Wyly Theater

Dee & Charles Wyly Theatre

Considered as the most intelligently conceived performance center in the world, this structure located in Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas serves both traditional and experimental theater, performance art, musical performance, and more. Designed by REX Architecture firm and Rem Koolhaus , the space is rigged with the conveyors and derricks of a steel mill factory, enabling rapid transformation as various art forms require.

Zahner was hired to develop a solution for the exterior surface surrounding the building. Several Options were discussed, including cladding the structure in a perforated panel system. Architects opted for a more unconventional facade, desiring a look that emulates the billowed fabric of a closed curtain.

Zahner Design Assist Group designed, engineered and produced the extruded anodized aluminum facade with the Argentinian firm, Dante Tisi and the facade consultants at Front in New York. The mockup is pictured below.

Wyly Mockup Photograph

Because each Zahner project is highly unique, the mockup serves as a critical function in each design.  Mockups reveal both what works, and what doesn't work, and also gives the other contractors an understanding of how to best assemble and install the final components.

Below, installers integrate the signage systems for the Wyly Theatre as construction neared completion in 2009. The following photos show details of the round perforations in the aluminum column which create this signage. These perforations are backed by a lighting fixture, which lights up to reveal the building's namesake, a line of text which lights up to read "Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre" down the midsection of the building.

Wyly theater at night

Wyly theater

Wyly theater

Wyly theater

Looking up at the Wyly

Wyly theater at night

Wyly theater at night

This new Theatre is part of a revitalization of the Dallas Arts District, and is adjacent to Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, another Zahner project.

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