The Houston Association of General Contractors selected the project at 3 Greenway Plaza for its APEX Award for project excellence. The award is presented every two years. The Fort Worth-based Crescent also received a bronze award from the Texas Nursery and Landscape Associations for commercial landscape installation at a recent convention. The award was presented to Greenway Plaza and Hou-Scape, the project's contractor. Last October, the plaza also was accorded an honorable mention designation from the "Keep Houston Beautiful" organization.

Project coordinator Jim Langford tells GlobeSt.com that the renovation work began about two years ago as a re-roofing and waterproofing project, but turned into a major undertaking with the installation of large green spaces filled with flowering plant materials, water fountains, covered seating areas, a trail system with a removable decorative paving system and trellis structures covered with vines.

"It was just a barren canyon of concrete before," said Langford of the 30-year-old complex. Now, it's one of the largest rooftop gardens in the US. The renovation is designed to provide a green-space link between several of the development's 10 office buildings.