Caudill Rowlett Scott

Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS)

Company type	Architecture firm
Founded	1946
Defunct	1994 (1994)
Fate	Acquired by HOK
Successor	CRSS or CRS-Sirrine
Headquarters	Houston, Texas, United States
Key people	William Wayne Caudill John Miles Rowlett Wallie Eugene Scott Willie Peña Jr. Thomas Abbott Bullock Sr.
Services	Architectural design, specializing in schools, commercial buildings, and skyscrapers

Caudill Rowlett Scott (CRS) was an architectural practice established in Houston, Texas in 1946. In 1983, it merged with the industrial engineering firm J.E. Sirrine, subsequently operating as CRSS or CRS-Sirrine. The organization ceased operations in 1994.

History

The firm was created by Texas A&M University faculty members William Wayne Caudill and John Miles Rowlett (1914–1978), initially conducting business in Austin, Texas before relocating to College Station, Texas. In 1948, Wallie Eugene Scott Jr. (1921–1989), a former pupil of Caudill, joined the partnership. That same year saw the hiring of William Merriweather Peña as the first staff member; he became a partner in 1949 and strongly supported preserving the original trio of names for brand identity. Thomas A. Bullock Sr. (1922–2007) was elevated to partner status in 1954.

Throughout the 1950s, CRS earned acclaim for its school designs characterized by a "lean and clean" aesthetic—favoring straightforward single-story plans that optimized daylight and airflow. Among their significant works were Central High School in San Angelo, Texas, notable as the first fully air-conditioned school in the United States with an open-campus design, and a glass-enclosed domed gymnasium at St. Joseph's Academy in Brownsville, Texas. By 1969, CRS had completed educational and healthcare projects spanning eight countries and 26 states. The firm's main office moved to Houston in 1958.

CRS prioritized research-based design approaches, collaborating with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Architecture Division and producing key publications such as Caudill’s Toward Better School Design. The company was instrumental in developing architectural programming techniques detailed by Willie Peña in Problem Seeking: An architectural programming primer (1969). This work influenced national guidelines adopted by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) in 1973 and continues to be a foundational text within architectural education.

With expansion on both national and global fronts, CRS grew to encompass six partners and a workforce of 250 by the 1970s. It transitioned into a publicly held corporation known as CRS Design Associates, Inc. in 1970 and incorporated engineering and construction divisions. The firm was listed on the American Stock Exchange in 1971 and secured prominent commissions in the Middle East, including King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Dhahran) and Riyadh University in Saudi Arabia, alongside extensive work throughout the Gulf region.

The 1983 merger with J.E. Sirrine broadened CRS’s expertise into industrial engineering sectors—especially projects related to pulp and paper—while sustaining its core architectural services. The corporation also established CRS Capital to participate in reinsurance activities for architecture/engineering firms and to develop power-generation facilities.

After Scott’s passing, CRSS began divesting assets during 1994: selling its architectural operations to HOK based in St. Louis and its engineering division to Jacobs Engineering Group located in Pasadena, California.

Selected Architectural Projects

Texas

• Jones Hall, Houston (1966)
• Albert Thomas Convention Center, currently known as Bayou Place, Houston (1967)
• Texas Pavilion for HemisFair '68, now the Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio (1968)
• Willis Library at the University of North Texas, Denton (1971)
• Houston Center, Houston (1978)
• 1177 West Loop South, Houston (1978)
• Fulbright Tower, Houston (1982)

Within the Continental United States

• Olin Hall of Science at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado (1961), honored by two Texas chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
• Abington High School North Campus in Abington, Pennsylvania (1964)
• Public School 219, known as the "dome school," located in Queens, New York (designed in 1964)
• Roy E. Larsen Hall at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1965)
• Renovations to Roslyn High School, Roslyn Heights, New York (1967)
• Cypress College, Cypress, California (1970)
• West Campus of Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona (1973)
• Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy, Bronx, New York (1974)
• Tulane Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana (1976)
• Aggie Memorial Stadium at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico (1978)
• Towers on the Park North and Southwest, New York City (1988)
• Headquarters and Technology Center for Chrysler in Auburn Hills, Michigan (1993)

International Projects

• King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (circa 1974)
• Ruwais Housing Complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• Clarification: The design of the University of Medicine & Pharmacy in Saigon has been mistakenly attributed to this firm; it was actually created by Smith Hinchman & Grylls in collaboration with Vietnamese architects led by Ngô Viết Thụ.

Awards

In 1972, CRS Architects was honored with the Architecture Firm Award, the highest distinction from the American Institute of Architects.

The firm received the distinguished Albert S. Bard Award in 1975 for its work on the Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy.

In 2005, Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture designated CRS as "Firm of the Century" in recognition of its enduring influence; the CRS Center is currently located there.