Texas' Top Projects - 5

MainPlace

Project Cost: $200,000,000

Construction of this 46-story high-rise office building in downtown Houston was preceded by a dramatic site clearing that involved the implosion of a 12-story building. The new tower includes 12 garage levels and 36 levels of office space totaling 1.5-million sq ft. The structure also offers three retail spaces and a rooftop garden.

The structure is cast-in-place concrete with an all-curtain wall envelope that includes both horizontal and vertical protruding fins. A pedestrian tunnel will connect the building to the downtown tunnel system. The spaces under Main Street and the existing light rail will be dug by hand.

Key Facts

Location: Houston
Start/completion dates: March 2008/February 2011
Owner: Hines, Houston
General contractor: DE Harvey Builders, Houston
Design architect: Pickard Chilton, New Haven, Conn.
Production Architect: Kendall Heaton Associates, Houston
Structural engineer: Ingenium Inc., Houston
Civil engineer: Walter P Moore, Houston
MEP engineer: Wylie Consulting Engineers, Houston
Major subcontractors: Ceco, San Antonio; MLN, Houston; Arrowall, San Antonio