Wichita Falls Commercial Remodel

from overlooked to unmissable

It started as a tired ranch-style building on McNiel Avenue, gutted and worn out from years as a light manufacturing space.

Today it’s an elegant, unmistakable home for a local insurance agency — with a façade that commands attention from the street and an interior designed around the way the team works and serves its
community.

The Vision

From the street, the building looked like any three-bedroom, two-bath ranch home: a simple single-ridge roof with gabled ends and a lean-to porch on columns. Inside, it was another story. Walls had been torn out to turn it into a dental equipment manufacturing space, and by the time our client purchased it, the building was in rough shape.

The client, an insurance agent relocating their office, needed a building that would stand out on McNiel Avenue and pull the eye from the road — no small challenge for a property with rear-entry parking and nothing on the street side to announce it. They brought us inspiration photos of a building they admired in Oklahoma. Because that building and this one were structurally very different, our job was to capture the spirit of that design and translate it into something that worked for this particular structure.

The building’s condition turned out to be an opportunity. With so much needing replacement, we could make sure every system — plumbing, electrical, heating and air, insulation, windows — was the right solution for the application and the best we could deliver for the client.

Design & craft

The transformation starts at the street. We cut the eave off the south end of the building — the side most visible from the road — and squared off the front with a large parapet wall that rises past the original roof peak and finishes in a crown at the top. Deep brick columns run all the way up the wall, reading as buttresses that hold it in place and giving the façade texture and rhythm. Between them, a smooth EIFS finish with a stucco look provides a clean backdrop for a lit sign.

To bring in a modern edge and warmth at the same time, black steel awnings cantilever from the wall between the columns. They shade the south-facing windows from the sun and hold downlights for the entry, and their undersides are finished in rich stained wood. Together with white painted brick, steel windows, glass and metal front doors, and planters, the result is an entry that feels both polished and welcoming.

Inside, the same black steel and glass theme carries through. The office manager’s office has a glass wall looking out onto the reception area, giving full visibility of guests and activity while still providing a quiet place to work. One continuous wood floor runs through the entire space, softened by the owner’s rugs and punctuated with pops of color. The building has two restrooms — one client-facing and one for staff — both thoughtfully decorated and built to meet the Texas Accessibility Standards (TAS) required for commercial construction. The client-facing restroom is a true moment of personality, with a bold, unique wallpaper that reflects the owner’s style and plays off the blue in the company logo. 

The conference room was designed to be flexible, not formal. We removed a couple of small rooms and opened the hallway into the conference space so it can expand when needed. Countertops anchor both ends of the room, with a sink at one end, under-counter refrigerators, and storage, alongside the TV, technology, and presentation space the team relies on. It can be dressed up for a professional meeting with drinks on hand or turned into a buffet for community events and hosted gatherings. This room took careful planning in collaboration with the owner and their decorator to get it working just right.

Closet space near the restrooms became a work area for printers, files, paper, and office supplies, and the rest of the building was laid out as private offices. Nearly everything is new: windows, doors, and every major system. We spray-foamed the walls and the roof deck, which turned the attic into conditioned space. With new attic stairs, it now houses the IT equipment, water heaters, and heating and air equipment — all protected from the extreme heat of a conventional attic. The owner cared about getting every detail right, and the finished building is elegant, classy, and completely on brand.