Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas coast just weeks after the building shell for Lonza Houston Inc.’s 265,000-sq-ft facility in Pearland was completed. The project was nearly halfway complete when the storm hit, dumping more than 40 in. of rain on the Houston area. Intense collaboration with individuals who had lived and worked through storms like Hurricane Katrina helped the team effectively prepare for the impact.

Crews implemented emergency preparedness measures to prevent damages and to reduce delays, helping the project team rebound quickly.

Lonza closed the jobsite and halted construction activity for 11 days after the storm. Major roads leading to the site were impassable, and many crew members for the subcontractors experienced personal property damages and hardships that affected their ability to work.

The Dallas-based CRB team collected supplies that had been donated and transported them to Houston to help project team members.

With the completion of the facility, Lonza doubled its former production capacity for viral gene and virally modified therapeutics to treat patients with cancer or genetic diseases. Lonza Houston is now the world’s largest dedicated cell and gene therapy manufacturer.

Back to "ENR Texas & Louisiana Best Projects 2018: Building the Best Across the South"