The new River Ranch County Park is nearing completion and will become a gateway to more than 1,300 acres (526 ha) of former ranch land along the South Fork San Gabriel River.
Texas-based firm McKinney York Architects has designed all the building facilities for the new park, including a headquarters, several open-air pavilions, restrooms and showers, grounds maintenance, and a grand 445-m2 (4,800-sf) interpretive center.
Their design takes cues from the agrarian vernacular and the intense Texas heat, resulting in a roof-dominant building typology.
Large porches and covered spaces created by oversized roofs and deep overhangs unify the park. Expansive, corrugated metal roofs with deep overhangs provide a much-needed respite from the summer sun and afford ample gathering space. Each building features a variation of a standard hip roof with deep, low-hanging eaves and structural steel ridge caps with gutters. The underside of these roofs is bright green, a reference point for the landscape’s seasonal green. A common theme is the feeling of “sheltering in the wilderness.”
Glass walls surround the exhibit hall and are protected by the shady brim of the roof overhangs.
Visible from nearly every corner of the park, the metal fireplace cap of the chimney connects to an inviting, oversized outdoor fireplace. The fireplace is the first thing that greets visitors upon their arrival.
River Ranch County Park was designed to conserve and celebrate the diverse ecology of the Texas Hill Country.
