City of Houston Drinking Water Operations

Introduction

With 2.4 million residents, Houston, Texas is the fourth largest city in the United States at the time of this writing. Large as that may be, “Space City” is only going to get bigger year over year, rapidly advancing to an anticipated 40% population growth by 2070. That’s why the City of Houston is ceaselessly, actively developing infrastructure plans to accommodate residents—those who are currently residing there, as well as those residents to come over the next five decades.

The City of Houston Drinking Water Operations is one of the many institutions that bears the brunt of population growth. Each year, the service supplies more than 146 billion gallons of drinking water through a network of over 7,500 miles of pipes. With a team of more than 600 professionals, Drinking Water Operations keeps the faucets flowing to city residents. To ensure smooth operations for the anticipated population growth in coming decades, the City of Houston constructed a new, two-story facility to house Drinking Water Operations administrative staff, as well as provide spaces for field operations personnel.

The  Story

The selection of surfacing materials was critical for the administration building, as the City expects the facility to last for about 50 years, in line with the rapid rate of population growth. The architect and design team sought products that were durable, long-lasting, and easy to maintain. The flooring was required to withstand daily foot traffic and the occasional conference-sized crowd, while also being able to endure the pounding of heavy work boots worn by field staff who come into the office from offsite locations.

Beyond the technical performance ease of maintenance, the design team also made high-style aesthetics a priority for the flooring and surface materials. The goals were to coordinate with the dramatic lighting in the lobby, compliment the blue tones on the building exterior, and create looks that would offer long-term appeal.

Crossville’s Physics* Collection provided the foundation style for the lobby flooring, boldly drawing attention to the accent waves and light fixtures in the ceiling and the modern feel of the stairway design. Physics porcelain tile offers a sophisticated interpretation of a classic visual with a dappling of rich pigmentation. Additionally, Crossville tile collections are through-body porcelain engineered for longstanding color.

For the restrooms, the team chose Crossville’s Retro Active 2.0 in a color combination of Snow Blind, Armor, and Gulf Breeze. Like Physics, Retro Active 2.0 collection is a through-body tile, potentially minimizing color issues should any tiles sustain damage in the long-term. The crisp Snow Blind tile applied on the walls as baseboards blends beautifully with the flooring in the Armor colorway, creating the classic contrast of black and white. To add interest to the restroom design, the team accented the spaces with Gulf Breeze tile on some of the walls, adding the touch of blue tones that provide a subtle compliment the building’s exterior.