Gideon Toal
Influencing the urban fabric This Fort Worth-based company tackles a variety of speciality architecture projects and has a flair for bringing out the best in each and every project.
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ideon toal
sustainable and creative ingenuity by Johanna Gretschel
Designing Fort Worth Zoo’s herpetarium, a building that showcases reptiles and amphibians, presented a series of unique challenges for architectural firm Gideon Toal, Inc. But the firm’s diverse experience provided them with the skills necessary to conquer each of those challenges. CEO Michael Bennett describes Gideon Toal as a generalist architecture firm, because they undertake projects ranging from medical centers to university buildings to single family residences. This approach allows Gideon Toal to bring out the best in each individual project. “We approach each project not in a cookie cutter format. Instead, we approach it as-is and we work with how things are,” he said. Yet the Fort Worth Zoo’s herpetarium offered new challenges to the 54-year-old, Ft. Worthbased company. The architects were required to plan, design and build the structure while keeping the needs of creatures as exotic as a 16-foot saltwater crocodile in mind. The crocodile, in particular, challenged Gideon Toal to create a design that showcased the animal as much as possible while making sure the structure was strong and visitors were protected.
“The issue was having enough glass to be able to see the crocodile but also making sure it was safe,” said Bennett. The project was a first for Gideon Toal, as Bennett said the firm had never worked directly with animals before. The company was not alone on the project; Gideon Toal implemented ideas from zoo board members and herpetologists to craft the building. Artists were also commissioned to paint murals on the walls and sculpt rocks for the exhibit. “It was really interesting to work with people who knew about the animals and about the normal things the animals did and needed to do. Being able to work that into the design was pretty satisfying,” Bennett said. Work on the project began three or four TOP: Forth Worth, Texas. The Fort Worth Zoo’s Museum of Living Art steel beams and metal roof were designed to rise and fall in soft waves mimicking the rolling hills of the Texas Prairie. Photo by Jeremy Enlow. BOTTOM: Forth Worth, Texas. Interiors within the Fort Worth Zoo Museum of Living Art were designed to immerse visitors within exhibits that simulate the animals’ native environment. Photo by Jeremy Enlow.
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years ago; the renamed Fort Worth Museum of Living Art unveiled itself this past March. The building is identified as a museum because its elaborate architecture is akin to the aesthetics of a museum. The building’s most widely celebrated feature is its unusual roof. “The roof is kind of a rolling, undulating sort of roof that is in different pieces. At one level, it looks like the rolling plains of the prairie. At another
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level, it looks like snake skin,” said Bennett. One of Gideon Toal’s core values is sustainability and conservation. The recent construction of the Tarrant Regional Water District Annex Building in Tarrant County, Texas, allowed the firm to showcase its green sensibilities. The building is the first of Gideon Toal’s projects to earn LEED Gold certification. When it first opened in June 2009, the 26,000
square foot Tarrant Regional Water District Annex Building boasted the largest array of solar panels in Texas. All three wings were outfitted in rooftop solar panels producing 65 percent of the yearly energy required to run the building. Also, low-flow water fixtures were installed to reduce water usage by 44 percent or approximately 103,700 gallons per year. The complex also utilizes rainwater harvesting. “We collect the water in cisterns and use
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it to irrigate the landscape around it,” said Bennett. These features combined, qualify the complex for LEED Gold certification. The Tarrant Regional Water District requested the attainment of such status, as it is an environmentally conscious entity. “They manage the water resources within our area for drinking water primarily,” Bennett said, “so conservation and making sure
the water quality is first-class is a big part of what they do.” Prior to joining the Gideon Toal team in 2004, Bennett worked in resort development at the New York headquarters of architecture firm Hart Howerton. Bennett says that his work with Hart Howerton instilled in him the importance of designing a building while keeping the characteristics of the surrounding landscape in mind, as he calls
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THIS PAGE: Fort Worth, Texas. Tarrant Regional Water District Annex Building. The TRWD Annex was designed with a clear focus towards sustainability achieving LEED Gold certification. Sustainable features include three 7,000 gallon water run-off cisterns, a solar panel array that generates 238kw of power annually and extensive daylighting. Photo by Craig Kuhner.
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Purdy McGuire ACME Brick’s Headquarters is tempered by a Condenser Water System consisting of a Cooling Tower, Self-Contained Units, VAV and Fan Powered Boxes. The system design incorporates variable frequency drives, water-side economizers and condenser water reset. An internal data center uses DX units with VAV bypass as redundancy. Also, the building envelope has above usual tightness that greatly reduces levels of heat gain and transmission losses. Lighting controls include occupancy sensors and bi-level switching via the lighting control panel and Energy Management System. The building has generator and UPS back-up. Low flow, infrared activated plumbing fixtures help with water use reduction.
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THIS PAGE: Forth Worth, Texas. The FWCD Sid W. Richardson Visual Arts Center was designed to incorporate extensive natural lighting which is typified along the north elevation with clear glazing 25 feet high. The blending of flexible indoor and outdoor spaces within the FWCD Sid W. Richardson Visual Arts Center allows teachers to easily extend their classrooms on beautiful afternoons. The FWCD Sid W. Richardson Visual Arts Center’s use of natural light illuminates the interior space and increases students’ connection with the natural environment. Photos by Craig Kuhner.
it, “marrying the building to the land.” For example, Gideon Toal’s 30-member team must always keep Texas’ infamous heat in mind when designing buildings in the area. “People need to protect themselves from the sun,” said Bennett. Strategies to combat the unbearable heat involve placing windows in more shaded areas and positioning buildings to catch breezes in the summer or to protect from winds in the winter. Bennett circles back to his description of Gideon Toal as a firm of generalists, not specialists, in saying that his experience in resort development has aided his diverse portfolio of projects with Gideon Toal. The staff typically has their hands full, with about 40 to 50 projects in some stage of development at any given time. “Being a generalist lets you draw on different types of project types,” he said. “You can take your experience in building schools and apply it to something else.” Under Bennett’s direction, Gideon Toal is a firm ready to try its hand at anything. With success in the fields of community, corporate/ commercial, economic development, educaFall 2010 7
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tion, healthcare, interior design, landscape architecture, planning/urban design and residential works, the company has a strong record of credibility. Gideon Toal’s only limits are its environmental integrity and dedication to promoting sustainability. “I think one of the things that we try not to do are projects that promote urban sprawl,” said Bennett. “We try to do things that develop the city. Sustainability is a basic foundation of our firm.” As a member of both the American Institute of Architects and the Texas Society of Architects, Gideon Toal is one of most distinguished architecture firms in the country. The company has won over 50 awards in the past 10 years, including eight in 2010. In 2007, Gideon Toal received its highest honor-Texas Society of Architects Architecture Firm of the Year. ALT LEFT: Fort Worth, Texas. The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History main courtyard was designed to incorporate an existing live oak tree with an immense 40-foot canopy with a minimalist water fountain, reflecting pool and bright jacaranda blue walls. Through the incorporation of the bright colors of Latin America, and the extensive use of glass and open space, the facility promotes the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History mission of learning through discovery by employing an exemplary blend of space, light, color, and water with the use of strong, basic geometric forms. Anchoring one corner of the internationally renown Museum District in Fort Worth and joining the works of 4 other world class designs, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History represents a co-mingling of the architectural styles of Texas and Mexico. Photo by Lourdes Legoretta.
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