Behind the Design of Downtown’s Hottest New Destination: AT&T Discovery District

When AT&T made the arguably bold decision to keep its headquarters in downtown Dallas, stakeholders quickly began discussing expanding and renovating its home to create a destination for not just employees but the public as well. Those early conversations grew into what is now the $ 100 million Discovery District.

The architects at Gensler’s Dallas office had no frame of reference to create such a space. Sure, they compared hundreds of cool campuses across the country – none of which were open to the public. But AT&T wanted something that had never been done before.

Barry hand

“There is no other corporate campus in an urban setting like this one that is so open to the public,” Barry Hand, a director at Gensler who oversaw the project, told DCEO.

When the concept studies began, Gensler was looking at a 16-block area for the potential neighborhood in the southern core of downtown – a neighborhood some real estate analysts had warned about. Over time, plans narrowed and a block of four between Commerce, Wood, Browder and Field streets became the focal point of the campus.

The exchange

While there hasn’t been an official major reveal of the development – it has been delayed due to COVID restrictions – the district is now fully open. In the last 18 months, more than 10,000 square feet of catering space has been introduced with Jaxon Beer Garden and a food hall called The Exchange, which houses 16 restaurants on the first floor (such as Revolver Taco, Rise and Thyme, and Bobbers.). ) and some seating on the second floor (Ounce, Ichi Ni San and Hard Shake, which has been open to the public since early 2021.) The Hospitality Alliance is leading the project.

The district has quickly become a popular travel destination with flamboyant visual elements, attracting around 100,000 visitors every month. It shows a colorful light and sound display that creates moments of takeover, the grid LED lights, a 9 m high reproduction of the company’s globe logo that rotates 180 degrees and lights up like a rainbow, and a 10 m high 6K media wall . Some already call it Dallas’ version of Times Square.

The District has a five-minute light show called Digital Double every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening at 9:30 p.m.

“There are certainly bold media screens that are impressive and unrivaled. What you don’t see, however, is the complex integration and the infrastructure that connects all the different platforms. “

Barry Hand, Gensler

“One of the things that might be the most impressive from a tech point of view of the district is what you can’t really see,” said Hand. “There are certainly bold media screens that are impressive and unrivaled. What you don’t see, however, is the complex integration and the infrastructure that connects all the different platforms. “

Justin Rankin, Gensler’s Digital Experience Design Studio Director, explained some of the technologies behind it all. You can see architectural trellises on both sides of the square. Their purpose is to create a ceiling in the outside space.

Justin Rankin

“They are also media components that choreograph with the floor lighting elements and react to the content of the media wall,” Rankin told D CEO. “Together, the trellises are very important parts to connect the overall experience. The district’s technical infrastructure connects the various media platforms with a robust content management system that can deliver content and experiences to you around the clock, either simultaneously or one-to-one. The ability to do so and the amount of content and data that makes up the run of the show broadcast in real time to over 100 million pixels every minute of the day is a feat. The technical infrastructure is one of those things that you can’t see, but that you have to appreciate because it is what makes the entire experience possible.

“And really, aside from theme parks, there aren’t many places in the United States that have such a complex of digital ecosystem,” added Rankin, “especially one that is open to the public with free entry.”

From the start, AT&T wanted the Gensler team to figure out how to style it so that the company could move, move, and adjust the space day in and day out, week in and year out, and year after year to use its.

“With the platforms we have developed, we can do this strategically, be it rotating the globe in certain directions to activate certain areas of the square, activating one of the platforms individually, or completely taking over all digital platforms at once to make one fully immersive show, ”said Rankin.

Fun fact: the campus is also operated 100 percent with wind energy.

Hand said there is a healthy amount of daily stress, discovery, and real-time problem solving regarding a design process that combines innovation and leading-edge custom technologies with an accelerated schedule. The project team traveled around the world to visit different locations, manufacturers and environments. There were many trips to England to see the globe sculpture being made and to clarify the many details and processing techniques required to achieve the intended result.

Dozens of teams of consultants worked on this endeavor. AT&T set up a staff that is distributed across areas between the district’s operations to manage the content on the digital platforms. Ultimately, the construction team gathered hundreds of trades, including dozens of people who had been on site for more than two years. Another challenge: Construction took place amid the ongoing functions of thousands of AT&T employees on and around the site.

“Corporate headquarters are often sterile office environments that successfully express a brand, but human spaces that are not very accessible in an urban district.”

Barry Hand, Gensler

“While the AT&T Discovery District was built primarily for the 6,000 local employees, it is important in establishing a bold new standard for the upgraded corporate campus in a neighborhood setting,” said Hand. “Corporate headquarters are often sterile office environments that successfully express a brand, but not very accessible, human placemaking in an urban district.”

Large public urban spaces need to be sustainable or permanent at different times, and also have to offer certain human experiences and events, Hand said. When you think of Times Square, there is an extent of that outside space that contains the energy, and then something happens in different places that draws people in and ultimately pulls them back.

“So it’s not just about going to a restaurant and sitting outside; There has to be something to watch and experience, ”he said. “North-south of Commerce through the project, there is a pedestrian zone where you can stroll, play or just relax. It is also a place where you can exchange ideas with your local neighbors, who see it as their third place where you can see and be seen. “

When you arrive from Commerce and go through the project, the place changes from a more formal and professional environment suitable for greeting business services customers at AT & T’s world headquarters. As you head south into the square and then into the beer garden, the experience, details and surfaces become more and more casual.

“That is also something unique,” said Hand. “There are very few, if any, corporate campus locations at global headquarters in an urban setting like this.”

AT & T’s bet on downtown Dallas also turned out to be a good call. Erin Scarborough, AT & T’s senior vice president of planning and administration, says she is optimistic about creating more than 500 new jobs for the city of Dallas, amid the restaurants and other concepts opening in the district.

“Despite the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, you can already see the popularity and positive effects, not only culturally, but also from a real estate point of view,” said Hand. “You see investments in adjacent residential, hotel and office developments. You will see words like “a block and a half from the Discovery District” on many of their websites. It has had an important impact on this part of the city center. Once we truly get out of the pandemic and return to full human connections, the results will be all the more noticeable. “

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