COASTAL FISHERIES FIELD OFFICE

Location: Port O’Connor, Texas

Owner: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Located directly on the mid-Texas Intra-Coastal Canal, the project houses administrators and scientists responsible for fisheries in the region. The site and its immediate environs enjoy a rich confluence of the natural beauty of a pristine coastal estuarine environment, and bustling coastal commerce.
Winds, tides and corrosion directly influence virtually every aspect of the design including low maintenance materials, integral storm protection, and tidal force break-away walls. As response to concerns for storm water runoff from coastal urbanization, the project demonstrates site-based coastal storm water management. It is oriented to minimize exposure to summer solar heat gain, appropriately employ window shading, and beneficially utilize winter solar exposures. It utilizes solar photo-voltaics and employs rain catchment.
Like the mariners and fishermen of this region, it is hard-working, practical and responsive to unrelenting environmental forces. It holds little pretense but much respect for its place and its heritage, expressing a civic sensibility as well as the environmental and scientific mission of the agency.

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