Houston, Texas (10 March 2010)  The General Services Administration Regional Field Office in Houston was recently honored by the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture with a 2010 design award. It was the only project in the “Over 50,000 Square Feet” category to receive an award. 

The design is generated by careful integration of concerns for security, sustainability, and appropriate image into a thoroughly synthesized design solution. The building has been carefully sited and designed to maximize environmental sensitivity, promote day-lighting and views, and provide for the potential of solar energy capture. The plan is purposefully narrow, presenting broad faces to the south and north, and thin faces to the east and west. A lightweight metal frame was hung from concrete walls to carry a “second skin” for the building. Heavily fritted laminated glass, placed away from the thermal wall of the building, shades the structure substantially from direct heat gain. The space between the skins becomes a significantly cooled microclimate. Apertures in the glass skin, somewhat smaller than the actual windows, are placed to provide day-lighting with reduced glare for interior work spaces. The concrete walls are sheathed in aluminum shingles that both reflect heat and allow the high thermal mass of the concrete to benefit the temperature stability of the structure. On the north side of the building the aluminum surface is fully revealed and is animated by varied window patterns reflecting the extremely divergent view and lighting requirements of functions on this face of the building. The high performance skin of the building is employed as a major image generator. The aluminum shingles provide a bright, neutral backdrop on which to project the constantly changing light and shadow patterns from the glass skin.

The building, which has been designed to achieve LEED certification, was a project of Leo A Daly/LAN+PageSoutherlandPage, A Joint Venture.

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