Colonial Park


Renovation transformed this into the flagship park for the small city of West University Place. The park incorporates a variety of recreation components: picnic shelter, walking path and open lawn that are in use year-round. White Oak Studio designed custom, themed features to add unique character to the playground.


Centennial Gardens


McGovern Centennial Gardens is a new public garden in the heart of Hermann Park. The public-private project is the culmination of Hermann Park Conservancy’s 20-year redevelopment, following the 1995 park master plan, and it reinvents the Houston Garden Center, an integral part of the park since the 1920’s. White Oak Studio led a multi-disciplinary team for this complex public space. Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects of Chicago, IL was design landscape architect. Bohlin, Cywinski Jackson Architects designed two buildings for the site. Infrastructure Associates provided Civil, Structural and Electrical engineering services; James Pole Associates was irrigation designer and William Welch, Ph.D. was horticulture consultant. Centennial Gardens includes a series of pleasure gardens arranged around a grand central lawn and dramatic ‘garden mount’. An Arid Garden, Woodland Walk, Celebration Garden, Family Garden, Rose Garden and Pine Hill Walk delight visitors with a variety of garden experiences.


Bethel Park


Bethel Park is a unique new park in Houston’s historic Fourth Ward. White Oak Studio led a team of architects and engineers to create a beautiful community park from the ruins of this African-American church. Masonry walls remaining after a 2005 fire were restored and now frame a dramatic open-air space that celebrates the history of the church and the Freedman’s Town community. New steel trusses tower overhead and support the walls while steel and color polycarbonate panels recall the original stained glass windows. Outside the walls, an open lawn surrounded by Southern Sugar Maples provides a welcome oasis in the dense urban neighborhood.