The Ion.

Project brief

The Ion is a 266,000-square-foot innovation hub at 4201 Main Street in Houston's Midtown, created by renovating a 1939 Sears department store. It was developed by Rice Management Company, which manages Rice University's endowment, and it anchors the 16-acre Ion District. SHoP Architects was the design architect, Gensler was the architect of record, and James Corner Field Operations designed the landscape.

The renovation added two floors to the original three-story building, making it five stories with a sixth level below grade. The 1970s corrugated-metal cladding was removed, much of the Art Deco detailing was uncovered, and the new upper floors are wrapped in glass shaded by folded, perforated stainless-steel panels. The program uses the store's 58,000-square-foot floor plates to follow a company's growth: small start-up spaces on the ground floor, coworking and mid-size offices above, and outfitted penthouse offices at the top, along with classrooms, a prototyping lab and restaurants. A plaza with heritage live oaks fronts the building, which sits on the light rail line between downtown and the Texas Medical Center. The building holds LEED Gold and WELL Silver certification. Work began in 2019; it opened in March 2021, with an official grand opening in May 2022.

In 2021, BOGZA produced exterior renderings, an animation and floor plans for the project. The renderings depict the wider Ion District: corner views of buildings and their ground-floor restaurants, aerials of the central paseo and its plazas, and street-level views of shops, cafes and outdoor seating.