American Bureau of Shipping Training Center
Houston, Texas
Completion Date: 1999
Construction Cost: $19.5 M
PGAL was retained to provide professional services for the building expansion and parking garage of One Greenspoint Plaza. To completely tailor the 26-year old building to meet the needs of the tenant, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), PGAL provided programming, space planning, and interior design for 220,000 SF of corporate office space. Given the age of the existing facility, a major renovation was required to bring core amenities to current life safety, city, and ADA code standards. PGAL provided the code analysis and documentation to successfully reutilize the late 1970's curtainwall and brick spandrel office building.
Our services also involved: State-of-the-art electronic classrooms and a lecture hall for ABS's Academy, where ABS provides in-house training to all employees. ABS required the Academy to be equipped for teleconference and distance-learning using multimedia functions for a creative training environment. Other work included: An addition to the existing eight-story office building of about 10,000 sq. ft. per floor; Interior renovation of the existing facility; Design of the expansion; a new 500 car parking garage; and a new visitor parking/entry plaza design.
The result was an open floor plan with interior offices featuring clerestory windows in the building's core to allow daylight to penetrate all office areas. Extensive computer-oriented work required indirect lighting and ergonomic furniture. Working with the client, PGAL analyzed new and existing furniture and developed furniture plans and specifications.