Pump House

Originally a pump station supplying water to the Town of Highland Park, the Pump House is now a space for art, a venue for intellectual discussion, a temporary apartment, and playground. The project reflects the client’s environmental values, and MESA, in collaboration with designer Julie Bargmann of D.I.R.T. Studio, has worked closely with a native grass expert for advice on appropriate plant species. The team has designed a garden in the old south water tank and intensively planted it with native Texas grasses and perennials. A “splash basin” now stands in the north water tank; and a custom-designed, pervious paver and grass system is installed at the main driveway, the pattern carefully designed to prevent ladies heels from sinking into the grass. A garden has emerged from an industrial memory; Dallas’s answer to Seattle’s Gas Works Park and Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory.

Awards

Dallas Architecture Forum
2023 Design Recognition Award

James Rose Center
2014 Suburbia Transformed 3.0 Design Award

American Society of Landscape Architects
2007 Honor Award – Residential Design

Texas Chapter American Society of Landscape Architects
2006 Merit Award – Design Constructed