ION Innovation Headquarters

Midtown Houston — 2022

OVERVIEW

The client team wanted to transform a Sears building in midtown Houston into a vibrant, 266,000 square foot hub that would anchor a 16 acre development and serve as a catalyst for collaboration and community. The existing building structure was maintained and strengthened and we deployed light to expand the existing details and spaces, developing perforated, folded screens to shade the exterior and designing embossed, perforated panels to telegraph filtered light into the center of the 6 story interior. Entrepreneurial, corporate, and academic visitors and tenants move through a series of staggered floor plates with seating areas and laptop bars, while high performance glass and shading broadcast the play of clouds and colors to the surrounding community.

This adapted, re-used building originally had no daylight windows when it first opened in 1939 as a Sears prototype store. Rice Management Company purchased the building and surrounding site, and we were brought onto the project team to transform the original building with light and activity, establishing an anchor and catalyst for innovation in the mid-town area of Houston. The building was renovated and expanded over many decades of use, and we worked closely with SHoP and Gensler architects to peel back the added layers to reveal and express the concrete structure and details of the Nimmons, Carr & Wright Architects design. Our new design riffed on these details, utilizing an exterior folded, perforated metal solar screen to complement the solid expression of the original structure and provide shading on the east, south and west faces. New open work spaces expanded several existing floor plates, and 2 floors were added above the concrete cornice, supported by a lighter weight steel structure. Shaded outdoor loggia type spaces were created on all 4 sides of the building, with a roof cantilever extending over the north face of the building, offering a protected outdoor gathering space framing views to downtown Houston.

At the heart of the building, diffused, filtered light animates a staggered series of floor plates, offering seating and gathering opportunities while pulsing energy through the 6 level structure. Unitized, formed, stainless steel panels are positioned at the face of each interior floor plate, responding to the movement of clouds and sunlight.

ION reused over 90% of the existing concrete structure, saving time in construction and embedding significant amounts of carbon. The project is certified LEED Gold and WELL Silver.