The Morgan Companies

Murphy, Texas

Realizing Panera Bread’s brand-new prototype presented both challenges and solutions to The Morgan Companies’ Murphy, Texas development that proved beneficial for all involved. With Panera as the anchor, The Morgan Companies chose Jencen Architecture to develop the 3-tenant building from ground-up at the center of fast-growing Murphy, Texas, northeast of Dallas. This would be the first location for Panera’s latest prototype that included significant design changes and their first dual lane drive thru with an additional bypass lane.

One of Jencen’s biggest tests was to maximize the building footprint especially with Panera’s new prototype that includes a multi-lane drive thru. According to Juleen Russell, principal architect at Jencen, “The site plan drove the building footprint. It’s a tight site. We maximized everything to meet local site design codes for landscaping, parking, fire lanes, etc.” Ultimately the final design accommodated all the local requirements and tenant needs, including keeping Panera Bread as the subtle yet clear anchor – it’s important to discover that balance.

Scott Friedman, Morgan’s development manager, added “This would not be a traditional box design. Jencen did a great job creating an attractive modern building that still provides each of our three tenant’s their own identity. It’s the centerpiece we hoped for. The City of Murphy as well as our tenants are happy with sales exceeding expectations.”

With Panera Bread anchoring, Spectrum and Freebirds World Burrito fill out the three tenant 9,500 square foot center. Jencen’s objective from the start was to create individuality through varying masses and neutral finishes. The majority of the center features a locally sourced 8x12x4 burnished block veneer from Texas Building Products. The stacked bond adds a distinctive character to the facade. Marco Giovannoli, Morgan’s construction manager, commented, “My favorite design aspect is how all the various and dramatically different façade finishes relate to each other – very unique.”