Case Study

HALL Arts DevelopmentNew HALL Arts Hotel and Residences Brings Authentic Live, Work, Play Destination to Dallas Art District

Dallas, Texas

The Challenge

HALL Arts is a mixed-use, multi-phased destination development located in the heart of the Dallas Arts District — a vibrant medley of culture, visual and performing arts, day and nightlife.  

Phase I of the project opened in 2016 and includes the KPMG Office Plaza at HALL Arts; the adjacent half-acre HALL Texas Sculpture Walk; three premier restaurants and the seven-level underground HALL Arts parking structure.

The HALL Arts Hotel, a full-service luxury boutique hotel, welcomes its first guests in December 2019. HALL Arts Residences, an exclusive residential high-rise, opens spring 2020.

HKS was challenged to harmonize each component of the development to create a welcoming and culturally rich downtown Dallas experience, beckoning residents and visitors alike to explore

The Design Solution

The challenging 12-foot elevation change over the existing parking structure is one of the site’s most celebrated assets. The solution is a rhythmic half-acre of landscaped walkways and public realms in which visitors engage with world-class art sculptures, bars, restaurants and local street life. The Texas Sculpture Walk serves as a civic gesture bridging the Arts District and Central Business District in downtown Dallas.

Designed with minimalism and sophistication, transparent glass walls and naturally lit art-filled hallways encourage pedestrian circulation while offering unique vantage points to the vibrant cultural hub outside, including world-renowned music halls and the 19th-century Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The project has four front doors, one along each axis, that seek to erase the boundaries between the indoor and outdoor realms. From the activated streets into the lobbies and restaurants, guests connect with the varied environments via Flora Street, Leonard Street, Ross Avenue, and the Texas Sculpture Walk. A rooftop amphitheater-style urban garden forms a crescendo of pedestrian activity leading up to an open event terrace with ideal views of the Meyerson Symphony Center, Winspear Opera House and the unique urban landscape of Flora Street.

The exterior of the hotel displays artful custom wall panels with raised vertical lines designed to be a play on light. Sunlight illuminates the lines during the day, but integrated backlighting reverses the pattern at night, obscuring the lines and brightening the gaps.

The hotel — a boutique retreat that both reflects and complements the soul of the Arts District — features design-forward spaces, including two distinctive culinary restaurants, 6,000 square feet (560 square meters) of private event space, as well as striking views of downtown and an extensive in-house art collection.

Standing at 28 stories, the luxury residential tower is designed to give homeowners the highest level of comfort and health, with infrastructure and amenities focused on soothing the mind and body. Features include a raised flooring system to promote design flexibility and energy efficiency, renewable building materials and programs that promote healthy nutrition and fitness.

All three buildings are pursuing LEED Gold Certification.

The Design Impact

HALL Arts is ideally situated within the largest urban arts district in the country, offering a teeming hub of culture, business and innovation. It represents placemaking at its finest: a vibrant place for people to live, work and play that activates the district for future development. 

The project energizes the Dallas Arts District with interconnective and communal spaces at street level and throughout the height of the project, activated by restaurants, bars, terraces, and nightlife brings new life to the cultural hub.

From the curated art collections that fill the interiors to the connecting Texas Sculpture Walk, a new story unfolds in the city of Dallas. Throughout the development, guests and residents alike experience a broad range of hand selected art pieces enhance and uphold the progressive architectural and artistic vision for the Dallas Arts District with sophisticated and elegant aesthetics that unite home, commerce and culture. 

The design prioritizes human health and well-being with the built environment through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind will leave a lasting impact on the guests and community.  In addition to all three buildings obtaining LEED Gold certification, the Hall Arts Luxury Residential Tower is the first residential development in Texas to register for WELL Multifamily Certification. 

Featured in the IWBI Asia member directory. 

Project Features

  • 2.7-acre site
  • 450,000-square-foot (41,800-square-meter) office tower
  • 20,000 square feet (1,850 square meters) of upscale and fast/casual dining venues at street level
  • 278,000-square-foot (25,800-square-meter), 28-story luxury residential building with 53 units
  • 160,000-square-foot (14,800-square-meters) luxury hotel with 183 keys
  • 4,000-square-foot (371-square-meter) hotel lounge and urban garden
  • 25,000-square-foot (2,300-square-meter) Texas Sculpture Walk

Awards

  • 2015 Dallas Business Journal Topping Out Award

It will be one of the coolest buildings in town and HKS is doing that.

Craig Hall

Chairman and Founder, HALL Group