GK Engineers provided full MEP design for Common Desk’s Level 4 coworking buildout at The Ion, Houston’s innovation hub in the former 1939 Sears building on Main Street. The 20,380 SF floor holds private offices, conference and zoom rooms, a hospitality bar, a break room and open coworking.

Twenty-four fan-powered boxes with electric reheat ride on the base-building air handlers and controls, carrying 57.4 tons of zone load. A 480/277V tenant service feeds three new 400A, 120/208V tenant panels, and LED lighting runs on vacancy, occupancy and timer controls with battery inverters for egress.

Hospitality plumbing on an upper floor of a historic building meant new sanitary and vent lines tied into the existing risers, an instantaneous water heater, and coffee, espresso, dishwasher and refrigerator connections behind backflow protection and filtration. The project was completed in the second quarter of 2024.