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Edmonds International Designing Potential 58-story Mixed-use Tower in Midland, Texas

Edmonds International Designing Potential 58-story Mixed-use Tower in Midland, Texas

As the business hub of oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, Midland, Texas, is on the cusp of a growth spurt. With the opening of the Cline Shale oil play, petroleum production in the region has increased 49 percent since 2007 to 1.29 million barrels per day and is expected to reach 2.2 million barrels per day by 2022. Betting on the influx of businesses and workers that will accompany this growth, local developer Energy Related Properties hired New York City–based architectural firm Edmonds International to design a 58-story, mixed-use tower sited on two blocks in downtown Midland that will contain everything a body could need for work, sleep, shopping, and play under one very tall roof.

The 869-foot-tall tower is a rhomboid in plan and features a perimeter diagrid structural steel framing system that animates the transparent glass facade. A solar shading system protects the western and southern faces of the otherwise clear envelope from the powerful West Texas sun. From the bottom up, the development includes 53,500 square feet of retail in a sunken level that is open to the sky, a 198-room hotel, 230,460 square feet of residences, and 564,000 square feet of office space. Considering that the building would be twice as tall as Midland’s next-tallest structure, the first floor of offices, the 28th, would feature 360-degree views that easily clear the surrounding rooftops. At ground level, the design features a public plaza with a reflecting pool and accessible green roofs that top a convention center.

Energy Related Properties is currently seeking tenants for the project and, pending their success, construction could begin as soon as early 2014.


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