Inventure Design, the architecture firm that designed CEMEX USA’s new headquarters has received international recognition for its innovative plans used to develop the highly-sustainable, six-story building in Memorial City.

The Houston Chapter of the International Facilities Management Association recently awarded Inventure Design the 2017 Award of Excellence – Medium Project for designing the 82,000 square-foot space that is a fixture at 10100 Katy Freeway in Memorial City.  CEMEX USA moved into the building in January 2017 and its nearly 200 corporate employees occupy two floors of the MetroNational owned-and-operated building.

“The new headquarters showcases the strength and versatility of CEMEX and our products,” said Edmond Prins, CEMEX USA’s director of real estate. “The architects at Inventure Design did a magnificent job utilizing the power of CEMEX products to give the building an industrial feel and thoughtfully incorporating our concrete, cement and aggregates, throughout the structure.”

The jewel of the design is the spiral staircase connecting the CEMEX offices on the second and third floors.  Embodying a poured-in place concrete product, the staircase features a handrail made of rebar and incorporates steel within the poured concrete for extra strength. The building also houses CEMEX’s innovative Customer Experience Center, which gives the appearance of a high-tech trading floor with video monitors that deliver up-to-the-second information mounted on a circular ring of rebar.

“Our firm provided the design services for the interiors, architecture, furniture, LEED coordination and graphic design,” said James O’Neill with Inventure Design. “The concept needed to reinforce the CEMEX brand identity and reduce historical hierarchy space. We are proud to be recognized for the design of this modern headquarters.” 

CEMEX and Inventure Design listened to employees when developing the project to ensure the building would meet their safety and health needs. The building provides an open-office concept, offering each workspace healthy doses of sunlight and state-of-the-art desks that allow employees to work sitting or standing.  Encouraging collaboration, the new conference rooms also feature sustainable materials, including recycled furniture, to align with CEMEX’s principles of safety and sustainability.  CEMEX is currently pursuing LEED certification.

“MetroNational is extremely pleased to have CEMEX as a longstanding office tenant in Memorial City,” said Jason Johnson, president of MetroNational. “Inventure Design did a fantastic job on CEMEX’s new U.S. headquarters, and we would like to congratulate them on their well-deserved recognition.”

CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries throughout the world. Its U.S. network includes 11 cement plants, more than 50 strategically located distribution terminals, 50 aggregate quarries and nearly 270 ready-mix concrete plants.