The Permian Basin is one of the largest sedimentary basins in North America, spanning 75,000 square miles from eastern New Mexico to western Texas. This area has been drawing the eyes of economists and geologists alike since the early 1900s as it spews roughly 4 million barrels of oil per day. Located within this oil mecca is the city of Midland, Texas, coined as one of North America’s oil industry headquarters. Here, Remote Architecture and Fox Fox Studio collaboratively designed an office for Kennedy Minerals. The project was aptly named MT7, as it is located on the seventh floor of Midland Tower. Together, the architecture firms designed a workspace that is both functional and inviting. It ties to the surrounding geography and history through reusing original structural elements and reintroducing geological materials.

Midland Tower was built in 1948 right next to Centennial Park and directly across from the Petroleum Building, cornering the small city as being an oil business capital. This area is currently undergoing revitalization efforts, which makes it only fitting that the 6,540-square-foot office for Kennedy Minerals piggybacked off this growing makeover. Primarily an office building, Midland Tower also has a restaurant, two bars, and an additional coworking space located in the plinth of the structure. Stephen “Chick” Rabourn, founder of Remote Architecture, shared that “due to the fluctuations of the oil business, offices in Midland tend to get thrown together quickly and cheaply, then either abandoned or re-renovated in a short time span.” He continued, “Persuading the contractors and vendors that we were building a permanent headquarters where the quality of the details actually mattered was a constant challenge throughout the project.”

There were original elements that the design team wanted to preserve and highlight in the office revamp. As Fox Fox Studio’s Alice Fox, director of interiors, shared with AN Interior, “Chick did a really beautiful job with the overall architecture in keeping the original exterior aluminum butterfly casement windows, and when we saw those we knew we wanted our design to let them (and the beautifully unique west Texas light) be the centerpiece of the design.” Every single window was delicately rehabilitated by preservation specialist Restorhous in Lubbock, Texas, and placed along the exterior of the entire floor allowing for ample natural light. The coffered ceiling and concrete beams are part of the structural system, offering a nice richness to the entire floor. All original structural elements within the common areas of the office are completely coated in a crisp white paint for strong visual formations against a quiet base.

Will Fox, cofounder of Fox Fox Studio, shared inspirations for the MT7’s design: “We like having memorable and unique pops throughout the space, but there is definitely a thread throughout all of them—mainly going back to our original inspiration which falls somewhere between midcentury European design and warm and cozy Texas interiors, as represented in Lyndon B. Johnson’s private offices in Austin. We liked these two somewhat disparate inspirations and how they came together to make something rich and contextual.” These colorful art and accents counteract the neutral wall and warm wooden floors.

The clients commissioned work from both Ignacio Acosta and Regina Silveira that ties to the surrounding geological formations found in the Permian Basin. Acosta’s Mineraux Imaginaries is an installation of glass panels with painted minerals replicating early 19th-century vitrines. They light up from within the light wooden oak frames and are displayed along the narrow Hall of Files, located at the western side of the office, on display as if in a museum. Silveira’s work can be found beneath guests’ feet on bold rugs showcasing kaleidoscopic collages of Permian-era fossils and loud colors.

The layout of the entire seventh floor was strategically designed so all of the social gathering spaces are placed north to view Centennial Park and the Petroleum building. These spaces include the conference room, library, reception, and garden room, all located off the elevators. The dynamic Fox duo hand-selected classic midcentury furniture, such as vintage Eames chairs and Vitra pieces, in addition to creating custom modular chairs for the clients. In this open social area, one can find the portable Kennedy Chairs, upholstered with Raf Simon and Kvadrat fabric seeped in texture and neutral tones of white, black, and tan. The duo explained that these unique chairs offer flexibility in the garden room, allowing for open gatherings to private interactions. These chairs are accompanied by Yucca Stuff’s walnut and limestone coffee table, which ties to the grand walnut and limestone conference table. Nearby is the reception desk that flaunts slabs of fossiliferous limestone base from a nearby quarry, topped with a light white oak top. All of the limestone and wooden tables may have similar material makeups, but they all look completely different.

MT7 is an office that screams Texas pride—notably without the kitsch—while also offering creative spins to the surrounding geological Permian Basin. When asked to describe MT7, Chick replied, “Mineral, because I see the project like a rocky fragment with solid and transparent faces, and because I wanted it to feel both visceral and mysterious, like something you could hold in your hand but have no idea how or when it was made—or what its origins are.”