You likely pass a Turner | Ramirez building every week. From Kleberg Bank on Staples Street to Volkswagen on S.P.I.D., this firm is leaving a deep impression on our community. Turner | Ramirez is a full-service architecture, planning and design firm that opened in 1958 and is headquartered in Corpus Christi, with offices in San Antonio and clients that span nationally and internationally.
Led by president and principal architect Philip Ramirez, the firm sees dozens of projects per year, including architectural programming and design, project management, bond planning and construction administration. It offers sustainable designs and LEED commissioning, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Its services have rendered state-of-the-art facilities and instantly recognizable landmarks in the community. For Ramirez, it’s all about the effect that good design can create for those inside. “I think with attracting and retaining people, change can be brought forth through the physical environment that we spend so much time in and around. Hopefully, the work that we do through Turner| Ramirez all builds upon that to make the city something even greater.”
Ramirez is passionate about the community, and actively involved: He sits on the governing board of Driscoll Children’s Hospital, is on the executive committee of the Art Museum of South Texas, is a past chair and executive committee member of The CCREDC board of directors and has served as chair of the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce.
Although he’s already achieved a great deal, Ramirez is just heating up. Projects under construction include the Texas State Aquarium’s Wildlife Rescue Center and Del Mar College’s New South Side Campus. One of the firm’s newest and biggest initiatives is the purchase of an area of downtown Corpus Christi—along with a partner, it has acquired a section nearly 2/3 of a city block that will become a mixed-use redevelopment project.
While these herculean endeavors are groundbreaking, Ramirez considers it part of a bigger picture. “Everything that we do is just one piece of that big, broader puzzle. It takes a village, as they say. It takes a whole community to come together and move us forward,” said Ramirez. “This is just one more piece of that puzzle to bring the community forward.”
There’s no doubt that Turner | Ramirez will continue to make an impression on our community over the next 10 years—and for decades to come. “We have such a fantastic foundation to move the community forward, to be something greater and provide those opportunities for the next generation. We can achieve so much in this community.”
