After eight years in design and a demanding two-year, nine-phase construction schedule, the Moody Gardens Aquarium now welcomes guests to an undersea world.
The $23.08-million restoration and retrofit of the 1925 Virginia Hotel into the new Vantage State Building aimed to return the building to its original grandeur while incorporating modern amenities.
Originally designed as a car dealership in the late 1940s by noted modernist design firm Curtis & Davis, the former Klein Motors showroom functioned as a cajun dance hall before being purchased by a New Orleans investor who turned it into the new headquarters for his local newspaper, The Advocate.
The Houston Advanced Research Center’s new headquarters is a LEED Platinum-certified, 18,600-sq-ft collaborative office and research building, which is also targeting net-zero-energy goals.