Phillips 66 Headquarters

When Phillips 66 spun off from ConocoPhillips in 2012, its 2,200 Houston employees were scattered across four separate office locations. Leadership charged HOK with a clear objective: create a unified campus that would bring the entire workforce together for the first time while reflecting the company’s Texas identity.

Design Solutions

The 14-acre campus comprises two office towers—13 and 15 stories—connected by a 3,000-square-foot walking bridge, along with an eight-floor parking garage. A landscaped arrival sequence evokes the experience of driving through Texas hill country, with cascading water features enriching the path to the lobby. Regional Texas limestone clads the first two levels and continues from exterior to interior, grounding the buildings in their local context and providing visitors with intuitive wayfinding cues.

The building podium consolidates employee amenities in a central location: a conference and training center, full-service kitchen and servery, fitness center with yoga and spinning studios, and a gathering space topped by an 80-foot by 210-foot glass skylight. The campus also houses on-site medical and dental services, two credit unions, a massage room and dry cleaning. This configuration shortens walking distances between shared resources and encourages informal interaction throughout the workday.

Architects and engineers collaborated on strategies to reduce energy consumption and life-cycle costs. High-performance HVAC systems deliver reliable operations and straightforward maintenance. The towers’ enclosure systems include sun shades calibrated to each façade orientation, optimizing daylight while managing thermal comfort in Houston’s climate.

An advanced building automation system integrates mechanical, electrical and lighting controls on a common platform, giving operations staff a single point of oversight. A 5,000-square-foot data center supports the company’s global operations. The project achieved LEED-NC Platinum and ENERGY STAR certification.

Raised access floors on office levels accommodate evolving space layouts and technology infrastructure without disruptive renovations. Structural steel framing supports open floor plates and preserves future flexibility. Post-tensioned, cast-in-place concrete in the parking structure allowed the team to place a central utility plant, electrical vault and rooftop sports deck—featuring a net-enclosed court, soccer field, running track and putting greens—above the garage. The bridge linking the towers uses a series of two-story trusses; advanced analysis eliminated the need for an expansion joint, simplifying long-term maintenance. Drilled piers, mat slabs, spread footings and two-way slabs-on-grade address Houston’s expansive soil conditions.

Impact

The campus opened in 2016 as Phillips 66’s first permanent global headquarters, consolidating employees who had previously worked across four separate locations. The project received the Houston Business Journal Landmark Award for Office Buildings and the ASHRAE Region VIII Technology Award, First Place in the Commercial category, recognizing the integrated mechanical systems and energy performance.