Baker Hughes moves into new corporate HQ in Houston’s Energy Corridor, embracing hybrid work

The move to the 12-story, roughly 306,000-square-foot building owned by American Realty Advisors is part of a broader boom in office leasing in west Houston over the past couple years. So far this year, the Katy Freeway West/Energy Corridor areas secured nearly 26% of all office leases over 10,000 square feet signed in the Houston region, according to research from real estate firm Avison Young.

“I wouldn’t limit the Energy Corridor’s recent success to a trend. The Energy Corridor has been a top destination nationally in this post-COVID flexible work environment,” Elijah J. Williams, executive director of the Energy Corridor District, said in a statement.

Baker Hughes employees are not required to come into the office for a set number of days per week. About 40% of its employees split their time between the office and remote work, Deanna Jones, an executive vice president at the company, said. Consequently, not all of the 1,300 office employees assigned to this new location will be-on site at the same time.

Architecture firm eStudio took what had been a more traditional office layout with closed corridors and little daylight and designed an open format with lots of collaborative, shared spaces and ample daylight, said John W. Bellian, its director of architecture.

The modernized space is a significant improvement from some of Baker Hughes’ old offices, which were often located next to the company’s manufacturing sites, Jones said.

Although there are a handful of assigned desks, most employees practice “hoteling,” sitting wherever they like by booking workspaces with an app. There are individual workstations alongside more than 25 collaborative spaces, over 40 meeting rooms and over 12 community spaces.

Instead of standard C-suite corner offices, three of the five floors the company leased have expansive breakrooms with views of the Galleria, Bellian said. There are also nursing mother suites, prayer rooms, Zen rooms and tech-free quiet spaces.

“The workplace is a place that can either amplify the productivity by giving the employees a place they can call their own, or the workplace could silo and divide,” Bellian said. “We created an environment that invites people to want to be here and want to be part of this organization.”

“These types of technologies are really game changing for an inclusion standpoint. I don’t feel different than the people who are in the room … whether I’m somewhere else in the building or I’m sitting in Florence or Dubai,” said Jones of Baker Hughes.

Houston companies are increasingly incorporating open-format layouts with hospitality-like amenities, said Wade Bowlin, principal at Avison Young, who was not involved with the Baker Hughes deal.

“Employers are saying, if I can at least get in the building that is top of the market and has all the amenities, that my employees will want to come back (to the office),” Bowlin said.

In advance of its move, Baker Hughes sold its former 42-acre headquarters site at 17015 and 17021 Aldine Westfield in September to an entity tied to Katy general contractor Urban Cos. for an undisclosed price, according to Harris County deed records.