Houston Galleria Renovation & Expansion

Houston, TX

The Galleria originally opened on November 16, 1970 and has grown to be one of the most recognizable landmarks in the City, visited by more than 17 million people each year. In 1999, the new owner undertook an 818,014 square foot renovation of the existing common mall area and a 660,000 square foot expansion of gross leasable area. As with the renovation, the expansion of the Galleria was designed with clean, contemporary lines, rooted in classic modern architecture, resulting in a timeless look. Cooper Carry’s challenge was to take voluminous, unarticulated spaces with cold concrete surfaces and transform them into fashionable, energetic areas that would guide shoppers throughout the Galleria, yet appeal to diverse and often international shoppers.

project scope

818,014 SF of GLA (Renovation) and 660,000 SF of GLA (Addition)

design services

Urban Design + Planning, Architecture, Interior Design

Studios

Retail

CLient

Urban Retail Properties

Awards

  • ICSC Certificate of Merit 2005
  • SADI Award Renovated or Expanded Enclosed Center Category 2004
  • SADI Award Renovated or Expanded Enclosed Center Category 2004
  • ILAD International Lighting Design Awards, Award of Merit 2004
“Working as one of the owner’s principal representatives on the Houston Galleria Renovation and Expansion project with Cooper Carry and Gar Muse resulted in one of the projects I am most proud of. I have been blessed to work on high quality projects throughout my career and on the Galleria I found myself as the advocate on the owner’s team for some of Gar’s more forward design elements including the ceiling mounted fountain, and what at the time was the new trend of introducing hospitality type materials and elements into regional centers. Gar used wood panels and fascia’s as counter points to the slick glass and bright metals and that made the design more striking. Gar refreshed the icon skylight over the ice rink and solved heat gain issues from the original 1970’s design. He used the clear stories as the source of natural lighting in the expansion area and defined that design with its own unique architectural vocabulary that said ‘I’m new, more energy efficient, and stylish.’ The Cooper Carry team has tremendous sense of color and detail and used that skill to great effect throughout the project. Did I say I really like the design?” — Charles C. Porter, Development Management Associates LLC

Project Team