More Than an Office: Inside Dallas’ AT&T Discovery District

BY MIA GOULART

The AT&T Discovery District is not your average corporate headquarters. That much is clear when you step foot onto the 6.5-acre campus in Downtown Dallas.

The Origin Story

In 2013, AT&T was searching for a new home for its global office and enlisted the help of powerhouse global architecture and design firm Gensler to lead the charge. With about 20 potential addresses in the mix, the team eventually narrowed it down to just two, and after much deliberation, former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson decided to go all-in on revamping the outdated corporate campus.

But this would be no easy feat. The original campus was stiffly corporate and surrounded by overgrown oak trees and needed a complete makeover if the company was going to stay competitive. Gensler was up for the challenge and began piecing together a macro picture of the potential district. It was an opportunity to create a uniquely branded experience, and AT&T was eager to see what Gensler could create.

Fast forward a bit, and Gensler assembled a killer team to bring the new amenitized workspace to life. AT&T loved what they saw and gave the green light to move forward, and as the project expanded, so did the budget.

According to Barry Hand, Principal and Regional Cities + Urban Design Practice Area Leader at Gensler, the focus shifted toward creating a branded experience within the workplace. And though AT&T already owned the surrounding property, the desired renovation would require repositioning and converting some of the existing office space into retail and dining.

“We knew we needed to unify all four blocks to create one walkable pedestrian environment with architectural amenities that could be utilized by their employees,” Hand said.

But just as things were picking up steam, a big change was in store. In 2018, AT&T acquired Time Warner and became WarnerMedia, moving the needle of its brand from a telecommunication company to content provider—and the project’s design had to evolve to reflect the new direction. It was an opportunity for AT&T to showcase its brand in a new, much bigger way.

Stephenson wanted to create something, not just for his own employees, but for the people of Dallas, and from there, the AT&T Discovery District was born.

The Vision

During the initial development process, AT&T and Gensler visited several toptier corporate campuses across the United States, all of which had stringent security measures in place. Roger Ferris, Head of Creative & Digital Experience for the AT&T Discovery District, recalled that the team had to go through two to three rounds of security clearance just to enter, and although safety is crucial for any project, AT&T and Gensler opted to design the Discovery District with a distinctive, community-centered approach, in line with the CEO’s vision.

“He [Stephenson] completely turned the paradigm of the standard office campus on its head in making it accessible by the public,” Ferris said, “and that is what sets us apart.”

The Digital Experience

For the digital experience design, Gensler brought Justin Rankin, Regional DXD Practice Area Leader and Studio Director, to lead the team in strategically integrating technology throughout the campus in a prime example of modern media architecture.

Ferris said Rankin and the DXD team were instrumental in establishing AT&T’s canvas for creative expression, and Rankin’s involvement in the project marked his largest undertaking to date. In partnership with others from Gensler, AT&T, and team of digital technologists, a wholistic experience strategy was created that left nothing to chance to determine how best to engage not only company employees, but also the broader community.

Hand likened the need for unique content to tools in a toolbelt, and Gensler and AT&T devoted countless hours of research and creative concepting to determine the key platforms that would bring this vision to life, including a 30-foot rotating sculpture (The Globe) and a 104-foot tall media wall on which you’ll find placemaking pieces at the top of every hour, each day showcasing dynamic real-time immersive digital art that changes with the season, time of day and weather, 24/7/365. Plus, the system is easily customizable, ensuring the projected content remains relevant and engaging no matter what’s happening at any given moment.

Inside the headquarters lobby a high-resolution wall complements a lowresolution white “veil” that covers the ceiling and adjacent walls of the second-floor mezzanine, creating a seamless canvas that can be used to project immersive scenes, such as an ocean with life-size silhouettes of blue whales swimming overhead. But the most impressive aspect of all is perhaps one not visible, but the network connecting each platform across 300,000 square feet in delivering content to over 125 million LED pixels in real time.

The interconnectedness of every surface and speaker, both low- and highresolution, is an extraordinary feat, given that there are over 62 speakers, 23 audio zones and over 70 million pixels in the lobby alone. The media playback ecosystem is one of the most sophisticated public programmable systems outside of a theme park or sports stadium, so to have it at AT&T’s headquarters for public enjoyment is special, to say the least.

“Solidifying the technical architecture meant strategic thinking and solid partnership with many teams,” Rankin said. “Documentation of standard operating procedure was needed so that we could hand off our knowledge of these systems to others so that they could then operate them efficiently.”

What’s more, the last nine months of the design process coincided with COVID-19, which posed a challenge for the teams to collaborate and bring the people-centric project to fruition without physically being together.

To ease the challenge, Rankin and the DXD team developed a 3D software which allowed them to upload content being concepted to see how it cascaded from each element and to visualize it before production. Such technology has remained beneficial.

“We still use that system,” Rankin said. “It’s beyond the standard workflow of architecture, and we very much included architecture in designing the tool itself.”

And as AT&T continues to ideate new concepts, Gensler remains a valuable partner in transforming them into reality and adding them to the project’s content library, which currently boasts over 40 hours of original theming created exclusively for the Discovery District, making it the only project in the world with such a large collection of non-advertising content.

“It’s the most impressive project anyone on my team has been a part of,” Rankin said, “and probably ever will be.”

The Globe

The AT&T Discovery District is not just a collection of buildings and outdoor spaces, but a carefully curated work of art designed as an immersive experience for visitors for all to enjoy. The media ecosystem throughout the plaza sets the mood, enveloping all who pass through in a captivating digital display. The goal, after all, was to create a special place for the public to enjoy, and the campus’ design certainly reflects that.

But there is one element that helps to unify the rest: The Globe, a 30-foot spherical adaption of the AT&T logo at the center of the plaza.

The design process was entirely digital, constructed as a 3D model before being transferred to the fabricator who then rolled 15 aluminum profile “ribs” to create triple compound curves, a feat that had never been done before. The ribs were then cast in Europe and bent in the UK, where the entire structure was built before being disassembled and transported to the U.S. for final assembly on site.

The Globe’s mirrored shell reflects the surrounding area, yet it’s what’s inside that makes it truly unique. Embedded with six motion sensors and over 300,000 high-brightness color LEDs, Gensler’s design prompts different content modes with varying energy levels that become more animated as visitors spend more time inside, with 20 speakers and six subwoofers delivering an immersive audio experience created in collaboration with Made Music Studio. And because The Globe rotates on its axis, Ferris said it can be turned to face the street for a parade or performance, all making it one of the most popular selfie spots in Downtown Dallas.

A Source of Pride

Every element of the AT&T Discovery District, like The Globe, was meticulously crafted with purpose and intention. What started with modest aspirations has transformed into the hub of Dallas’ CBD, offering a mix of retail, dining options and outdoor space, which has created a sense of pride for both AT&T and the City of Dallas, with surrounding businesses benefitting from the volume of people transiting through the area each day.

Not only does the Discovery District serve as a venue for community events, like watch parties for local sports teams, but it stands as a testament to the importance of sustainability, as AT&T invested in wind energy to power the entire campus. But while some might see it as a hub for technology, art and culture, its true value lies in bringing people together.

Community is ever so important, and the Discovery District will remain a beacon of hope and connection for all who wish to embrace it.