Nalco Champion EcoLab

Project summary provided by submitting company.

The project is for 131,504 sf of new office facilities and renovations to the existing campus for Nalco Champion - a provider of sustainable chemistry programs and services to the oil and gas industry. The 4-story office building carries the burden for providing the character driving aesthetic for the aging campus composed primarily of industrial metal buildings and a few red brick laboratories. The building is oriented to maximize frontage along newly extended University Boulevard. We used a 30' wide 4-story panel dimension for 25' of un-interrupted glass line free of any perimeter columns as well as column-free glazed corners. The building facade is horizontally composed using a ribbon window application visually masking the panel legs typical of tilt-up construction. The base and entrance of the building is clad in red brick matching the existing lab buildings. Two vertical 'fin walls', clad in anodized aluminum panels, provide large surfaces designated for signage.

The plan to consolidate the Houston offices of Nalco Champion and centralize its headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas brings more than $45 million in investments and more than 860 new jobs to the area. The plan also incorporated substantial rail spur improvements which have aided in Sugar Land's approval from Union Pacific Railroad for the much needed extension of University Boulevard north of Highway 90. The project is designed to meet LEED Gold criteria for new construction.