Dovetail fabricated the architectural millwork and metalwork for Ismaili Centre, a corporate tenant improvement project in Houston, Texas, built by general contractor McCarthy Building Companies. The work was completed in 2025.
What did Dovetail build at the Ismaili Centre?
Most of the scope is wood wall paneling and casework, packaged room by room. Named rooms in the work include a prayer hall, anteroom, council chamber, east and west foyers, plenary room, library, cloak room, cafe, main foyer, reception, secondary reception and two shoe rooms. Prayer hall panels were released in four phases. Doors and jambs were built for the prayer hall, anteroom, corridors and council chamber.
The library and cloak room received locking cabinets and tall wardrobe cabinets, and the shoe rooms received cabinets and benches. The council corner has cabinets, wall panels and rolling tables, and the library includes a metal desk.
Materials and finishes
The wood work is mostly cherry, with prefinished anigre panels for the prayer hall and anteroom and wenge for reveals and edgebanding. Cherry headers and thin cherry veneer strips were made for trim details. Door openings carry painted metal angle trim, and aluminum angle and spacers appear in several rooms. Many panels were prefinished before they reached the site.
How was the work delivered?
Drafting was released room by room from mid-2024, nearly all production shipped in 2025, and installation was completed in 2025. Council corner cabinet glass went through a glass mockup, and a long run of remakes and prefinish-only pieces handled panel changes. Dovetail's drafting department builds to AWI standards.
