Trammell Crow Builds Houston Discovery Tower

Trammell Crow has selected Gilbane Building Company to construct the 871,000-sf Discovery Tower in downtown Houston at an estimated cost of $156 million. Designed by Gensler Architects, the 30-story tower will have 10 wind turbines at the top of the structure that will harvest renewable energy by generating electricity. Located on a full city block, Discovery Tower will have an adjacent 10-story parking garage accessible by a sky bridge, and will be located next to Discovery Green, a 12-acre park with a children’s playground, interactive water features, amphitheater stage, public art works and restaurants. The project is designed with two stories of retail and restaurant space overlooking a landscaped plaza, with an entrance pavilion featuring a porte-cochere, and opening into a multilevel lobby. The project will seek a LEED Gold certification based on the rooftop wind turbines, a first for Houston, as well as other sustainable features such as air filtration systems and water-efficient plumbing. Completion of the project is expected in the second quarter of 2010.