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.
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Covenant House Texas
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.
Mickey Leland International Terminal
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 at Tuscan Lakes
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.
Hines Headquarters at Texas Tower
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.
Texas A&M University Zachry Engineering Education Complex (EEC)
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 Engineering Classroom and Research Building (EnCARB)
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.
The Ion
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.






