IMEG engineers featured on “How Did They Build That?” episode
IMEG structural engineers Wally Ford and Tan Tran are featured in an upcoming episode of “How Did They Build That?” on the Smithsonian Channel.
The episode discusses the design, engineering, and construction of The Nancy and Rich Kinder building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It is scheduled to run Sunday, Sept. 14, at 9 p.m. Eastern.
IMEG provided structural engineering and design services for the 237,000-sf, three-story building in partnership with Guy Nordenson and Associates. It features 102,366-sf of exhibition space for modern and contemporary art, a 215-seat theater, restaurant and café, underground parking, and pedestrian tunnels connecting it to the museum’s existing gallery buildings and new Glassell School of Art.
The episode tells the story of the architect’s vision to create a building covered with 1,100 translucent glass tubes, with a roof that mimics the shifting shapes of clouds, and the engineering and construction innovations and challenges as the vision was brought to life.
To create the cloud-like atmosphere, the architect designed large ceilings, windows, and space for ambient lighting. These features were supported by a concrete perimeter, with steel supports for each floor and the trussed roof. The interior is spacious in places and more constrained in others to accent the artwork. The structural supports fluctuate to accommodate this and match the building’s visual style. The building won the ENR Best of the Best Project in the Cultural Category.
Wally Ford, PE, LEED AP, and Tan Tran, PE, LEED AP BD+C, are Structural Engineers of Distinction at IMEG. Ford works in the Houston office; Tran, who recently retired, worked in the Austin office.