece for play.
Project Narrative
Turtle Creek Pump House is a place restored,
not destroyed. It is a recycling of an entire site,
not merely the building materials of that site. In a
city where new is typically better, the Pump House is
a reminder that the bones of history can provide form
for a space, giving shape and substance to a marvelous
new creation.
This deconstructed garden is a residential
design comparable in approach to Seattle’s Gas
Works Park and Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory.
It is simultaneously a remembrance and a revival of
history. Originally a pumping station supplying water
to the Township of Highland Park in Dallas, the Pump
House is now a space for art: a salon, a temporary flat,
and a place of play. The Client was motivated to “tell
a story” when she purchased this property next
to her home, and to remove the accumulated damage of
neglect, damage, and misuse imposed upon the site and
upon the buildings. She wished to make a garden out
of industry, using water not merely as a place to reminisce,
but also as a place to act. The site that once pumped
clean drinking water to an entire community now lifts
the spirit by encouraging social interaction through
imaginative uses of water.
The landscape architect acted as both
inventor and collaborator, working with the architect,
the industrial reclamation programmer, and environmental
artists. Consistent collaboration with the Client allowed
the imagined to be built. As a patron of modern art
and architecture, the Client clearly understands that
a decaying site does not necessarily require violent
dismemberment. Driven by the desire to re-invent the
site while restoring critical features, the Client requested
that a painstaking preservation and cataloguing of the
mechanical equipment, gears, and valves of the Pump
House be conducted.
Sharing environmental values with Pump
House visitors was also part of the Client’s vision,
and the team responded by designing a garden with intensively
planted native Texas grasses and perennials. A native
grass expert was hired to give critical advice on plant
species best suited for a range of light and moisture
conditions. Reeds were planted in a new steel-lined
trough, a reminder of the old water main that carried
water from the Pump House to Highland Park. Buffalo
grass was chosen for the sod roof, providing a small
lawn perfectly suited for an intimate picnic.
Consistent with the desire to incorporate
native plant life was a commitment to the incorporation
of sustainable design elements. A custom-designed, water-permeable
paver and grass system was installed on the main driveway
to the Pump House, the pattern of which was carefully
designed to prevent ladies heels from sinking into the
grass. This design was implemented to prevent run-off,
allowing for the absorption of surface water into the
ground. Also contributing such elements to the garden
design is the sod roof, which was constructed atop newly
added bathroom facilities.
As one walks through the Turtle Creek
Pump House, each turn brings about an encounter with
a new interpretive use of the element of water. Ground-level
misters were installed in the entry garden to introduce
this element. The concrete floor of the old North Water
Tank was modified through the construction of a “splash
basin” with the addition of a simple, five-inch
concrete lip along its doorway to retain water. The
interplay of water and concrete is a consistent theme
throughout the site, and spillways, fountains, and tanks
create a sensory impact consistent with the spirit and
memory of this place.
The advent of Modernism ushered in the
realization that site and building designs could and
should be fully integrated. With the subsequent onslaught
of Post-Modernism, deconstruction, the laying bare and
reassembly of constituent parts, was pursued in various
artistic modes of expression. Using a combination of
these two approaches, the Pump House has proven itself
a risk well taken: orderly and functional, yet beautiful
and playful. It is a magnificent melding of disciplines.
Turtle Creek Pump House is a significant,
high-profile Dallas restoration which demonstrates what
can happen when concern and creativity are united. It
is a prime example of the emerging role of the landscape
architect as on par with that of the building architect.
Redefinition of the site was as important to the success
of the Pump House project as the restoration of the
buildings, and this achievement stems from the determined
cooperation of client, architect, engineer, designer,
landscape architect, and artist. The garden is an equalizer
of age: as barefoot intellectuals and artists discuss
trends and ideas in the evening, the Client’s
grandchildren create their own ideas for play during
the day. It is truly a universal design.
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