Current Projects

Harris County Courthouse

Harris County Courthouse

Location: Houston, TX
Owner: Harris County
General Contractor: Vaughn Construction
Description: Historical Ornamental Plaster Repairs & Paint Restoration.
Architect: PGAL
Anticipated Date of Completion: 2010
National Register of Historic Places, Texas Historic Landmark
Reviewed By Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Courthouse
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The 1910 Harris County Courthouse is one of the most significant historical buildings in Houston and is considered by some as one of the most significant historic courthouses in Texas. It is a classical domed building designed by a Dallas firm Lang and Wetchel. The firm was owned by Otto H. Lang and Frank O. Wetchel. They also designed two other Texas courthouses one the Cook County Courthouse in Gainesville and the other the Johnson County Courthouse in Cleburne Texas. The firm was a large, prolific and well respected firm located in Dallas at the turn of the century.

Otto Lang was born in Germany and trained as a structural engineer. Frank Wetchel, born in South Wales and completed his apprenticeship at the architectural firm Sanguinet and Staats alongside another famous Texas Architect, J. Reiley Gordon. However these two men were destined to play a back roll to one of their employees; Charles Erwin Barglebaugh, who trained with Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park and was a graduate of the Chicago School of Architecture.

The Six story building located in downtown Houston at the square outlined by Fannin, Congress, San Jacinto and Preston streets is a massive stone building complete with colonnades on each side. But in my option its true beauty lies almost in ruins inside the building. The building had a marble lined center rotunda open from the first floor to the top of the building with massive plaster column capitals at the top and a skylight in the center.

Around the rotunda at each level is a walkway that had plaster crown moldings and capitals. Unfortunately in the 1950's it was remodeled and the center opening was filled in at each floor. The remodeling caused massive damage to the plaster elements at each floor and especially at the top of the rotunda.

Most of the plaster elements in the building have at least one good piece that can be used to make a mold and cast the missing elements. However the center capitals at the top of the rotunda have the center missing at each one. Photos were solicited from every possible venue and some of the original drawings are available. It is going to be a monumental task to recreate these capitals. But we here at Professio are all about challenges.

The project also benefits from the experience of a historical architect Susan with Architexas in Austin who has diligently worked for several years trying to correctly identify the elements and create drawings to show the supposed design. Architexas is the largest preservation architectural firm in the state of Texas. The project also has the benefit of another very large architectural firm of PGAL who brings a nationwide expertise of courthouse construction and restoration to the mix. All of who have spent endless hours diligently researching this wonderful building.


Roberts County Courthouse

Roberts County Courthouse

Location: Miami, TX
Owner: Roberts County
General Contractor: Grimes and Associates
Description:
Architect: Grimes & Associates, Engineer/Architect
Anticipated Date of Completion:
National Register of Historic Places,
Texas Historic Courthouse
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Restoration of all the historic plaster casting elements in the courtroom to match as best as possible the historic pieces left over.
There were no historic photos to glean information from.




Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church

Location: Victoria, TX
Description: Historic Alter Reproduction
Owner: Victoria Diocese
Architect: Heimsath Architects
Anticipated Completion Date:
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The central altar in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, at 105 N. William Street, was created in 1929. While two smaller side altars have survived time, the larger central altar has disappeared. With the aid of black and white photos, three-dimensional imaging, and the color scheme from the existing side altars, Professio has been commissioned to recreate the central altar as it appeared after its initial creation.




Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building

Location: San Antonio, TX
General Contractor: HCBeck, Ltd.
Description: Historical plaster repair and historical paint restoration
Owner: GSA
Architect: Trivers Associates
Anticipated Completion Date:
National Register of Historic Places, Alamo Plaza National Register Historic District,
LEED Project
Architect: Heimsath Architects
Anticipated Completion Date:
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Though construction began in 1935, the building was not complete and occupied until 1937. The original architect, Ralph Cameron, was a San Antonio native who had studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Paul Cret, famous for his Beaux Arts architecture, worked with Cameron to produce the plans for the building. It was constructed as a Public Works Administration project to both deal with San Antonio’s increasing population and the economic depression that was devastating the entire United States.

Following the basic Beaux Arts principles of composition and balance and the scale typical of federal projects, the focus became the main façade. With large columns supporting a cornice and frieze, the mass is topped with hipped barrel vault tile roof caps. Polygonal and open in the center with a light court from the second floor up to the roof, this building was meant to inspire awe and serve the people of San Antonio.

The central focus of the building is the Mural Lobby on the south side of the building. This space houses a sixteen panel fresco depicting the history of the area. With bold lines and colors and soft shading, the historic figures within the mural appear to be sculptural and strong. Perhaps this was the message that Howard Cook was trying to convey when he completed it in 1937.

Today, this building serves as both a reminder of what dedication and ingenuity can accomplish and, as it sits right across the street from the Alamo, how far the state of Texas has come in a relatively short period of history. We have been proud to work with Trivers Associates and Beck to restore both the architectural paint in the Postal Lobbies and the historic plaster throughout the building.


T&P Train Station

T&P Train Station

Location: Fort Worth,TX
Owner: Fort Worth Transportation Authority
General Contractor: Wood Partners
Description: previously completed in 1999.
Architect:
Carter Design Associates
Anticipated Completion Date:
Architect: Heimsath Architects
Anticipated Completion Date:
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The building ,designed by architect Wyatt C. Hedrick and Herman P. Koeppe, was constructed in 1930 by P.O'B. Montgomery of Dallas and opened on October 25th, 1931. The areas in which we worked on are the Main lobby and the Women’s lobby. Which are located on the first floor and are the predominant spaces on the first floor.

The ceiling is a “Zigzag Moderne” Art Deco style and is very intricately painted. The plaster ceiling was apparently constructed using precast panels, which were lifted and suspended in place to form the decorative floral and geometric bands. The flat areas were then framed in, lathed with metal lath and plastered. There are three large areas on the ceiling and tree panels on the side walls where sugar cane acoustical tiles are installed over the flat plaster. These ties have been painted sometime in the past.

These spaces were restored in 1999. Some tiles were replaced on the walls, recreated plaster pieces were installed in the ceiling where elements were missing, repairs were made to cracks and water intrusion, and most of the areas were repainted to match the historic finishes. Recently, the building has been modified as condos and lofts. During this process, some damage occurred to the plaster ceiling and its paint. Professio by Matt Henson, Inc. was commissioned to repair the plaster and restore the paint back to its original appearance.




Newton County Courthouse

Newton County Courthouse

Location: Newton,TX
Owner: Newton County Courthouse
General Contractor: Joe R. Jones Construction, Inc.
Description: Historical Flat Restoration
Architect:
Marcel Quimby Architecture
Anticipated Completion Date:
2010 National Register of Historic Places, Texas Historic Landmark,
Reviewed By Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Courthouse

Cass County Courthouse

Cass County Courthouse

Location: Linden, TX
General Contractor: RBR Construction
Description: Plaster Restoration
Owner: Cass County
Anticipated Completion Date:
National Register of Historic

Byrne Reed House

Byrne Reed House

Location: Austin, TX
General Contractor: Journeyman Construction, Inc.
Description: Decorative plaster frieze and column capitals.
Architect: Clayton Levy Little Architects
Owner:
Humanities Texas
Anticipated Completion Date: