The Galleria in Houston may be best known as a luxury mall with an indoor ice rink, developed by the famed Gerald D. Hines. The Galleria mall opened in 1970 and is modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan with a massive, glazed barrel vault running its length. But with millions of square feet of office space within a 1/2-mile radius of the mall, The Galleria area is a business district in its own right.
The Galleria Office Towers are a collective of three separate towers sited above the mall. Galleria Tower I, Galleria Tower II and the Galleria Financial Center (GFC) were added in the mid- to late-’70s. GFC is distinctly positioned at the intersection of the shops and the office space. It shares a common atrium with the mall and is topped by a large skylight, bringing natural lighting into the cavernous space. GFC’s 12 floors are serviced by glass elevators, and offices around the atrium also have glass walls to take advantage of the daylight.
The Hub at the Galleria is a full renovation of floor 12 East in the 1977 GFC. Building owner Unilev challenged its brokerage team to think outside the box for the renovation of floor 12 East. What would be fresh and bold yet not look out of place in a 1970s-era building? The result is a unique combination of a complete spec office and a co-working space. And in the crowded field of co-working spaces, the owner really wanted what would become known as “The Hub” to be distinctive.
Project Goals
Project goals were straightforward: maximize the usability of the lobby, incorporate modern amenities to catch the eyes of tech-forward tenants, provide additional flexibility within the suites
for several types of client branding, and incorporate clear and distinctive wayfinding from the elevator bank. Unilev wanted the entire floor 12 East to create an atmosphere of collaboration and hospitality with much more character than your typical, white-walled offices. Unilev selected AMB Architects to provide programming, space planning, interior design, construction documentation and construction administration.
The renewed space has seven move-in ready suites that share first-class amenities and common areas. High-end modern finishes, bright corridors flooded with natural light, Houston-centric wall graphics and enhanced wayfinding elements distinguish The Hub from other floors in the aging building. Common areas and the conferencing facilities in The Hub have the latest technology infrastructure, plus Wi-Fi connectivity throughout. The Hub is where high-tech meets urban cool. Altogether, the space totals 18,000 square feet; suites range from 1,919 to 3,413 rentable square feet. If a tenant chooses, it may request adjacent suites be combined.
VR ‘Walkthrough’
Color plays an integral role in a company’s branding, so AMB Architects provided simple yet flexible materiality solutions. Although each spec suite was designed with a specific color palette, elements, such as wall color and carpet tiles, can be easily pulled out and replaced. Anticipating tenants would want high visibility, each suite has sliding glass office fronts. To infuse Houston’s urban personality in the common areas, AMB presented several rounds of interior finish options and custom details, such as an LED sign of the Houston skyline and a mural of the iconic Houston “Be Someone” graffiti bridge.
Using a variety of finishes, such as distressed brick, concrete and wood, the team worked in tandem with the building owners and leasing agents to create a one-of-a-kind concept. The difficulty came in presenting the design options to the owners for approval because they are located in California and Tel Aviv, Israel. The architects developed the ideas and imported them into a virtual reality platform, so the brokers and owners could “walk” through the proposed design. This provided a sense of the spaciousness, the penetration of the natural daylight, the level of finishes and the layout of the shared amenities, which gave everyone—even those 1,500 miles away—a sense of the unique selling points of The Hub while it was still in design. Using virtual reality also allowed the team to make tweaks to the design in response to current market conditions, ensuring the final result would be a competitive option for prospective tenants.
Shared Amenities
The finished renovation resulted in a unique combination of a complete spec office and a co-working space. It gives small businesses the opportunity to have a new, first-class office space loaded with amenities but without upfront construction costs. Like a co-working space, the seven tenants within The Hub share common areas and amenities. These include a lobby with powered soft seating, a large breakroom with a coffee bar, two conference rooms with HDTV displays and ClickShare technology, as well as private meeting rooms.
To avoid bringing unwanted germs into the shared spaces, the architect incorporated health-safety measures, such as MERV-13 air filters and high-output germicidal ultraviolet lamps.
Unlike a typical co-working space, each tenant has its own suite with a lockable entrance. Each suite has its own reception area with an accent wall feature made of felt for sound absorption. Six of the suites have private offices with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and sliding glass doors. Three of the suites have balconies that overlook the central atrium of the GFC. Since opening in June 2021, six out of seven suites have already been leased.
Wayfinding
AMB Architects had to ensure The Hub would be easy to locate within the confusing maze of dark corridors. The GFC has a sky bridge connecting the East and West wings with an elevator bank in the middle. Visitors exit the elevator and then have to look at small lettering on glass doors to figure out where to go. For The Hub, AMB designed custom wayfinding in keeping with The Hub branding. A large “12E” in The Hub’s signature lettering is featured immediately out of the elevator at the 12th floor. AMB also extended interior finishes, like the wood ceiling from The Hub lounge, out to the edge of the elevator lobby, so visitors would immediately know where to go and have a true welcoming experience.
AMB Architects also capitalized on the ample daylighting in the GFC atrium, bringing it deep into The Hub. Instead of locating corridors through the interior of The Hub, the design team moved them to the building perimeter, along the windows, not only bringing in more daylight, but also improving sightlines through the entire office.
Urban Cool
The Hub is not your basic spec suite. From the Class A finishes to the amenities, it provides an affordable, high-end office solution for startups and small businesses that want their own dedicated suite. Unilev invested more to create a dynamic and modern work environment with the flexibility smaller businesses need. The owner understood that, for the first time in history, people who grew up in the digital age now make up the majority of people in the workforce, bringing innovative ideas but also new demands on the type of work environment in which they thrive.
The interiors of The Hub are an edgy departure from traditional office interiors. All the custom wall art, pops of bright color, raw finishes and unique signage make for a very memorable environment. It’s a place where tenants and staff can get motivated, be energized and feel a sense of pride in their office.
PHOTOS: Strata Visuals unless otherwise noted
Retrofit Team
Architect: AMB Architects
- Alyse Makarewicz, architect
- Breann Nash, RID, project manager and interior designer
- Eric Trudelle, interior designer and rendering artist
- Jeylen Arteaga, digital graphics
General Contractor: Endurance Builders
Signage: Aria Signs
Furniture and Wall Systems (Amenity): Agile Interior
Wall System Installer: McCoy Rockford
Lighting Consultant: Putterman Scharck & Associates
MEP Engineer: E|B|E
Materials
Accent Wall Felt: FilzFelt
Wallcovering: Maharam
Carpet: Interface
Paint: Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams
Acoustical Ceiling: Armstrong Ceiling & Wall Solutions
Phone Booths and Glass Walls & Doors (Amenity): DIRTT Environmental Solutions
Wall Systems in Spec Spaces: Steelcase Wall Systems
Plastic Laminate: Nevamar from Panolam; Wilsonart; and Abet Laminati
Simulated Stone: Cambria and Caesarstone
Ceramic Wall Tile: Emser
Brick Veneer: ACME Brick
Virtual Reality: SteamVR, using the HTC Vive Pro