HOUSTON — For 15 years, the Astrodome has sat silent waiting to learn its fate.
"Paris has the Eiffel Tower, New York has the Empire State Building, London has Big Ben, and what does Houston have? It has the Astrodome. We need to save it," Gensler architect Alfonso Hernandez said.
In an annual competition, the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, challenges teams to re-imagine existing structures. This year that challenge was the Astrodome.
"As soon as I heard that word, I said I'm in, I don't care what we're doing, I got to take part of that," UH master's student Felipe Villareal said.
Alongside University of Houston architecture professor Mili Kyropoulou, Hernandez, Villareal and other colleagues spent the summer at work, studying a building that no one seems to know what to do with.
"We were having a lot of fun," Hernandez said. "At work, we have to deal with budgets, but with this one, it was just let's see what we can do with it."
The result transformed the Astrodome into an indoor public street with a botanical garden, 77,000 square feet of retail space, 500 hotel rooms, and a massive immersive museum dedicated to the Dome's history.
"Giving people the ability to go through the building and make it part of the urban fabric," Kyropoulou said.
The iconic structure would remain intact. A major change, though, would be opening up on the east side to a large promenade stretching out to the light rail.
"We decided to open up the building literally chopping off a piece to that side to create a visual and experiential connection to the city," Kyropoulou said.
The concept wowed the judges. The Houston-based team took home first place.
County leaders didn't respond to KHOU 11 News requests for comment on where things stand on the Astrodome, but these local architects are hopeful it reignites the fire to not give up on an iconic piece of architecture.
"If we look at the process we followed, it can be an inspiration to more ideas to come," Kyropoulou said.