Heights Venture has always taken pride in its ability to design great buildings and interiors, and we obviously have done a good job of doing that considering we have been providing services for more than 45 years.
Twenty-five years ago, the firm was entering an exciting new period as the original founder retired and handed the reigns over to four partners, establishing Heights Venture Architects, LLP. With the new leadership came the need to move to a bigger office to house a larger staff.
“We were growing as a firm and we were transitioning from a sole proprietorship to a partnership,” said Scott Roselius, CEO and one of the firm’s original partners. “And we were moving from a smaller single-story PEMB office building located at the corner of Bevis & 18th Street (since demolished and replaced with a multi-story senior living facility) into a much larger office space located on the 8th floor of a mid-rise office building situated along the south side of Loop 610 between Ella & Shepherd. Although one of our criteria was to stay inside the Heights area, which technically the office isn’t, we felt the location was centrally located and ‘close enough’ to our namesake.”
The office served its purpose over the years and proved to be a great home for the staff. Heights Venture previously shared office space with a landscape firm and another architecture firm. Moving to 1111 North Loop West, Suite 800 proved to be the correct decision.
“The move allowed us to stretch our wings and better express our design capabilities,” said Scott. “As the firm morphed and grew over the years, our new offices changed as well. We added space, we deleted space, we relocated offices and conference rooms. For the next 25 years, we called this office ‘home’”.
But as the years passed, Heights Venture expanded its clientele. No longer were we primarily known for our grocery store design expertise. Instead, we were proving to be a design and architecture firm that services a multitude of market sectors.
As our clientele base expanded and changed and our focus on design solidified, our office was still basically the same and it was starting to look its age.
Kyle Swisher, a Project Coordinator with the firm and one of our younger employees, felt the office was a bit disjointed and could feel the age of the space when he joined us in 2021.
“Where am I supposed to go?” That was his first thought when first entering the former office space.
“When you walked in, there was a bunch of accolades on display, someone’s office, and a desk that when I arrived was empty,” said Kyle. “Then once you walk around, everything felt very cramped, and you had to be careful not to enter anyone’s personal space. With most of the blinds closed, the office would be dark which did not help the feeling.”
It was clearly time to upgrade the Houston office.
There was the thought of moving to a new office, but in the end, there is nothing quite like home, so the decision was made to stay where we were but give the space a complete makeover. In January 2023 we left our ‘home’ to move down the hall into a vacant space and the remodel was underway.
“Everything was open to re-interpretation - and boy did we re-interpret,” said Scott. “Starting with a new elevator lobby and ending with new restroom finishes, we changed everything in between. Coming out of the isolation of COVID, we placed a major emphasis on employee engagement.”
While working out of our temporary space, we demoed everything in the office space, removing everything between the concrete slab to the steel pan deck overhead. We even exposed the backside of the exterior walls to allow us to re-insulate the spandrel panels in the exterior curtainwall.
The new space utilizes contemporary light-colored finishes such as porcelain tiles, bespoke Birch plywood cabinetry, and floating acoustic ceiling panels. The office lobby is visually and acoustically open to the elevator lobby but is separated by a modular accent wall. This same wall material was used elsewhere in the office to separate the open social/kitchen area from the open production area. Floor-to-ceiling glass partitions were utilized throughout the office to close-in the offices and conference spaces while still providing occupants daylight and sightlines to the rest of the office
Framing the front lobby, we designed the primary large conference room that is large enough to support full office meetings (with seating for up to 30 employees) yet small enough to comfortably accommodate meetings of six to eight people. This new office space was designed with employee collaboration in mind. As such, we also incorporated a smaller, more intimate conference room as well as two different huddle rooms to allow the staff to choose from a variety of environments depending on the type of meeting.
The new office maintains an open office plan for the bulk of the production team with new office furniture solutions from CBI that help drive culture and productivity and encourage cross-project interaction and increased communication. We also provided offices for the leadership team but relocated them from along the exterior windows to the inner core. With full glass walls, the Principals have excellent visual access to their teams, expansive views of the Houston skyline, and a level of privacy.
Nine months later, our old ‘new” office was finished and ready to welcome back the employees from the temporary space.
The renovation took a while, but it was more than worth it.
According to Kyle, “the remodel has alleviated the feeling I first had greatly, and it is now much less intimidating for clients. Clients seem to always enjoy the height and openness of the space, coupled with plenty of eye-catching details like the walls, tile, and ceiling grids.
Employees, including myself, enjoy the modern feel and spread of daylight across the entire office. The result of the remodel is a great improvement that I think inspires a happier work environment and serves as a source of pride that does not sacrifice efficiency.”
Comentarios