Adjacent to Discovery Green, Houston’s lush 12-acre downtown park, is Hess Tower. The LEED Platinum project design embraces a holistic sense of place, with equal emphasis on environmental sensitivity, culture, and people.

This 31-story office tower occupies a full city block and includes 856,000-sf, an adjacent detached 10-story garage with 1,350 spaces, and a connecting air-conditioned skybridge. The flexible office plans feature floor plates of more than 30,000-sf of virtually column-free space. In addition to its flexible floor design, Hess Tower incorporates “smart” electrical, mechanical, and security systems designed to maximize efficiency in energy and utility usage, including a green roof covering the entry pavilion.

Two stories of street and mezzanine levels at the base of the office tower and extending from it houses 16,000-sf of retail and restaurants, including a four-star destination restaurant, while the 5th floor contains a 21,500-sf data center. Pedestrian-friendly access is through an elegant entry plaza with a unique water feature, sustainable landscaping and ample seating areas; a porte-cochere allows comfortable vehicular access. The overall effect of the landscape and building architecture is intended to blur the line where the contiguous park ends and Hess Tower begins. Two stories of sub-grade parking accommodates another 150 spaces for valet and vans.

Trammell Crow challenged the team to fast-track the design to allow an early construction start. IMEG worked with Trammell Crow to expedite an early foundation construction permit by designing a two-level basement retention system without tie-backs so that obtaining vault rights was not necessary. This early start was instrumental in attracting and signing Hess as a tenant. Once Hess was on board, their requested improvements required a quick major structural redesign of the building after the mat foundation had been placed. This was completed to meet the aggressive construction schedule for the move in date for Hess.