OMA partnered with a live entertainment company to design the “Terminal,” a 5,000 capacity music venue in Houston, Texas. The project, led by Jason Long, is intended to serve as a cultural anchor for ‘POST Houston’. Lovett Commercial is transforming Barbara Jordan’s historic post office into a mixed-use center for culture. Food, shop, and recovery.
All images courtesy of OMA
OMA’s design includes a flat general assembly area with a platform of raked seating area that hovers over the ground floor. This flat area offers unlimited possibilities for arrangements and complex scenography, while the grandstand of fixed seats clad with fiberglass grids offers a generous view of the venue. Behind and below, a protected space is formed in which visitors can move away from the main act without being completely removed from it.
“We wanted the terminal to be a place where you could be connected to the stage and creatively released at the same time. That’s why we tried to bring the performance and its aura to every corner of the venue.” Shares Jason Long. 
Within the venue, a series of rooms articulated with industrial materials and ephemeral lighting fixtures lead to the main stage. The lobby bar is surrounded by heat shields made of aluminized fabric – a nod to NASA and Houston space history. Like an airlock, the lobby area provides a sealed environment for decompression and anticipation of buildings. Stainless steel grids supported by cattle fence insulators line the walls to provide display areas for goods and posters.
Beyond the lobby, a double-height polycarbonate wall creates a transparent threshold that divides the main room into two zones: a circulation band in the west and a central cavity in the east. The western band offers space for intimate social encounters, while the void takes on a more adaptable character and provides space for mass spectacles. Within the translucent band, a bright yellow staircase connects the various target group levels and culminates in a hidden lounge, in which a seating landscape encourages playful interactions.
