English + Associates Architects is a Houston-based full-service architectural and interior design firm that was established in 1989. The award-winning firm has been allocated with many awards like Houston 101 Best and Brightest Company to Work For, AIA Houston Gingerbread Buildoff Competition for “Buddha Mountain ”, Zweig White Best A/E Firms Award, etc.
The firm aims in high-performance and green-design solutions with every project, rendering excelling and innovative, yet optimal and sustainable designs. There is diversity in work with the use of the latest technologies and trends. The collaborative efforts help achieve unique solutions that exceed the expectations of their clients, maintaining budgets, and creating meaningful and environment-friendly designs.
Here are 15 of the most defining projects showcasing the firm’s approach to design:
1. Ann Young Animal Adoption Facility
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Civic
Area: 24,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $8.9M project budget
The design project is a low-cost veterinary service for the community in the city of Houston as a part of the public outreach and animal awareness program. One of the first projects of this type in the city of Houston, the program offers an on-site dog park and public space for events. The project site has the most to offer located along the tributary of Bray Bayou and about 400 feet from the bayou, with picturesque views and interactive possibilities. The challenges in the site included undulating slopes, unstable soil composition, and buried construction waste. But all was overcome with diligent long-term planning whilst being environmentally responsive. The internal planning has flexible and adaptable spaces.
2. Kendall Library and Community Center
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Civic
Area: 30,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $8.2M construction budget
LEED Silver certified
The Kendall Library + Community Center in Houston is an integrated public library and community center designed to meet the user’s needs. The building with efficient parking holds the first rainwater harvesting system in Houston city. The rainwater is collected and used for garden irrigation, and the reduced surface run-off prevents local flooding. The complicated design process aims to achieve the aims of the stakeholders involved, hence leading to the lesser construction area and more community amenities.
3. Evelyn Meador Library
Location: Seabrook, Texas
Type of project: Civic
Area: 21,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $4.3M overall construction budget
LEED Gold certification
The City of Seabrook called for a community space within the area of the library. The creative approach and space planning have meeting rooms, computers, children’s activity room, and a quiet room. The design has integrated the functions whilst taking in views and providing calm and relaxing environments. The long glass facades require deep overhangs to reduce the solar heat gain.
4. City of Houston – Westside Command Center
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Civic
Area: 50,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $6M project cost
The Westside Command Center is the first green roof installation in the city of Houston. The project included repair and reconstruction of parts of the existing 25-year old facility. This process included a thoughtful selection of building materials and components. The project took up some strategies for construction, keeping the facility open and code-compliant at all times. To achieve a low maintenance design solution, the first-floor slab was eliminated from the existing facility.
5. Galveston Fire Station
Location: Galveston, Texas
Type of project: Civic
Area: 14,135 sq. ft.
Cost: $3.6M
English + Associates designed a fire station near the airport in Galveston, Texas. The challenge was to build the fire station according to the windstorm requirements in Texas with maintaining the original conceptual design. The project included conceptual designing, on-site construction, and administration, procuring construction documents. The design is a well-crafted effort to achieve a functional design adhering to the standards.
6. New Office Building
Location: Baytown, Texas
Type of project: Commercial
Area: 60,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $5.8M actual construction cost
The construction of this office building aimed to bring more young engineering talent towards a pleasant and inspiring work atmosphere. The project is an extension to the existing 30,000 sq. ft. campus, drawing inspiration from the existing structure’s design elements. The floor plates are maximized in the new building with efficient planning of spaces, bringing in more daylight.
7. 1919 Decatur – Adaptive Reuse
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Commercial
Area: 12,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $450,000 construction cost
The project is an adaptive reuse project in Houston that helps preserve a building on the National Register of Historic Places by providing open-floor planning and creative space for design work. The internal workspace receives a modern feel, carefully renovated to live by the building codes. The project is integrated with green technologies like rainwater harvesting for irrigation and landscaping, zero VOC paint, high-efficiency lighting, and the use of LED fixtures. The project has received many awards including the 2004 Gold Brick Award, 2002 ASID/Houston Chronicle Commercial Interiors Award – Honorable Mention, 2002 ACE (Award for Community Enhancement).
1919 Decatur – Adaptive Reuse – Sheet
8. Horn Elementary School
Location: Bellaire, Texas
Type of project: Education
Area: 85,500 sq. ft.
Cost: $12M construction budget
The school was constructed to create a learning environment higher than the others. The site planning reduces cost by cutting the need for temporary classrooms. The classrooms have plenty of daylight, energy-efficient lighting, water-conserving fixtures, FSC certified wood reducing the school’s energy and resource consumption. The low VOC materials make for a healthy learning environment. The most important feature of the project is the 800 linear feet of bioswales that help in keeping water on the site for a longer time so that the water percolates into the ground, hence reduce flooding and surface run-off. The landscaped bioswales reduce cost savings by up to 10% over the conventional rainwater detention system
9. I-45 Medical Office Building
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Medical
Area: 81,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $16.4M implementation of all services
The medical office is a mixed-use space that holds administrative office, clinical, diagnostic and procedural suites, wellness clinic, and in-house pathology laboratory. The existing bank-anchored office building required remodeling the building envelope and HVAC systems. The high-performance building skin and the new HVAC systems integrated into the building were more efficient and reduced the costs and maintenance.
10. West University Residence Remodel and Addition
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Residential
The West University Residence is a major renovation project done to an existing 1941 masonry and sliding house. The project is seeking a LEED Gold certification for residences. The exterior of the structure required to be re-skinned, and the interior required to be finished. The interiors were redone with reusable hardwood floors and reclaimed, recyclable, and local materials. In addition to this, geothermal, geo-exchange, air-conditioning, and 1000+ gallon rain tanks were used.
11. Private Laboratory
Location: Baytown, Texas
Type of project: Technical
Area: 10,000 sq. ft.
The Private Laboratory is an adaptive reuse project in Baytown, Texas. The project area of 10,000 sq. ft. included 6,600 sq. ft. of adaptive reuse and 3,500 sq. ft. two-storey addition. The old abandoned process unit was converted into a laboratory, training facility, and support offices. The main challenge was to manage vertical circulation and integrate the structure with the adjacent building.
12. Shell Central Control Center
Location: Pasadena, Texas
Type of project: Technical
Area: 20,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $6.5M
The project began with the development of a new control center model for Shell which has all process control divisions under one roof. The integration with Shell and Emerson involved the development of a holistic approach to integrate the process, create business plans, and perform a cost analysis. The mission-critical facility makes use of redundant power to ensure uninterrupted operation. The lighting configuration is also designing to achieve controlled lighting in the spaces.
13. Kingham Dalton Wilson
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Interiors
Area: 10,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $600,000 project budget
Kingham Dalton Wilson (KDW) is a developer of office and industrial projects in Houston. English + Associates designed a new office for KDW, a space that would be informative, collaborative, and would inform, and educate the clients through its architecture. The design was ‘an office for the future’, a non-traditional workspace which was an open plan design. The internal spaces of the reception, library, and workspaces allow for interaction and multi-use.
14. Roberts Markel Williams Tower
Location: Houston, Texas
Type of project: Interiors
Area: 25,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $1,250,000M construction cost
The Williams Tower is a headquarter for a law firm in Houston. The design approach of the project helped to create one of the most iconic and modern designs taking in views from the city. The design uses internal spaces efficiently and flexibly. The spaces also include amenities like area for relaxation and executive area for short informal meetings. The sustainable design approach included the use of cork flooring, hardwood flooring, and low VOC paints.
15. Roberts Markel Sugarland
Location: Sugarland, Texas
Type of project: Interiors
Area: 10,000 sq. ft.
Cost: $500,000 construction cost
The satellite office for Sugarland was designed as a modern architecture building attracting clients and making its mark. The internal spaces included workspaces as well as spaces to entertain guests. The boardroom is designed as a flexible space with audio/visual facilities for meeting as well as an activity center to entertain guests. The firm also designed custom furniture like a table that can be separated into smaller tables.
