The Dallas Opera Company is renowned for its dedication to excellence and innovation in lyric theatre and that commitment was reflected in the brief for its new home in Dallas' Arts District. Representing a radical rethink of the traditional operatic experience, the design aimed to address the question: 'What is the nature of the opera house in the twenty-first century?' The ambition was to create a building that would not only play a central role in the cultural life of Dallas, but could become a destination in its own right for a non-opera-going public, with a café, restaurant and bookshop that would be accessible throughout the day.