The South Texas Heritage Center
Museum includes the restoration of the historic Pioneer Hall and the design of
an addition, set on the banks of the San Antonio River, intended to breathe new
life into the existing building originally constructed for Texas’ Centennial
celebration. The new South Texas Heritage Center continues the original
founder’s mission of teaching the stories South Texas settlers through the use
of historic artifacts, paintings, and photographs from the Witte Museum’s vast
collection utilizing the latest interactive displays to engage and educate both
children and adults about the history of the region.
The challenge was to design a
sensitive addition that would enhance the beauty of this important historic
Beaux-Arts building. Inspired by the
building’s setting within Brackenridge Park along the San Antonio River, the
architect developed a design concept for the addition reminiscent of a 1930’s
era park pavilion that would be full of light with sweeping views of the river.
It was important to design an addition with scale and proportions relating to,
and reflecting architectural elements of the existing landmark building, while
at the same time avoiding the construction of its mirror image.
The steel-framed curtain wall of
the addition encloses a grand 30-foot tall atrium space, which serves not only
as the grand entrance hall for the new Center, but also as a wonderful place
for receptions and fundraising. The
preserved West exterior wall of Pioneer Hall provides a beautiful interior
backdrop to the glass covered atrium, and also acts as the physical link
between the old and new.

Sustainable features were
incorporated in the design from the very beginning including deep overhangs,
insulated UV-filtered glass, locally sourced materials, and a grey water drip
irrigation system. The foundation of the
addition is predominantly suspended slab, which was designed to have as little
impact on the undisturbed natural grade as possible, while also allowing river
floodwater to flow beneath it during heavy rains.

The highlight of the new
landscape surrounding the South Texas Heritage Center is the riverside
amphitheater that uses cut stone benches and natural boulders, woven beneath
the canopies of existing trees, to minimize the impact on the park setting.