HOUSTON – (By Cynthia Lescalleet for Realty News Report) – Ismaili Center, Houston is a masterpiece of architectural and landscape design supported by feats of structural engineering. The garden-filled cultural complex is a milestone for the Ismaili community here — and for Houstonians to experience, gather and learn.
The landmark campus sits upon 11 acres that stretch along Montrose Boulevard from Allen Parkway to West Dallas Street. It’s a narrow, deep site and rises 27 feet from Buffalo Bayou — a design and engineering challenge for the team to resolve.
As the first Ismaili civic and cultural complex in the United States, the center here joins a network of six others built over the past 40 years, located in London, Vancouver, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe and Toronto.
AN ‘AMBASSADORIAL’ BUILDING
While each Ismaili center interprets and reflects its geographical location, they share a mission: to acknowledge and showcase Ismaili’s 1,400-year history, values, ethics, and to be a welcoming space for their greater communities to learn, engage and connect, said project team leadership on a preview tour.
Given Houston’s hot and humid climate, for example, the design incorporated indoor-outdoor spaces and blurred the transitions between them, helped in part by the blue hues of finishes.
Enter one of the three foyers, for example, and view the gardens beyond. Meanwhile, silk-laminated glass walls gently reflect what’s outside. Cantilevered elements shade patios below them. Perforated screens filter light and lend privacy.
BEHIND THE WALL
Behind its imposing perimeter wall, the 150,000-square-foot structure rises five stories. Having a compact footprint on the site helped maximize outdoor amenities. A series of terraces, gardens and courtyards on nine acres provide an open, stylized setting for the center.
Inside, soaring ceilings and open spans of space accommodate three wings containing the central prayer hall, social halls of various capacity, education and exhibition spaces, a black box theater, a café and administrative space. The prayer hall occupies less than 10 percent of the interior space, a tour spokesperson noted.
Underground parking contains 600 spaces, with the lower of the two levels doubling as stormwater retention if ever needed.
The team collaborating on the project included Farshid Moussavi Architecture; Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects; AKT II, the structural, civil, geotechnical and façade engineer; DLR Group as architect and engineer of record; and McCarthy Building Companies.
Cultural architectural tradition and modernity blend in the new center’s design, said architect Farshid Moussavi. More esoteric descriptions in the project materials refer to “structure as legible order, ornament as human scale, repetition as unity and light as material.”
When viewed from across the campus, the front entry’s stunning stone tile is monumental and luminous. Up close, it’s intricate and highly textured due to the small tiles comprising the screen, almost like a tapestry.
Some of the structural elements are hidden in plain sight – such as beams clad in mirrors to blend with more textured elements. Others are highlighted as they support cantilevered volumes and dramatic super-long spans. Within the vast main atrium, stacked trusses decrease in size and rotate as they rise, forming a stepped multi-story space capped by the oculus.
Geometry brings a rhythm to the center and its site, project leaders said. A subtle grid draws visitors to and through the property and is subtly expressed in such ways as pavement, room orientation, furnishings and tree spacing.
Project sources declined to share the project cost.
ETHOS AND ECOSYSTEMS
A series of terraced lawns, reflecting basins, flood-adaptive gardens and pathways between them characterize the project’s landscape design by NBW, which studied the spatial and sensory heritage of Islamic gardens.
Plus, it’s climate resilient.
The results are “not ‘just’ a garden,” said landscape architect Thomas Woltz. Rather, it’s “an evolving ecosystem and a landscape of connection, resilience and care.”
Be patient for results, he said. The high-performance and native plantings have just been installed and need time to flourish. Fig ivy, for example, will soften the presence of the perimeter’s 10-foot sound wall of concrete panels.
Among the thousands of plantings are sections spotlighting Texas’ diverse eco-regions, from desert to grasslands to Gulf Coast and so on. As garden areas with mesquite trees or live oaks mature, the intertwined canopies will further connect the grounds and building. Other connections include the outdoor seating, which is positioned in curves and at angles to promote interaction.
Further, a public gate on the north end of the campus will give bayou path walkers direct access to explore the gardens, the lowest of which, a so-called “seasonal wetland,” is another detention pond.
A 20-YEAR EFFORT
The project broke ground in 2021 on land purchased in 2006. Preview materials note how the center fulfills a long-held vision of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Kahn IV, who passed away earlier this year. Completion has been under the leadership of his son and successor, His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V.
Speaking at the center’s inaugural opening event earlier this month, he said, “This building may be called an Ismaili Center, but it is not here for Ismailis only. It is for all Houstonians to use; a place open to all who seek knowledge, reflection and dialogue.
Ismaili Center, Houston opens to the public in mid-December with community events. As with the building access, parking is also free.
Nov. 10, 2025 Realty News Report Copyright 2025
Photos: Iwan Baan for Ismaili Center, Houston
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File: Ismaili Center Opens as a Cultural Beacon, Civic Sanctuary. Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, Ismaili Center Opens as a Cultural Beacon, Civic Sanctuary in Nov. 2025. Farshid Moussavi Architecture;