New Sustainable Dining and Event Space in Houston Zoo’s Jack’s Cafe and Reflections Event Hall and Terrace

Jack’s Café

As you walk through the gates into Houston Zoo, you’re almost immediately embraced by their latest commitment to conservation and sustainability, the new Jack’s Café and Reflections Event Hall and Terrace. Our Sustainable Infrastructure Committee was fortunate enough to tour this latest demonstration of the Zoo’s commitment to shrinking its environmental footprint in order to save animals in the wild.

Jack’s Café was still in planning when we spoke to Houston Zoo in 2023 and is now available for all to see as a great example of how sustainable building and operations can be incorporated into the campus of one of Houston’s oldest and most beloved organizations. Named in honor of the Zoo’s longtime supporter, Dr. John P. “Jack” McGovern, Jack’s Cafe is eco-friendly, with bird-safe glass, food composting, and an 18,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system.

Jacks Café and Reflections Event Hall and Terrace opened in July 2025 as one of the main food service venues for the Zoo, and it includes an event rental space on the second floor with a roughly 200-person capacity for seated events. Built on the area that was formally the sea lion habitat, the building overlooks the Zoo’s iconic reflection pool. As the final piece of the Zoo’s centennial master plan, the LEED Gold building represents Houston Zoo’s commitment to its sustainability values. As we toured the facility and had a look at other areas of the Zoo, it’s amazing how the Houston Zoo has managed to incorporate sustainability into their overall development.

Jacks Café and Reflections Event Hall and Terrace

Jack’s Café is a low-carbon mass timber structure that includes reused steel from the old sea lion habitat. Its wood structure is designed with beauty and practicality in mind, and it builds on recently undertaken mass timber buildings in the Houston area. Lessons learned in site visits to other mass timber buildings, like the San Jacinto College Anderson-Ball Classroom Building, and utilizing the same main contractor allowed for a trouble-free building erection. These lessons are being passed on to other new mass timber buildings such as One Bridgeland Green. Houston Zoo puts its own spin on things, considering some of the challenges the Zoo faced.  Steel columns were used to lighten the footprint of the building and due to the high traffic nature of the facility. Bird-friendly glass was used throughout the café, and the 18,000-gallon rainwater collection and irrigation system helps further minimize the building’s environmental footprint.

Rainwater collection tank

It is clear a lot of thought has been put into the building, and the Houston Zoo team were happy to pass on these thoughts.  The timber erected is the finished product and exterior, so it is important to think through the design and fabrication as holes drilled though the timber on site or changes in the field are seen on the final finish. This forethought led to the fantastic look of the final product, and the event space is a testament to the approach. The finish is clean and elegant with sustainability features only obvious when you look for them. The rainwater collection system is there but unobtrusive and the bird-friendly glass is only evident when you look for it. Bird friendly glass is designed to prevent bird strikes by assisting birds to see the glass, and the building is the first in Texas to use an acid-etched 2” x 2” dot pattern for the glass. Other options considered included films like the ones used at Memorial City Plaza, but as Jacks Café is a new building it meant the more permanent etched glass solution could be adopted.

Sustainability education signage

This thoughtful approach to sustainability was evident as we toured other parts of Houston Zoo with rainwater tanks peeking out from different locations and other sustainable elements incorporated subtlety into facilities. In addition to earning LEED Gold, Jack’s Café is targeting a 4-Star Green Restaurant Certification. The Houston Zoo has taken a significant step in demonstrating what can be achieved and what should be encouraged within the wider development community. Jacks Café and Reflections event center demonstrates what can be achieved with commitment, thought and planning, and it is good to see that these lessons are being utilized on current and upcoming projects. Houston Zoo needs to be celebrated for their ambitions and their achievements in sustainability to date.

Special thanks to the Houston Zoo for hosting our Sustainable Infrastructure Committee and providing us with an up close look into this latest demonstration of commitment to shrinking its environmental footprint in order to save animals in the wild!