Depot on Main
Burleson, Texas
Expertise
- Residential
- Multi-Family
Services
- mechanical / plumbing engineering
- electrical engineering
Size
- 276,095 SF
BHB provided MEP engineering services for the design of a new, two-building, five-story, 275-unit apartment community on a five-acre tract at the northwest corner of King and Main Streets in Burleson, Texas. The project is located adjacent to the city’s Old Town and is the only entitled multi-family site in this area. This project is integral to Burleson’s future plans to make this part of the city, known as Old Town, a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, Mayor Ken Shetter said.
Building 1 is approximately 125,745 square feet with 127 apartment units, leasing office, and fifth-floor amenity lounge with a 750-square-foot covered patio. The lounge contains comfortable seating for 30 people with a pool table, foosball table, and an indoor/outdoor bar with sink.
Building 2 is approximately 150,350 square feet with 148 apartment units, dog wash facilities, and a 1,300-square-foot fitness center. Each apartment is accessed through conditioned internal corridors.
The two apartment buildings are served by electric heat dx split systems. Each individual apartment has its own split system for an approximate total of 500 tons of cooling capacity. The corridors are served by multiple split systems located on each floor. Careful coordination was required for ductwork, conduit, piping and structure to keep the corridor ceiling as high as possible. The leasing office is served by a 7.5 ton variable volume dx rooftop unit with electric heat with variable volume terminal units to provide additional comfort control for the space.
Our electrical design consisted of power and lighting design for the two apartment buildings, amenity areas, pool area and site. We also provided a performance specification for fire alarm at the buildings. We worked closely with the design team to maximize ceiling height and floor area with how we designed and routed all our pipes, ducts, and electric feeders.
At the request of the architect and client, we strategically located most of the apartment electric meters inside a designated room within the building to avoid the unsightly appearance of numerous meters on the exterior walls, which is common in many apartment complexes. This approach required allocating some interior space, but through collaboration with Oncor and the architect, we successfully implemented the plan. Only 73 meters are externally visible between the two buildings, and we were able to position those external meters discreetly.
We also worked closely with Oncor to optimally locate the transformers, underground cables, and conduits, ensuring they integrated seamlessly with the overall site design. Additionally, during the construction phase, we partnered with the client to identify practical and cost-effective locations for installing two EV charging stations at each building.
Key People
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Richard J. Watters, PE
Richard J. Watters, PE
Principal | Senior Mechanical Engineer
Richard Watters came to BHB after working with a design-build contractor in the area for two years. As an active member of BHB’s leadership team, Richard manages some of the firm’s multiple long-term engineering projects, including healthcare, commercial, oil and gas, retail, and municipal. He is experienced in sustainable design, energy studies/audits, design-build, hospitality, data centers, critical environments, medical gas systems, and construction administration.
Richard has been named one of the Top 40 Engineers Under 40 in the country by Consulting-Specifying Engineer Magazine and one of the Top 20 Engineers Under 40 in our region by Engineer News-Record magazine.
In the office, his hands-on style has helped him successfully find solutions for clients and mentor young engineers. Outside of the office, Richard has been past president of the Fort Worth Chapter of ASHRAE and has been active with various student organizations as a guest speaker or project sponsor; he also travels back to Texas A&M to guest lecture and has sponsored projects for the construction science department at Texas A&M.
With his wife Yesenia, he enjoys being outside with their kids, traveling, working on multiple home improvement projects, and helping others. They have sponsored scholarships for children in El Salvador, his wife’s native country, who would otherwise not have access to advanced education. In addition to these, they also have four annual scholarships locally at TCU and UNT. Expanding on this desire to provide resources and forward momentum for everyone, Richard is also a founding board member of the Paul Schulte Foundation, a non-profit organization with a goal to empower, inspire, and facilitate individuals with disabilities.
Project Experience
Arlington Animal Services Center
Doss Heritage and Culture Center
Ott Cribbs Public Safety Center
Star-Telegram Building
Texas Wesleyan University Jack and Jo Willa Morton Fitness Center
Education
Texas A&M University:
Master’s Degree/2001/Mechanical Engineering
The University of Texas at El Paso:
Bachelor’s Degree/1997/Mechanical Engineering -
Gibran Michel, DBIA, LEED AP
Gibran Michel, DBIA, LEED AP
Senior Associate | Senior Mechanical Designer
Gibran Michel has been with BHB since 1996. A year after high school, he started with BHB as a drafter and absorbed as much information as he could concerning HVAC and plumbing design. Since that time, he has gone on to learn what he can about the other engineering tasks that goes into the construction of new buildings and the renovation of existing buildings. With this knowledge, he has been able to help his clients from the very start of on their projects. Including site selection, zoning changes, overall site utility advisement, building space planning, and many other tasks that are involved in this process.
During his design time with BHB, he has worked on everything from a 1,500 square-foot retail space all the way to a 500,000 square-foot distribution center for a major beer supplier. Projects have included schools/universities, churches, hospitals, retail, multi-family, high-rise buildings, warehouses, and everything in between.
After 20 years of design experience over thousands of projects, he began developing good relationships with clients that started pulling him away from the day-to-day design of their projects and turned him into the direct contact for the client. For BHB, Gibran become an overall project manager that was able to coordinate design efforts for all the engineering for his clients’ projects as well as a focal point within the company for projects that had difficulties during construction.
When he is not working, he likes to spend time with his wife, Molley, along with working out 4 to 5 times a week. His favorite place to vacation is the Caribbean with its’ warm weather and great beaches. You can also ask him about his own experiences handling home repairs, building a 200-foot-long railroad tie retaining wall or updating a 100+ year old cabin on his family property outside Lampasas, Texas.
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Rhiannon Jones, PE
Rhiannon Jones, PE
Associate | Senior Electrical Engineer
Rhiannon Jones has always wanted to be an engineer. In college, Rhiannon was given the opportunity to intern with a local utility company, which also awarded her a partial scholarship to study electrical engineering. During her internship, she was introduced to electrical power systems engineering and was instantly hooked.
After working several years in the utility industry and consulting engineering business, Rhiannon decided to leave the engineering industry and teach mathematics to help young, budding engineers get a good start in their careers. Not able to stay away, Rhiannon was ready to resume her engineering career after 13 years of teaching.
Rhiannon is a member of the Eta Kappa Nu National Electrical Engineering Honor Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. She is a member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society, Industry Applications Society, and the IEEE Women in Engineering group.
Rhiannon is a certified permaculture designer who has done humanitarian work on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North and South Dakota. She volunteers with a local non-profit youth advocacy organization as a community goodwill ambassador and a volunteer working with youth. She is also a community activist and organizer for human rights and is a frequent public speaker on human rights issues. When she’s not working or volunteering in the community, Rhiannon likes to read, cook, and spend time shopping with her daughter. She has recently taken up sewing and jewelry design as new hobbies.
Project Experience
Star-Telegram Building
Tarrant County Sub-Courthouse
The Sinclair
TCU Neeley School of Business
Education
University of Tulsa:
Bachelor’s Degree/1973/Electrical Engineering