Along Houston’s Buffalo Bayou, a low-slung 1930 Spanish Revival building was once home to an engraving factory. In 1985, it became the Stages Repertory Theatre. In 1992, it turned into the Children’s Museum of Houston. Today, it is the U.S. headquarters of the Mexican beverage company, Electrolit. To create a Texas home for the Guadalajara-based company, Electrolit assembled a fitting team: Schaum Architects, based in Houston; local architect Jesús Vassallo; and Luis Aldrete, an architect based in Guadalajara. The design effort locates warm Mexican design elements within a Texan context.
The design team completed a total gut renovation for the new headquarters, stripping the frame down to its original concrete bones and making repairs to the dilapidated building. “The challenge of this project was to make an architecture inside an existing architecture,” said Aldrete. “This was conceptually different from interior design or adaptive reuse, as the objective was not to alter the original architecture, or further its agenda, but to establish a new architecture inside of the old one, and then tune this situation to the point where a clear reciprocal relationship between both became evident.”
The industrial envelope is met with an abundance of knotty alder wood in the interiors, delivering a warm and welcoming environment. At the office’s foyer, a wood-clad staircase leads to a meeting room and CEO’s office, both overlooking the workstations below on the first floor. Natural light is dispersed through the unique glass block windows and custom skylights. Troy Schaum, principal of Schaum Architects, shared with AN Interior that his favorite design element from the project is the wood interior. “It really envelops you and feels calm,” he said. “It is not like a typical office but more like a private library.”
The knotty alder forms numerous volumetric wooden cubes: it divides spaces within the open-plan office and cleverly hides HVAC and conduit. The wood volumes establish the spatial choreography of the space and also introduce inviting elements to the otherwise industrial, concrete site.
Electrolit strived to bring its Mexican roots to its new home in Texas. Halfway through the development of the new headquarters, the design team brought in Mexican interior designer, Aagnes, to drive the Mexican cultural message home. Custom furniture was sourced and fabricated in Guadalajara, using materials such as solid wood, aluminum, stainless steel, and stone. These touches go against the grain of the stereotypical stale office.
For Schaum the best description of Electrolit’s new headquarters is “elevating.” “It takes the experience of in-person collaboration in a real office environment and treats it as something to be celebrated, not endured,” he added.