609 Main at Texas - Houston

What Heinz is trying to do is to build great architecturally conceived projects that provide the ultimate in comfort and working efficiency. We've worked with John Picard and his firm on many projects. They're all outstanding pieces of architecture and we expect our new project to also be a triumph in this city. As one thinks about the design for a building of the importance of 609, the thing that I think is most important for our firm and for Heinz is to create a building that engages the people that are going to work in the building. And I think that's what's going to make this a special place. As you enter the building, you'll see a beautiful garden court and there is this wonderful soaring vertical atrium that goes up the full height of the parking podium. That whole space is clad in beautiful stone and beautiful woods. The next thing you're going to experience is a beautiful reflecting pool and there's this still sort of rustling sound that you hear. You just feel great. You come into this space, it's receiving southern light and then you'll encounter your colleagues and friends and then on up your way to to your offices. The form of the building is very carefully crafted to engage the sky. We've sculpted this box to make it really beautiful and so there are a series of sort of slices that create these these kind of emerging diagonals that reach up to the sky and then we slice the top of the tower and what happens these facets pick up the sun and reflect the sky in different ways. Now Heinz knows how to craft a building that will stand the test of time. John Picard and his firm have the same objectives that we have to create great spaces in an energy efficient way. It will be a building that will be a platinum rating. This is the highest rating for sustainability. One of the things that's special about the project is we have what's called underfloor air. You can literally reach down and you can adjust the amount of air that comes into your workspace. So we really believe that through combination of intelligent, wise design which is sensitive to the environment that we're going to create a magical place that allows you to come and to serve your customers at a higher level and it's what's going to set this building apart. In addition it's going to have a wonderful garden, a roof garden on top of the parking area. So we think that is going to be something that's going to be extraordinary. As an architect what we are really doing here is we're creating an environment that's going to help our tenants come in and recruit more successfully for their organizations, retain the folks they have, and frankly allow those people that are working there to achieve their best. And it's going to be a cumulative a factor of natural daylight and inviting interior space, a spectacular fitness center, a beautiful state-of-the-art conference center, and a beautiful building that contributes to a certain dignity in the skyline. It will be the finest office space available in Houston, Texas.