The History and Significance of Dallas City Hall

Dallas City Hall’s History

The design for the Dallas City Hall was begun in 1966, and the building was completed in 1978. The architect for the facility was I.M. Pei & Partners with local Dallas associate architect Harper & Kemp. A bond program in 1967 allocated $42.4 million for the building, the land, and the plaza. Mayor Erik Jonsson wanted the building to express civic pride and to become a symbol of confidence and ambition. By the time the project opened in 1978 the cost had increased to $56.4 million, but it matched Jonsson’s vision as an expression civic pride, strength, and power.

The City Hall serves as an anchor for Dallas’ civic center complex at the southern end of downtown Dallas. It is on a twelve-acre site and the ceremonial plaza in front of it extends 423 feet to Young Street and is almost 600 feet long. The front cantilevers at a thirty-four-degree angle outward. The exterior is cast-in-place concrete. The building used a 4’-8” module for both horizontal and vertical controls. The interior lobby is one hundred feet tall, surrounded by balconies, and is crowned by a vaulted clerestory roof. The building contains 771,104 square feet.

Dallas City Hall project was originally called the Dallas Municipal Administration Center or MAC. Mayor Jonsson proposed a program called ‘Goals for Dallas’, of which AIA Dallas was a vital part. Letters were sent out to twenty-five architects, and these were short-listed to three firms: Philip Johnson; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; and I.M. Pei & Partners. Pei’s firm was ultimately selected. Pei had completed the Earth Sciences building at MIT which had been substantially paid for by Cecil Green, a colleague of Jonsson’s at Texas Instruments, and had just recently been selected for the Kennedy library in Boston. Pei’s demeanor and concerns about programmatic issues indicated a willingness to integrate the new facility into the fabric of the community. Pei, along with his associate, Theodore Musho, undertook the project with enthusiasm, even sitting as an observer of city council meetings and talking with residents. He noted that everyone he talked with expressed pride of the city and he felt that he should express this pride. Pei also encouraged the establishment of the civic plaza at the front of the building as a gesture to grander ideas, but also as a method of controlling neighboring structures, since the site, at that time, had a large number of dilapidated buildings between it and the downtown core. To counteract the cost of the additional plaza, Pei proposed a public parking garage be placed beneath the plaza. The garage can handle 1,325 cars. Eventually, after land costs had escalated, the Federal Reserve Bank purchased a parcel of the original site at a price that covered most of the land cost. As a significant component of the plaza, Pei helped obtain the Henry Moore sculpture The Dallas Piece. Other significant elements of the plaza are three eight-story high flagpoles and a large reflecting pool.

A new mayor, Wes Wise, and the City Manager, George Schrader, continued the efforts to oversee the development and construction after Jonsson decided not to run for reelection. About this same time, a fast food chain came out with a new product called the Big Mac, and it was determined that the Municipal Administration Center could no longer be called the MAC, so Schrader came up with the solution by simply calling it the Dallas City Hall, for which he was roundly applauded.

There were several aspects of the building design that were unique and required demanding tolerances. The concrete mix was carefully derived and integrated a buff color resembling local earth tones. Shrinkage-compensating cement was introduced for the first time in the United States for a large-scale project. The basic criteria for this mix has been further used by Pei’s firm and by many other firms for noteworthy projects that also utilize exposed concrete as the primary building material. In order to obtain a monolithic wall, reveals were considered undesirable, so neoprene gaskets were recessed into the formwork, requiring great precision. The ceiling coffers are based on the 56-inch grid and were constructed with fiber glass forms that were molded to exacting specifications allowing for no more than 1/16” tolerance. The procedures resulted in the coffered ceiling having a monolithic appearance. In conjunction with the finished concrete beams, clear spans of 65 feet 4 inches were obtained.

The floor system was designed to enable the integration of the electrical and communication equipment as well as air distribution, eliminating the need for ductwork concealed above suspended ceilings. The air slots were placed in an alternating pattern at the top of the coffers to assure that any relocation of partitioning systems that might be used would always allow for proper air supply and return.

The dramatic slope of the façade was established for a practical reason; there is a greater demand for office spaces on the upper floors than there is for public areas and services at the lower floors. Because of the 34 degree slope, each of the seven levels above grade are 9.5 feet wider than the one below. The ground floor is 126 feet wide while the roof is 200 feet wide. Early in the project mayor Jonsson reacted to what appeared to be a top heaviness in the building shape so three cylindrical elements were added that appear to support the structure. These elements contain stairwells and are strictly visual; they do not have any load-bearing capacity for the building. During the construction phase, ten feet was removed from the top of the sloped façade as a cost-cutting refinement, but it also resulted in more pleasing proportions.

In addition to the Henry Moore sculpture, another sculpture by Marta Pan is situated within the reflecting pool. It is a red bobbing ball that contrasts with the blue water. Landscaping materials were chosen that are indigenous to the region and include Live Oak and Red Oak trees.

While the exterior is monumental, the interior contains a main lobby that looks toward a central atrium. The clerestory, quarter-round vaulted skylights warm the space with northern light. It is welcoming and intimate, while still maintaining the sense of civic grandness.

Public acceptance of the building in Dallas was universal. Ada Louise Huxtable, the architecture critic for the New York Times, headlined her review, after seeing the building, as “One of Our Most Important Buildings” and described it as something for which “Dallas should feel nothing but pride.”

The Dallas City Hall has continued to excel at its original purpose. The exterior of the facility has remained essentially unchanged. As can be expected in a civic office facility, interior partitions have been successfully relocated multiple times, which was planned for and reflects the ability of the interior layout to be flexibly accommodated. The grand lobby and atrium remain as strong organizational features. The Flag Room at the entrance to the City Council Chambers provides a place for ceremonial events, just as it did when opened.

Bibliography

• Barna, Joel Warren, The See-Through Years, Creation and Destruction in Texas Architecture and Real Estate 1981-1991, Rice University Press, 1992
• Cannell, Michael, I.M. Pei: Mandarin of Modernism, Carol Southern Books, 1995
• Dillon, David, Dallas Architecture 1936-1986, Texas Monthly Press, 1985
• Dixon, John Morris, “Connoisseurs of Cast-in-Place: Designing in Concrete”, Progressive Architecture, September, 1974, pages 90-93
• Fuller, Larry Paul, etal., The American Institute of Architects Guide to Dallas Architecture With Regional Highlights, McGraw-Hill Construction
  Information Group, 1999
• Huxtable, Ada Louise, “One of Our Most Important Public Buildings”, New York Times, November 28, 1976
• Papademetriou, Peter, “Angling for a Civic Monument: Dallas City Hall, Dallas, TX”, Progressive Architecture, May, 1979, pages 102-105
• Pastier, John, “Bold Symbol of a City’s Image of Its Future”, AIA Journal, Mid-May, 1978, pages 112-117
• “Services / Structure Integration Relies on Forms and Concept Refinement”, Architectural Record, Mid-October, 1976, pages 20-21
• Sumner, Alan R. etal., Dallasights: An Anthology of Architecture and Open Spaces, American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter, 197
• Wikipedia, Dallas City Hall, 2015
• Wiseman, Carter, I.M. Pei: A Profile in American Architecture, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990
• Interviews with Jay Macaulay, FAIA, who was City of Dallas representative to construction process

Awards

2003: AIA Dallas 25-Year Award
2015: Texas Society of Architects 25-Year Award

Building Team

Architect

• I.M. Pei & Partners, NYC, New York

Design Team

• I.M. Pei, FAIA
• Theodore Musho
• Eason H. Leonard, FAIA
• Theodore A. Amberg
• George Woo, FAIA
• Harry Barone
• Associate Architect
• Harper & Kemp, Dallas, Texas

Structural Engineers

• Terry-Rosenlund & Co.
• Mechanical Engineers
• Gaynor & Sirmen, Inc.

General Contractor

• Robert E. McKee, Inc.

Concrete Post-Tensioning Contractor

• VSL Corp