COVER STORY, SEPTEMBER 2008

LEADING TEXAS ARCHITECTS
These Texas-based firms are breaking ground in their fields statewide, nationally and internationally.
Lindsey Walker

You don’t need to look far to find an innovative, award-winning or ground-breaking architecture firm for your next big project — there are dozens right here in our very own Lone Star State. Texas-based firms are forging new paths in the field of architecture and design worldwide, introducing concepts like the “Big House”^® or the “Texas Wrap Product” to the rest of the industry. We spoke with several of these leading architecture firms to talk about their latest Texas projects, their greatest innovations and what they see for the future of architecture.

James, Harwick + Partners, Inc.

Fast Facts: Based out of Dallas; built design practice around the Whole Community DesignTM philosophy.

James, Harwick + Partners, Inc., got its start in Dallas in 1979 as an architectural design and planning firm. Today, the firm has evolved into a model of the Whole Community DesignTM philosophy, which focuses on people in their built environment.

“As architects, we understand that the projects we design for our clients become catalysts for change within the community in which they are located,” says Ronald E. Harwick, founding principal of the firm.

The practice of Whole Community Design is based on the following idea: to create memorable environments that are rich in diversity, are unique to each particular place and are sustainable over time, which will ultimately bring people together as a whole community.

Cityville Southwestern Medical District, Dallas

Using this philosophy as its anchor, James, Harwick + Partners took on the task of planning and designing the Cityville Southwestern Medical District, which completed its first phase last summer in Dallas. Situated adjacent to a future DART Light Rail transit stop, this 17-acre mixed-use development ultimately will integrate multifamily housing, for-sale townhomes, retail, restaurants and medical offices into one vibrant community.

Planning for the district took place on three levels. The first was to create guidelines for a tax-increment financing (TIF) district of more than 30 acres; the second was a master plan for a planned district of more than 15 acres; and the third was the design of the 5.7-acre first phase, which encompasses 265 multifamily units, 15 townhouses and 40,000 square feet of street-level retail.

“The design objectives for the first phase of development were to create both an urban emphasis on streets, as well as to respond to real-world retail demands of parking, visibility and accessibility — all the while integrating housing above and around the project,” Harwick says.

To do this, the firm designed a high-density, multi-level parking structure enveloped by housing, while also providing shared parking for commercial and residential uses. A “focal point” plaza at the corner across from the future transit station anchors the initial development, providing both access to transit and creating project identity.

The Cityville Southwestern Medical District project is incorporating principles of redevelopment mixed-use and transit-oriented development (TOD), both of which are very timely and relevant in today’s development world — where unused, vacant land is hard to come by in major metropolises. Formerly a site with industrial buildings, warehouses and factories, the brownfield redevelopment is based heavily on sustainable and smart growth principles, as well. 

“The goal has been to create a new, mixed-use development that establishes a sense of neighborhood and community through a pedestrian-friendly, compact, urban response,” Harwick says.

Meeks + Partners

Fast Facts: Based in Houston; created first “Texas Wrap Product,” wrapping building product around a structured parking.

When Donald Meeks joined the firm in 1978, it had been created only 4 years earlier by Mark Kaufman. Together, the two formed KM+P. In 2002, Kaufman sold his interests in the firm, and Meeks restructured it as Meeks + Partners. Today, the Houston-based architectural and land-planning firm includes three other partners, Som Petchsrisom, Jon Préjean and Larry Santich.

Meeks + Partners has a portfolio that extends throughout the United States, Latin America, Russia, Europe and China and includes anything from luxury high-rise resorts to independent senior housing and mixed-use centers. The firm also created the first “Texas Wrap Product,” which provides a unique finger concept in wrapping building product around structured parking.

“A typical high-density building wraps three- to four-story clusters of apartments around a multi-level parking structure, providing direct access to the units via breezeways,” Meeks says. “The parking structures also are hidden from street view, further enhancing the community’s curb appeal.

The firm’s innovation has led to several of its projects receiving awards over the past several years. For example, Alexan CityCenter, a mixed-use project in Englewood, Colorado, won Urban/Suburban Excellence in Economic Development from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2003. Another mixed-use property — this one along the Mediterranean Sea in Barcelona, called Diagonal Mar — won the Urban Land Institute Europe Award for Excellence in 2004. Meeks + Partners designed two 22-story residential towers called Illa Del Llac for this project.

The Lofts at Wolf Pen Creek, College Station, Texas

In Texas, Meeks + Partners recently used its expertise to design The Lofts at Wolf Pen Creek in College Station. The upscale, 679-bed student housing community is located in the heart of the Wolf Pen Creek Corridor — the first mixed-use student housing development of its kind in College Station. The community, which will serve Texas A&M University, features the major components of a successful pedestrian-oriented development, Meeks says.

“This significant development is the first of its caliber in the area,” he adds. “The area also encompasses the Wolf Pen Creek Park and Trails, which provide miles of trails and serve as a natural wildlife sanctuary. This unique environment makes this student housing community one of a kind in its class.”

The 8.6-acre site features four-story stucco and brick structures with a mix of 253 stacked flats and 11 townhouses arranged around landscaped courtyards. The residences are located adjacent to a seven-level structured parking garage. Other community features include 9,000 square feet of retail space; a Texas A&M metro shuttle stop; a 13,840-square-foot clubhouse with a game room, a theater, a Wi-Fi Internet café and business center, a cardio room and tanning rooms; and a resort-style pool and spa.

“We wanted to create an innovative and uplifting destination that would inspire its residents and the local citizens,” Meeks says.

The project, which is being developed by Asset Plus Companies, broke ground in June.

Sustainable design is shaping how Meeks + Partners now approaches its projects. With more emphasis on sustainability, the firm’s designs are more refined, employing means to reduce unused space, as well as incorporating energy efficient practices.

“These new design principles have become the foundation of how we approach each multifamily development,” Meeks says. “By using as little land as possible and by engaging the developers -— and eventually their clients — to become more conscientious, we have been beating a drum to find better ways to design multifamily housing.”

Corgan

Fast Facts: Based in Dallas with additional primary offices in New York, Phoenix and Beijing; consistently ranked in Top 10 architectural-only firms in the nation.

Corgan Headquarters, Dallas

What began as a one-person operation in Dallas in 1939 has now grown to a 350-person international firm that is recognized as one of the largest architectural firms in the U.S. With primary offices in Dallas, New York, Phoenix and Beijing, Corgan specializes in multiple markets. From an aviation group that designs airport terminals, such as the DFW International Airport Terminal D, to an education market sector, to an interiors group, to a general architecture group, which designs anything from performance halls to mission critical facilities — Corgan seems to do it all.

With such a large firm, it’d be easy to lose sight of the importance of client relationships, but that’s one thing that R. Kirk Johnson, project manager with the firm’s Dallas office, says sets Corgan apart. 

“We strive to understand our clients’ vision, needs and operations, and then we translate that into buildings, interiors and places,” he says. “As a result of our dedication to client satisfaction, we consistently have an approximately 90 percent repeat client ratio.”

Corgan’s client roster includes numerous Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions and major municipalities.

The firm’s new headquarters in Dallas recently received LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

“The building has provided us an opportunity to showcase our commitment to quality design and sustainable architecture as an owner, developer, and user of the facility.  As far as we know, we are one of the first major architectural firms that has purchased land and built its own headquarters to USGBC LEED standards,” Johnson says.

Located in the heart of Dallas’ historic West End district, the three-story building spans 60,000 square feet, incorporating high percentages of recycled and regional materials throughout. Other sustainable design elements include technological energy controls that optimize and manage the building’s energy resources; a rainwater collection system; an efficient cool roofing system; reduced heat island materials; light pollution-reducing lighting fixtures; indigenous landscaping; and ultra water-conserving fixtures. In addition, more than 75 percent of the construction waste was diverted from landfills.

“We designed the building to contextually fit into the neighborhood, yet implement a modern facility incorporating sustainable principles,” Johnson says.

LA Fuess was the project’s structural engineer, and Blum Engineering served as MEP consultant. SMR was the landscape architect, with Pacheco Koch as civil engineer. Turner Construction provided construction management services.

With its headquarters as a shining example, Corgan believes in the commitment to sustainable design practices — currently, the company has more than 18 LEED-registered projects under way. Additionally, the firm has over 40 LEED accredited professionals, with a goal of having a minimum of 50 percent of the professional staff receiving this accreditation within a year.

“We view sustainable design as an integral part of the process rather than an after-the-fact, supplemental approach,” Johnson says. “Good design has historically provided sustainable elements.”

Humphreys & Partners Architects, LP

Fast Facts: Based in Dallas; introduced products such as the “Big House” ® for the multifamily industry, the “Home-Rise” design for high-rise buildings and the new “e-Urban” ® design.

Mark Humphreys left a partnership 17 years ago with the vision of building a large national and international practice. Today, Humphreys & Partners Architects provides architecture and planning expertise for apartments, mixed-use, condo towers, hotels, office and master-planning projects in markets around the world.

“Innovation is the key to our success,” says Humphreys, the Dallas-based firm’s CEO.

Newport on the Lake, Houston. Photo credit: Richard L. Muniz Photography

One of the firm’s most innovative concepts includes the “Big House”® multifamily product, which resembles a single-family home. Instead of parking lots, each unit has a garage like a home does. The apartments also have no breezeways or balconies, typical features of garden apartment communities. This single-family look also helps “Big House” projects obtain approval in communities opposed to multifamily development. One such “Big House” development is Newport on the Lake, which just completed construction in Houston.

“This product is 100 percent efficient because there are no hallways,” Humphreys says. “We used numerous green building components in the design, including indigenous plants that require little or no watering and pine straw mulch, which requires no maintenance.”

The property, which is located 3 miles from the BP headquarters and the Energy Corridor, is achieving the highest rents in suburban Houston, Humphreys adds. The project integrates 234 units at 23 units per acre.

Atticus Real Estate/Cambridge Development Group was the project developer for Newport on the Lake, and C.F. Jordan was the contractor. Humphreys & Partners Architects served as the architect and land planner.

Another concept that Humphreys & Partners Architects created is the no-corridor “Home-Rise” design for high-rise buildings. This concept allows elevators to open onto a private elevator lobby on each floor, with just a few unit doors accessible from it. The firm’s highly efficient “e-Urban”® design follows a similar philosophy. The urban infill, mid-rise design boasts 40 to 50 units per acre, surface parked, and 88 percent efficiency in net rentable space. Instead of a big central lobby or long hallways, the design has mini-lobbies at four corners and 25-foot corridors.

“New design trends in Texas match U.S. trends — smaller units, more sophisticated finishes, cost-efficient construction and more efficient green building,” Humphreys says. “Our ‘e-Urban’ product typically costs $4 million less to build than a comparable project of its type because of its higher building efficiency.”

Humphreys believes that Texas’ ranking as one of the fastest growing states in the nation will generate more new architecture with the addition of new office buildings and high-density mixed-use developments. In addition, Texas has some of the largest colleges and one of the largest populations of young people in the country.

“The ‘Echo Boon’ or ‘Gen Y’ generation is just starting to come into the marketplace,” he says. “The peak of that curve is 15 years from today.”

With that in mind, he sees another big boom coming to Texas.

“Texas has every single component going for it — it’s centrally located; it is an energy capital; it has the lowest cost for housing in North America; and it has low taxes and very little bureaucracy,” he says. “Texas has not a negative thing I can think of.”

Omniplan

Fast Facts: Offices in Dallas and Phoenix; named “Firm of the Year” by the Texas Society of Architects in 2000.

Founded in 1956 by George Harrell and E.G. Hamilton, Omniplan is a full-service architecture, interior architecture and planning firm. In Texas, the firm is probably best known for designing NorthPark Center, the largest mall in North Texas. (Omniplan was responsible for the original design of the Dallas mall in 1963 as well as its recent expansion and renovation in 2006.) However, the firm’s architectural reach goes far beyond the mall, Dallas or even Texas. With offices in Dallas and Phoenix, Omniplan has worked in 38 states and six foreign countries, covering everything from large-scale commercial retail and mixed-use developments to religious worship facilities. In 2000, the firm was even recognized by its colleagues the Texas Society of Architects as “Firm of the Year.”

One reason that Omniplan garnered such an honor is because of its ability to create projects that are contextually relevant to their locations. For example, the firm recently completed a 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use center in Pearland, Texas, that was designed around the area’s place and time.

“The design team drew inspiration from Texas regional history, culture and climate to create a new sense of place that connects a suburban community to a sustainable, walkable urban center,” says Tip Housewright, a principal with Omniplan. “Surrounded by green space and decorative water features, the project’s pavilion will serve as a year-round venue for movie nights, festivals, concerts and community celebrations.”

Pearland Town Center, Pearland, Texas

Called Pearland Town Center, the 143-acre site comprises approximately 718,000 square feet of retail space; 50,000 square feet of office space; a 110-room Courtyard by Marriott; and 250 residential units.

Omniplan worked with the project owner, Chattanooga, Tennessee-based CBL & Associates Properties, and general contractor, EMJ Corporation, on the development.

Sustainable architecture — like the Omniplan-designed Wilcox Center|
190, which is the first LEED-certified office building developed in Plano, Texas — is becoming an integral part of today’s trends. As Housewright says, “green design is completely changing the way buildings are sited on the land as well as the way designers are looking at energy use, among other things.”

Also changing the way architects approach building design is the increasing density in Texas’ cities as they become more and more urbanized.

“We are seeing more structured parking, different attitudes about zoning, different attitudes about mixing uses and an embracing of public transportation,” Housewright says. “All of this will shape and form our cities in the future.”

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