AT&T Discovery District

[Redblock]

Here is a WBAP news report about Downtown Dallas's plans. It says Discovery District will open in May.


https://www.wbap.com/2020/02/04/downtow ... ment-plan/

[Tnexster]

Inside the 20 restaurants and bars opening at AT&T Discovery District in downtown Dallas
After multiple years of planning, some restaurants open as early as next month.

https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaur ... wn-dallas/

A sculpture called “The Globe” will have a polished exterior similar to “Cloud Gate” (better known as “The Bean”) in Chicago. But here in Dallas, “The Globe” is made of 7,000 pieces and is big enough for passersby to walk through or for musicians to perform inside it.

[Kelley USA]

^^ My favorite part of the article, AT&T Discovery District will offer FREE parking in the evenings in the employee parking garages. Gotta love that!!

[DPatel304]

^^ My favorite part of the article, AT&T Discovery District will offer FREE parking in the evenings in the employee parking garages. Gotta love that!!

Yes!! Great to know. I know Uber is doing the same thing, so I'm so glad these developments are being smarter and not just letting their parking spaces go to waste.

[TNWE]

^^ My favorite part of the article, AT&T Discovery District will offer FREE parking in the evenings in the employee parking garages. Gotta love that!!

Yes!! Great to know. I know Uber is doing the same thing, so I'm so glad these developments are being smarter and not just letting their parking spaces go to waste.

AT&T is taking the pragmatic view that Fort Worth and the Bass family did with Sundance Square - no matter how appealing your downtown entertainment district is, it's not gonna get the traffic it needs to survive unless you provide free parking for the suburbanites (which is to say anyone living outside the downtown freeway loop, lets be honest).

[Tnexster]

^True

[dd_dweller]

^^ My favorite part of the article, AT&T Discovery District will offer FREE parking in the evenings in the employee parking garages. Gotta love that!!

Yes!! Great to know. I know Uber is doing the same thing, so I'm so glad these developments are being smarter and not just letting their parking spaces go to waste.

AT&T is taking the pragmatic view that Fort Worth and the Bass family did with Sundance Square - no matter how appealing your downtown entertainment district is, it's not gonna get the traffic it needs to survive unless you provide free parking for the suburbanites (which is to say anyone living outside the downtown freeway loop, lets be honest).

I was thinking the same thing! It’s smart of them to emulate that concept.

[Jay9398]

The Beer Garden had a soft opening today, as did the AT&T Experience Store (open only to employees and family as of today). Most of the plaza is open to the public to walk through at this point.

[THRILLHO]

There’s a hint of Vegas in the middle of this project, anchored by the 104-foot-tall by 84-foot-wide “media wall” that Trampel says has a “higher resolution than Times Square.” It won’t be a place for AT&T to air advertisements for phones, however; it will use it as an art piece

This is honestly a pleasant surprise.

The cynic in me wonders how long that lasts though.

[DPatel304]

Took a walk through the (partially) open plaza today. It was super exciting seeing the area really coming together and get a better sense as to what the completed project will look like.

[THRILLHO]

I doubt they ever would, but I'd really like them to do something with One At&T Plaza. The area is nice but that wall has an unpleasant, imposing effect. A bit of artwork would go a long way.

[OrangeMike]

Took a walk through the (partially) open plaza today. It was super exciting seeing the area really coming together and get a better sense as to what the completed project will look like.

Thanks for posting your photos! This looks like it has a lot of potential!

[muncien]

I doubt they ever would, but I'd really like them to do something with One At&T Plaza. The area is nice but that wall has an unpleasant, imposing effect. A bit of artwork would go a long way.

As much of a 'blank slate' that wall is, you would think something as simple as a projector throwing up some subtle designs at night time would do the trick. That would be a ridiculously cheap approach, but if done right can look quite good.

[THRILLHO]

I doubt they ever would, but I'd really like them to do something with One At&T Plaza. The area is nice but that wall has an unpleasant, imposing effect. A bit of artwork would go a long way.

As much of a 'blank slate' that wall is, you would think something as simple as a projector throwing up some subtle designs at night time would do the trick. That would be a ridiculously cheap approach, but if done right can look quite good.

That sounds good. Yeah I'm really not looking for anything permanent, just a lil' something to minimize how overbearing that wall feels to me.

[muncien]

Many years ago, someone used to project an image on the wall of Neiman Marcus facing the parking lot behind where OBar used to be. It was quite fun. There was another wall they did the same on, but I can't seem to remember which one it was.

https://goo.gl/maps/drv36bhS7ao1NMaA9

[mrmandalay]

They're gonna show quality art/clips on that LED screen when it's officially open, right? I'd rather have ads than a power point slideshow of average wallpaper stock photos

[Tivo_Kenevil]

They're gonna show quality art/clips on that LED screen when it's officially open, right? I'd rather have ads than a power point slideshow of average wallpaper stock photos

More Ads?... Could we be more lame? The Omni is already a giant Billboard that brands the skyline with some lame corporate logo 3 days a week. Now, you want more Ads on the skyline? I'll take the art instead.

[Barrycb]

Many years ago, someone used to project an image on the wall of Neiman Marcus facing the parking lot behind where OBar used to be. It was quite fun. There was another wall they did the same on, but I can't seem to remember which one it was.

https://goo.gl/maps/drv36bhS7ao1NMaA9

OBar......good times.

[mrmandalay]

They're gonna show quality art/clips on that LED screen when it's officially open, right? I'd rather have ads than a power point slideshow of average wallpaper stock photos

More Ads?... Could we be more lame? The Omni is already a giant Billboard that brands the skyline with some lame corporate logo 3 days a week. Now, you want more Ads on the skyline? I'll take the art instead.

Of course we'd all prefer art, but i'd persoanlly take zestful ads over the underwhelming still images they've shown on the screen thus far. Like this:

ATT Discovery District.jpg

Alright, the image isn't that bad, but it'd be a thousand times better if it were moving. It's kinda boring to look at after 5 seconds. That screen needs to be lively and make people want to stick around and keep looking. Looping a slideshow of half decent images won't do the trick.

I just hope they show some more dynamic art upon completion is all

[lakewoodhobo]

They're gonna show quality art/clips on that LED screen when it's officially open, right? I'd rather have ads than a power point slideshow of average wallpaper stock photos

More Ads?... Could we be more lame? The Omni is already a giant Billboard that brands the skyline with some lame corporate logo 3 days a week. Now, you want more Ads on the skyline? I'll take the art instead.

Of course we'd all prefer art, but i'd persoanlly take zestful ads over the underwhelming still images they've shown on the screen thus far. Like this: ATT Discovery District.jpg

Alright, the image isn't that bad, but it'd be a thousand times better if it were moving. It's kinda boring to look at after 5 seconds. That screen needs to be lively and make people want to stick around and keep looking. Looping a slideshow of half decent images won't do the trick.

I just hope they show some more dynamic art upon completion is all

You bring up a good point. When the first digital screens started popping up along EMC they would show some animated clips in-between their regular ads and the city cracked down on that, saying the screens could only show still images.

We all assume that AT&T got an exemption to that rule since they plan on showing Cowboys games and movies, but what if they're only allowed to show this desktop wallpaper instead?

[cowboyeagle05]

Victory Plaza had art too with a rather sophisticated studio for managing the moving art and screens but they slowly but surely abandoned that cause of costs of repair and staffing I assume. Procuring proper art for moving screens I am sure it is a pricey enterprise. Youtube doesn't necessarily cover that need. AT&T will at least initially have access to a lot of media production for procurement. Victory Park didn't have a multi-billion income stream to throw away at public art as AT&T could.

[Tivo_Kenevil]

It's kinda boring to look at after 5 seconds.

.... And some random unanimated Ad would be better? Give me a break lol I'd rather have MS screensaver art than a corporate Ad.. it'll prolly be both unfortunately.

[cowboyeagle05]

Well, we can just be patient and wait to see it's not that far off.

[DPatel304]

UPDATE 2-27-2020: Jaxon will open on March 2.
http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/resta ... wn-dallas/

[soco]

They must be having a soft opening because friends of mine are there right now.

[DPatel304]

They must be having a soft opening because friends of mine are there right now.

Yeah, I've heard they are currently doing a soft opening. I tried to visit a week ago, but, on that particular day, they were only (soft) open during lunch hours. I'm not sure if they have expanded their soft opening hours since then, but according to the article, they will be officially open on Monday.

[Kelley USA]

Looks like they have an updated website: https://discoverydistrict.att.com/

I didn't realize they were also building a theatre "Screening Room" where they'll do advance screenings, celebrity meet-n-greets etc... for Warner Bros Media stuff. The photo shows a pretty decent size theatre. Also makes mention of the lobby being open to the public where you can watch the floor-to-ceiling multimedia content & technology (70 million pixels).

[cowboyeagle05]

To be honest I think when they started the project they had a wishlist and various things were determined after the plaza stuff began. AT&T seems like they kind of just budgeted some money for the project and knew the kind of activity they wanted and once the bigger ideas were figured out like the media wall and the food hall they probably backfilled with a list of smaller projects. They showed a lot of ground-floor retail space previously and still ended up buying the Interurban building to add the Cowboys Fit gym to the list of amenities. I wonder if the screening theater will take up an obvious space that would alternatively be leased by some retail/restaurant or if it will be tucked in behind something.

Keeping in mind doing retail besides the AT&T experience store here will still be hard. If anything we may see a Cowboys shop but I don't expect any other type of shopping retail. A cowboys shop would do some kind of good business down here though with tourists wandering around.

[THRILLHO]

I hope Warner sees the potential for filming sci-fi film/tv show scenes here. Customizing the outdoor screen or the lobby would create great backdrops.

[tamtagon]

I'll be surprised if ATT doesn't open theaters across the country. Having venues to showcase the subscription streaming content is excellent brand extension.

Making Discovery District a place for red carpet events is ideal.

[I45Tex]

That feeling when downtown H-Town already grabbed the Discovery Green name for its convention-adjacent programmed district...

http://www.discoverygreen.com

In other words, even this big a revamp --and it is big! -- is only just keeping up with the Joneses, these days, more than setting North Texas apart.

[dukemeredith]

Now having seen their plans for the "media lobby," I still wonder what they have planned for Spirit of Communication (if anything).

[LBK2013]

Now having seen their plans for the "media lobby," I still wonder what they have planned for Spirit of Communication (if anything).

THE PLAZA
There’s plenty of green space for you to enjoy here. Feel free to work in the shade of The Grove (a treelined outdoor seating area), post a selfie with Golden Boy (our iconic, century-old statue), or just chill out on the lawn.

[cowboyeagle05]

Yeah, they have left him strategically out of every single rendering. Could he be in the Food Hall so you can sit around him and take selfies from more than one level or maybe just outside? They obviously want to make a big deal about his placement cause he is a trophy for them but they have been secretive about it.

[maconahey]

I've always hoped that they'd eventually do something similar to the Victoria Memorial Fountain at Buckingham Palace or the World War I Tours American Monument with Golden Boy on top.

[THRILLHO]

I would rather have a nice fountain than the interactive sculpture they put in.

The interactive sculpture is a little underwhelming with how small it is if I'm being honest.

[KRG]

I would rather have a nice fountain than the interactive sculpture they put in.

The interactive sculpture is a little underwhelming with how small it is if I'm being honest.

Does it look small in person or you’re going off these pics? 30 feet tall seems decent, but I haven’t seen it in person yet.

[lakewoodhobo]

I would rather have a nice fountain than the interactive sculpture they put in.

The interactive sculpture is a little underwhelming with how small it is if I'm being honest.

Does it look small in person or you’re going off these pics? 30 feet tall seems decent, but I haven’t seen it in person yet.

I think it’s a nice sculpture in this context, but when you consider how they said this would be the Dallas version of The Bean, which is twice as tall, then it might seem a little underwhelming.

[Tnexster]

Driven by it a few times and I like the way it looks, sort of a 3D AT&T logo sitting out on the plaza. I haven't seen it up close yet so can't make that call. It certainly is not the Bean and am not sure that's a valid comparison.

[mjsampey]

I walked by it this past Saturday and I was surprised at how much larger it felt in person compared to the photos. I felt like it was larger than I thought it would be.

[cowboyeagle05]

Also, keep in mind sitting next to the architecture of Whitacre Tower the scaling makes it look even less impressive. The bean sits in a plaza with nothing very tall for long distances in a space designed to be solely for the pedestrian. This one is a few hundred feet from a building whose architecture style doesn't even have a ground floor scaled design and instead is a vertical plane that starts at ground level and goes straight up. Most of our 70's and 80's building had this design change from the previous architecture styles. It's why old buildings are more approachable and less like giant monoliths leaning over the pedestrian. Renaissance Tower had a similar problem then with an exterior remodel they added all the decor to the glass monolith to give the ground floor some pedestrian scale.

[Kelley USA]

The difference between this and the bean is that you can go inside this structure for an interactive sound and light show. 1500 linear feet of LED. I'm sure it'll be cool, and if it's meh it's still standing next to a massive media wall with 6K resolution!

[THRILLHO]

Does it look small in person or you’re going off these pics? 30 feet tall seems decent, but I haven’t seen it in person yet.

I stood about a foot away from it and it looked small in person.

Now that I'm thinking back on it, the 30 feet value in articles feels way off. That would have been more than five of me stacked together! Which was not the impression I felt standing next to it.
30 feet is about three stories tall right? Even based on the pictures it only looks like two at most.

I'll have to stop by again sometime, but cowboyeagle is also probably right and the tower is messing with my perception a bit. I'm sure it will look cool with the lights on too.

[Cbdallas]

If this were in the middle of Klyde Warren Park it would appear much larger but at the base of several high rises and an 18 story video wall it scales down. I think it fits great in the overall scheme of this space. Can't wait to see it all in person.

[cowboyeagle05]

I mean where is the AT&T Discovery District Bellagio style fountains with hourly shows with Warner Media video. Oh yeah, that's at the Vegas-style First Baptist Dallas down the way with shows of magic and disillusionment weekly.

[KRG]

I would rather have a nice fountain than the interactive sculpture they put in.

The interactive sculpture is a little underwhelming with how small it is if I'm being honest.

Does it look small in person or you’re going off these pics? 30 feet tall seems decent, but I haven’t seen it in person yet.

I think it’s a nice sculpture in this context, but when you consider how they said this would be the Dallas version of The Bean, which is twice as tall, then it might seem a little underwhelming.

The bean is about the same height as this. It’s just a lot longer.

[lakewoodhobo]

Does it look small in person or you’re going off these pics? 30 feet tall seems decent, but I haven’t seen it in person yet.

I think it’s a nice sculpture in this context, but when you consider how they said this would be the Dallas version of The Bean, which is twice as tall, then it might seem a little underwhelming.

The bean is about the same height as this. It’s just a lot longer.

That's correct and I retract the "twice as tall" claim. Cloud Gate is 33' and the globe sculpture is 30'. Coincidentally, the Eye at the Joule is also 30'.

[KRG]

I think it’s a nice sculpture in this context, but when you consider how they said this would be the Dallas version of The Bean, which is twice as tall, then it might seem a little underwhelming.

The bean is about the same height as this. It’s just a lot longer.

That's correct and I retract the "twice as tall" claim. Cloud Gate is 33' and the globe sculpture is 30'. Coincidentally, the Eye at the Joule is also 30'.

It is weird how similar heights can appear so different in different surroundings.

[CTroyMathis]

Like Tower @Cityplace, Reunion Tower, Museum Tower, & AMLI FP as well for larger structures.

[Roman_Patrick]

I had dinner at Jaxxon last night at the Discovery District. Very cool vibes, downtown prices (not surprised) and yummy food. Interesting menu choices but all really good. I think this is an awesome addition to downtown. Sat outside at the patio and it was incredible. everyone should give it a try.