How MATCH was made
The design, money and ideas behind the arts center
The building is meant to be seen at night. For the moment, Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston is a beacon among blocks of darkened construction projects that border it on nearly every side.
Still, the surrounding blocks are buzzing. Streets closed by reflective cones and food trucks, a beat broadcast down a block queued with cars and couples quickly crossing sidewalks.
The steady flow of headlights, spilling across the pavement like the surf or swinging around corners. Within MATCH’s breezeway — a glass-lined canyon cut through white metal panels and galvanized steel — the audiences of four small shows spill out into the glow that emanates from the heart of the building, lighting up the block.
With its first show in October 2015, the Lake|Flato- and Studio RED-designed MATCH opened as one of Houston’s most unusual performing and visual arts venues — and a model for a new type of public/private development.
Designed to support rotating troupes of performers and artists rather than a single anchor tenant, the building is made for flexibility. Really, it’s two buildings, connected by a generous covered breezeway that cuts across the block from Main to Travis.
The north building includes four primary performance spaces (“MATCH boxes”), ranging from 100 seats and to 329, along with dressing rooms and back-of-house support for each box. The seating and A/V set-ups are variable, so each box can be configured to accommodate theater, dance, or visual art. There’s a box office downstairs, and a glassed-in café has a view of a small square plaza on the corner of Main and Holman.
The south building supports three rehearsal rooms that can double as small performance spaces; a 3,000-squarefoot gallery (which also has a sprung wood floor to accommodate dance classes); and 5,000 square feet of second-floor office space available to tenants. (The spaces are intentionally designed for shortterm tenants: Small arts groups can save money by renting them as needed.)
The connecting outdoor breezeway functions as MATCH’s lobby. Its openings are a response to Houston’s climate, according to Ryan Jones, the Lake|Flato architect in charge of the project:
“The materials are a response to the building’s need to breathe,” Jones said. “What I love about the building is that it almost feels like you’re in a haze, the way the light reflects. It’s almost cloud-like. We wanted the architecture to be a background for unique experiences and diverse tenants.”
The financial arrangements behind the building are as interesting as its architecture. Often small arts groups are subject to a Catch-22: They cannot raise the money to build a new facility without the clout that comes from bigger audiences; but they cannot attract larger audiences while housed in inadequate facilities.
To make it past that hump, four midsized arts groups (Aurora Picture Show, DiverseWorks, Suchu Dance, and The Catastrophic Theatre) pooled their resources. Together, the reasoning went, they could create a destination that could not only support their organizations but could potentially change the arts scene in Houston.
If small to midsized arts groups clumped together, in a central location, they could achieve a kind of critical mass — potentially sharing not just audiences but creativity, as the groups cross-pollinate.
The group purchased a suitably central piece of Midtown land for the project: the Main Street parking lot of the City of Houston’s former permitting center. (The money came from more than 50 donors, as well as a loan guaranteed by the developer of Mid Main — a mixed-use project currently under construction just south of the MATCH.)
The spot feels as though it’s in the middle of everything. Roughly halfway between downtown and the Texas Medical Center, as well as between Houston’s theater arts and museum districts, the site is edged by bus routes and the Metro’s Red Line, which stops just south of the MATCH at the Ensemble/ HCC station.
Planning grants from Houston Endowment (just over $1 million over the course of eight years) enabled the MATCH board to develop a business plan and schematic architectural designs. An all-inclusive goal of $25 million was established.
A $6 million capital campaign grant from the Houston Endowment was critical.
“The Houston Endowment was truly the bellwether. They were partners all the way,” said Jill Jewett, former assistant director of cultural affairs for Mayor Bill White and a key consultant in MATCH’s development. “The $6 million grant was really the seal of approval for us to go to other foundations.”