The AC Hotel and Residence Inn at the Galleria is a keynote structure for the $4-billion redevelopment master plan for Dallas Midtown. Prominently located at the corner of a 5-acre central park, the dual-branded hotel features 256 guest rooms, 10,000 SF of meeting facilities, and 10,000 SF of combined lounge, corner bar, study, library, and dining areas.
The project explores design possibilities to propose a new direction for the architecture of Texas. The design merges the Spanish architectural sensibility of AC Hotels with the spirit and energy of Dallas's urbanism. Simply conceived as a lightweight latticework that levitates above the hotel's public space, the facade's faceted planes evolve under the diffusive north light throughout the day along with the color and light cast from the sky. The lattice serves up an architectural veil that clads the transparent lobby and lounge between the public pedestrian realm and the lush, bamboo-lined pool courtyard. It splays down to the street level, engaging with passing pedestrians, and their dogs, to encourage interaction with the architecture along the interstitial exterior space between it and the lobby. The design relies on a precisely fabricated metal rainscreen cladding system which requires a high degree of manual fabrication skills. Careful attention was given to the depth and angle of each piece as a singular element and their intricate transitions with the rainscreen tile panels, progressing the material language across the facade.
Layered ceiling planes in the public space bring warmth to the expansive “Dallas Midtown's Living Room” and suggestively subdivide the zones of social interaction. In daytime, the lobby and lounge are one contiguous limpid space that feels as an extension of the streetscape and the courtyard. During the evening, it's a warm-cast voluminous space with views out to the urban night scene and the internal pool party.
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