The Super Bowl is over and the partygoers have left ... and one building left with them. In February 2017, Houston transformed in preparation for the influx of one million guests. While many visitors came strictly for the love of football, others came into town for the festivities. The sidewalks and lightrail were packed with people. For a few days, Houston offered the spectacle of urban life associated with large cities. The grandest expression of this ephemeral city was Club Nomadic, a parking lot transformed into a 64,000-square-foot, three-story building solely for performances and parties over four days time.

It was more than a tent. The steel space frame structure and the giant channel glass entry wall was animated inside and out to engage the entire neighborhood. Club Nomadic. Its name says it all. “Lacking permanence.” A club without a home, wandering freely from city to city in order to bring a creative and unique experience. This temporary club transformed the Washington Avenue art district of Houston into something that it may never be again. With laser lights shining into the sky visible from all the surrounding streets, the building was a beacon of light drawing people towards it. The faces and reactions waiting in line and upon entry were that of excitement, wonder, and joy. There are few temporary music events that create such an intoxicating experience, Houston shouldn’t have let this building go.

I interviewed one of the creative minds of the four-person design team who brought us this visually deceptive, temporal building. Below is an interview with Joanna-Maria Helinurm, Lead Architectural Designer of Club Nomadic.

Photo by Kevin Suarez.

 

Photo by Kevin Suarez.

 

Tell me a little about Club Nomadic. How large is it? How many floors? How many people can it accommodate?

Club Nomadic Houston finished as a 64,000-square-foot, three-level, twelve-tier structure — an area as big as a New York City block. It’s a building that travels on 36 trucks and is erected within 60 days of breaking ground yet open to public for only three nights. A temporary concrete foundation, web truss that could hold a space shuttle, and 12,000-linear-feet of I-beam that spans farther than the Golden Gate Bridge are the major components. In essence, it’s a "nomadic" entertainment experience that can host up to 10,000 people. Over the years, it has evolved into a stand-alone event that encompasses multi-night programming while aligning with marquee events and destinations such as the Super Bowl.

Photo by Kevin Suarez.

 

What sparked the idea of designing a temporary club?

Last year we found a venue in San Francisco at Pier 70, an over 100-year-old abandoned warship factory. At first glance, it wasn’t anything special. Most would walk away from a venue like that, but we saw an opportunity to create something that no stadium, convention center, or hotel ballroom could ever provide. We retrofitted this raw skeleton into the first version of a three-level, dual-stage entertainment experience. This inspired us to create something entirely our own with parts that were left after turning the warehouse back into its original state. This is how the concept for Club Nomadic Houston saw its birth.

People want the next great thing. They want to be a part of something relative, inventive, and are constantly in search for new emotions. Our mission was to create an event that provided best-in-class music, art, and hospitality for our guests — something that caters to every sense. And a venue plays a central role in all that.

Photo by Kevin Suarez.

 

Is the club always the same form? Or does the design change?

Club Nomadic itself is not tied to a structure and will be always changing depending on the location and program. Even to an extent that we just take over existing structures and transform them to fit our vision.

Our current system is rather flexible for being a steel structure. Building components have been fabricated to be optimal in size and weight for a quick construction and strategic in their design for fitting onto standard trucks. Le Corbusier would turn in his grave if he knew the amount of columns and x-braces we use due to the temporary nature of our projects. Even though we've come across our fair share of challenges with building factors relative to temporary construction and engineering, we always find a way to embrace the circumstances and use them for the advantage of the program.

What is the biggest challenge when building temporary architecture?

The strict timelines and concrete dates provide the biggest challenges when designing a space that aims to be both impactful and innovative. Pressuring deadlines give little room for R&D and, for the most part, you have to move forward with the already-proven solutions. Rigid schedules also put a lot of pressure along the way to get designs approved, starting from clients and ending with city officials. That means 24/7 workdays for the entire team, especially the final months leading up to an event.

Do you have a favorite detail of the building?

Our site and spatial design changes every year therefore I always try to improve on the past projects and include new experimental elements whether it’s a structural or technical idea. For each project, these elements become my new favorites.

In San Francisco, I designed a sculptural DJ stage that bridged over a 20-foot-wide entrance. A dual platform structure was composed of 2.5-inch round tubes that created a web of interlocking members at different angles, each equipped with video reactive LED strips (blades). I ended up hiring fabricators who usually only build for Burning Man. Due to time constraints and the interlocking non-orthogonal design, they ended up building it directly from my 3D Rhino model.

Since the Super Bowl in New York in 2014, part of our structural “tool-kit” has been a pair of double-curved spiral staircases. Rolled in Chicago, welded in Boston, they are a true vagabond pair of stairs. Each year, they get a different siding or coating upgrade—they have become a fluid form to open up to our signature VIP grand entrance.

This year we added polycarbonate plastic as a front facade material—definitely my favorite building material thus far. It turned out to be a great double-sided projection canvas, a yet unexplored feature. Its cellular sandwiched layers create an interesting illuminating 3D effect and give graphics a soft blending quality.

Photo by Kevin Suarez.

 

How long does each phase of the design process take for Club Nomadic?

We are a design, build, and management firm handling every aspect of the process from ideation to build, including the run of show. This gives us a unique position to influence all the processes in a manner that will keep the timeline, budget, and operations in control at all times.

For example, since we know how much time things take to construct, we know to what extent the design can be developed, the materials and methods we can use. It also gives us an ability to jump phases often going from DD (Design Development) or even SD straight to construction. It's not uncommon that some design decisions have to happen on-site directly with our construction workers, from napkin sketch to product buildout.

We are working very closely with the engineers, fabricators, city officials and artists as well as their production teams to negotiate the best outcome for all parties. But all in all, a typical timeline for this scale project is roughly a year: 1 month to negotiate site deals and ideation of the concept, one month schematic design (SD), two months design development (DD), construction documents (CD), and then it’s already time to start pre-fabrication off-site while we flesh out city permits and code requirements. All this goes on up until the very last day before the opening until the occupancy permits are granted.

Can you tell me a little about partnerships for temporary constructions?

Partnerships are the key to turn a dirt lot into a functioning concert venue with each one being crucial for different phases of the entire process.

In Houston, we ended up renting almost two city blocks to be able to control the flow and traffic around the event. Temporary Place of Assembly certificates are a critical component, but we often have to apply for additional special permits, for example like electric-powered signs and the use of pyrotechnics inside the building.

Cynthia Dehlavi and Joanna-Maria Helinurm. Photo by Kevin Suarez.

 

As time ticks down and doors open for show, audiences will believe everything was perfectly planned from the beginning. What they don't know is that up until a week ago, what was supposed to be natural steel and timber is now coated with white fireproofing paint as requested by the DOB. This drastically shook up our initial furnishing scheme. Or that one of the artists during their visit to the venue few weeks prior requested the change of performance space layout and eliminated chandeliers that were obstructing their view from the stage.

What was your favorite performance?

It is hard to beat Bruno Mars’ energy and charisma, yet Taylor Swift’s production was so well-oiled. Her partitioned stage setup and back stage video design was ideal for our intimate main space layout.

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