From a source who wishes to remain unidentified come these pix of the glass-box keystone suspended at the entrance to ExxonMobil’s new north Houston campus. The 385-acre facility, which opened to employees last spring, is now largely occupied but remains under construction. The Energy Center, with its hovering 10,000-ton “floating cube” raised 80 ft. above ground, will serve as the campus’s front gate, welcoming visitors as well as shortcut-eschewing employees to the 10,000-worker compound.
The building will include a meeting and training center, and is meant to “represent the ExxonMobil brand for the long term,” according to a company document. Earlier photos showed an extensive scaffolding structure holding up the centerpiece; it’s now been removed.
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The cube itself is shaped like a wide bridge with a square hole punched into its middle, offering views in all directions. It is suspended between 2 cantilevered supports on opposite wings. The 20-building campus was designed by Pickard Chilton.
- ExxonMobil coverage [Swamplot]
- Previously on Swamplot: Welcome to the Land of ExxonMobil: A Tour of the Company’s New North Houston Campus
Photos: Swamplot inbox
Why? Because we can.
The design’s got hubris going for it, which is nice.
It really is breathtaking in person. Excited to see it in its full glory when construction is fully complete.
It’s funny that architects who work in the functionalist style would design something so anti-functionalist, even while the curtain walls still proudly carry the torch of modernism. This might be the mortal sin that keeps them from getting into Bauhaus heaven when they die.
Yep I can see that being built from my bldg.
The campus is amazing. Will be so nice when its complete.
DAYAM! That ain’t no CUBE! I should know. It’s a rectangular prism, y’all. Cubes are equal on ALL SIDES! *drops mic*
……and when is the last time you saw an “ice cube” equal on all sides??
It’s like an onshore offshore platform but being used for an office building.
That’s F’in awesome ! Finally, some architect with outside-the-box vision !
And we shall wait and see how this fares thru the next hurricane…
Looks like someone squatting to dump a load.
I pity the poor visitor who catches that.
EDS Plano circa 1993…
http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20121209-eds_timeline_day_2_plano_campus.jpg.ece/BINARY/w940/EDS_timeline_Day_2_Plano_campus.jpg