THANKSGIVING TOWER LOBBY/PLAZA RENEWAL
THANKSGIVING SQUARE, DALLAS, TEXAS
AREA: 57,626 SF total; 21,872 SF Interior and 35,764 SF Exterior
PROGRAM: REDESIGNed LOBBIES, ELEVATORS, PLAZAS, AND CORE AND SHELL FOR NEW RETAIL
DURATION: FALL 2015–SPRING 2017
CONSTRUCTION COST: $12,000,000
DESIGN ARCHITECT: ARCHITECTURE OPERATIONS D.P.C., REID FREEMAN aia, principal
ARTIST / designer: JAMES CARPENTER DESIGN ASSociates
ARCHITECT OF RECORD: GENSLER, DALLAS
Architecture Operations D.P.C. won an invited competition to develop and create a renewed identity for Dallas’ Thanksgiving Tower. The redesign brings a clean modernist approach back to the existing commercial tower’s public spaces and strips away previous unsympathetic changes done in the late 1980s. The renewal is part of the capital improvement effort for a new building owner and an investment revitalizing Dallas’ Central Business District.
Existing heavily tinted and reflective glazing at the lobby and retail tenant areas was replaced with insulated low iron glass to bring more natural light to the lobby and to provide strong visual connections between the north and south lobbies and their exterior plazas. At night, diffused light emitting elements at the building core and elevator lobbies provide soft warm light to give the building an active night presence from the street. Light-responsive interior surfaces and large-scale art installations link the lobby spaces to the active streetscape. Changes made to the north and south exterior plaza surfaces and design as well as the building entries were done to improve water drainage, accessibility, and satisfy code compliance.
