Belgium-based chemical company Solvay SA has flown under the radar in Houston, admitted company President Mike Lacey, who heads the corporate headquarters for North America.
But now, the company is emboldened by its swanky new office setup in Greenway Plaza, which marks a stylistic transition from old-school to modern, as well as a pass on The Woodlands.
"A relocation like that would have been disruptive to the employees," said Lacey of the decision to pass on moving offices to The Woodlands.
Solvay's Houston anchor has been on Richmond Avenue near Buffalo Speedway for more than 20 years as landlord, a setup that Lacey said he was not altogether comfortable with.
So one month ago, employees moved just 100 yards west on Richmond into a new office building that's part of PM Realty Group's Greenway Plaza office development after selling its old office space.
At 3737 Buffalo Speedway, Solvay is the first — and currently the only — tenant residing in the building with a 10-year lease. The new office has all the makings of the latest wave in office design, replete with sound-masking architecture, glass walls, a game console in the kitchen and murals designed to project the Solvay ethos to employee onlookers.
One such mural, transposed from actual archival photographs, shows company founder Ernest Solvay huddled with Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and other famed thinkers of the day.
A stark departure from the former leather and wood-clad office, Solvay's new office is dressed in pristine white with shocks of the company's hallmark blue color and yellow accents. The spread out floor plan also allows for more employee interface.
"There are people that I went a month without seeing in the old office that I now see everyday," said Lacey.
PDR Corp. was the interior architect for Solvay's space. For the building's core and shell, D.E. Harvey Builders was the general contractor, and Elkus-Manfredi and Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc. were the architects.
Solvay has roughly 150 Houston employees and 500 Texas employees, including plant management and staff, said Lacey. Nationwide, Solvay has about 7,000 employees and 32,000 employees worldwide.
The company found its market niche when its founder patented a method for producing anhydrous sodium carbonate, more commonly known as soda ash, in the 19th century. Soda ash has a variety of uses, such as the manufacturing of glass, as a water softener and a pH regulator.
Now Solvay has 17 different business units conducted in an intentionally decentralized manner, said Lacey. Most recently, the company won approval from key shareholders to acquire New Jersey-based Cytec Chemicals for $5.5 billion.
Solvay reported a comprehensive annual net income of $13.8 million at the end of 2014, down from $334.7 million in 2013, according to company financial statements.