Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Open Space Design”
In 2023, Conroe voters approved a $39 million bond to renovate two elementary schools: Buckalew and Hailey. The bond funded site improvements, classroom additions, and the construction of a dedicated gymnasium.
To further support teachers and staff, the district required flexible space for instructional coaching and collaborative learning.
In May 2022, Montgomery County residents approved building the district’s seventh elementary school to help address the expected 45% growth in enrollment in the next decade. To better address the needs of these young students, it was imperative to have several options for non-classroom educational spaces.
In 2022, the Lamar Institute of Technology announced plans to build a three-story, 52,000 SF building dedicated to expanding and enhancing its healthcare and career education programs. The Workforce and Allied Health Training Center provides new spaces for students, and fire shutters were needed to preserve open space design.
Covenant House Texas has helped young people experiencing homelessness for over 40 years with shelter, food, clothing, education and professional development, and more. The needs of their clients drove the development of a new four-story, 120,000 SF building including elevator smoke containment curtains.
As part of ongoing efforts to tackle much-needed improvements at IAH, the Houston Airport System updated the original Mickey Leland International Terminal which opened in 1990 and now serves almost 2.5M passengers annually. To maintain the open space design of the new terminal, the City of Houston required fire-rated accordion systems at both ends of the new adjoining corridor.
Grand Living operates dozens of independent care communities across Florida, Iowa, and Texas that allow residents to enjoy resort-style living while ensuring they have access to the care they need. When plans emerged to bring another location to life in League City, the local codes required smoke compartmentalization at the elevators on each floor of the building.
In early 2022, Restoration Church began working with Studio Red to develop Phase II of their Worship Center. The church was growing and needed additional room to meet the varied needs of its congregation, and the challenge was to keep the design aesthetic open while ensuring several distinct sessions could be held at once.
Hines – a global real estate firm – commissioned a 47-story, one-million-square-foot office tower in downtown Houston as both a site for its global headquarters and a reimagined office space. The Hines offices comprising levels 30 – 35 required an opening protective that would separate the space into sections of three floors or less in the event of a fire.
After over a quarter century of service to the community, it was time to upgrade facilities to better support their mission of “[improving] the health and well-being of underserved Texans by opening doors to healthcare and health-related social services.” The challenge was to maximize the use of the 73,240 SF footprint at the new location.
Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering needed facility upgrades for its 2,500 undergraduate students. The all-new Zachry Engineering Complex would offer new classrooms, labs and design centers, green space, event spaces, and centralized learning stairs. The design called for a large atrium but the challenge of smoke control threatened to derail the open space design.
Prairie View A&M University’s Roy G. Perry College of Engineering had not added new space in over 16 years despite being renowned as a top producer of some of the nation’s most outstanding engineers. Their vision for a new building included a vibrant open space at the heart of the building but ran into challenges with life safety codes.
Rice Management Company envisioned transforming the historic Midtown Sears Building into the heart of the new Innovation District – a place for startups and industry titans to meet and share ideas. They wanted to incorporate a showstopping lightwell to connect all five levels of the building but needed fire and life safety solutions to bring the idea to life.
