To preserve the prehistoric bones at Waco Mammoth Site,
Cotera+Reed Architects has strived to intertwine the firm’s creative vision with the immutable realities
of sunlight, Central Texas heat, and the rigors of scientific preservation.
The Austin-based firm has designed an 8,400-square-foot shelter
for the dig site that will be open to the public. It will be one of fewer than a dozen buildings
in the United States that enclose prehistoric remains in situ—that is, located where they
were first discovered. Portions of at least 25 Columbian mammoth skeletons, dating back
some 68,000 years, have been identified at the Waco site since the first mammoth bone
was spotted there in 1978 protruding from a creek bed.
The site’s development has been a cooperative effort involving
Baylor University and the City of Waco. Their initial concept was to build a pole barn to replace
the circus-style tent that has covered the skeletons for more than two decades, according
to Phillip Reed, AIA, principal at Cotera+Reed. But the architects and the client
quickly recognized that a more climate-moderated building would be required: The dramatic swings
in Texas temperature, along with humidity levels that can fluctuate 40 percent in a single day,
can be damaging to the porous bones over time. “They can cause cracking and flaking both of
the fossil material and the soil around it,” explains Anita Benedict, collections manager
for Baylor University’s Mayborn Museum Complex.
Contact for complete article.
