AIA 10 Presidents White Paper 8: The 10 Presidents Advocate for Keeping City Hall at City Hall.
Read the opinion of 10 past and current presidents of AIA Dallas in this white paper.
WHAT COULD THAT ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE? LET'S FIND OUT.
This paper will build on two publications we have previously issued:
1. Is Dallas City Hall Inefficient and Functionally Obsolete? (10 January 2026)
2. Our CitySOUTH submission, prepared in collaboration with UTA CAPPA, in response to the city’s recent call for ideas.
In both of these, we demonstrated that Dallas City Hall is an excellent candidate for renewal, with key physical characteristics both inside and out that match the goals for a functional, cost-effective, and aspirational City Hall for Dallas citizens, staff, officials and visitors.
We also demonstrate that a renewed Dallas City Hall will fulfill a key role in revitalization of the southern side of downtown, functioning as a third Anchor Institution, along with KBH Convention Center and a future mixed-use development in lieu of the originally proposed Mavs Arena. This will ensure that there is active economic and street life at all times of the day, not just at nights and on game days.
This paper will explore further what that renewal might entail and what it might look like.
FIRST, WE BELIEVE THAT A GREAT CITY HALL SHOULD HAVE THESE KEY CHARACTERISTICS.
LOCATION AND CONTEXT
Geographically centered in the community, optimizing vibrancy in its district.
Easily accessible by multiple transportation modes with adequate convenient parking.
On-site space for future building expansion as the city grows.
COMMUNITY AMENITIES
Large civic gathering space on site (capacity 1,000+) for events, celebrations, & civil discourse.
A distinctive building that expresses the aspirations of its citizens.
Welcoming entry that balances security with an inviting presence.
Grand public lobby serving as a commons for art exhibitions, gatherings and city history displays.
Council Chamber seating 300, with pre-function space and state-of-the-art A/V and security.
PLANNING & EFFICIENCY
Large floor plates to support inter- and intra-department adjacencies, minimizing reliance on stairs and elevators.
Intuitive internal navigation with effective, attractive way-finding.
Adequate square footage to efficiently house departments that benefit from central co-location.
Open office layout fostering teamwork, transparency, and adaptability.
Enclosed conference rooms of varying sizes for private or sound-sensitive meetings
Employee amenities including food service, daycare, and a wellness/exercise center.
CITY HALL IS SURROUNDED BY 10 ACRES OF LAND, INCLUDING THE 5+ ACRE CITY HALL PLAZA ON THE NORTH.
Klyde Warren Park has been a proverbial smash hit, bringing thousands of people to downtown to dine, play, exercise, listen to music, and generally hang out. It has been a true driver of development and activity on the interface between Downtown and Uptown.
Interestingly, City Hall Plaza is almost the same area as Klyde Warren Park. Both are 5.4 acres.
But, in some ways, City Hall Plaza is more ideally situated, in that it does not have two major thoroughfares trisecting it.
City Hall Plaza, however, does not currently have the maintenance, programming, or surrounding uses that ensure success in an urban park or plaza.
WHAT COULD A REVITALIZED CITY HALL PLAZA LOOK LIKE?
We propose that City Hall Plaza be re-named, re-envisioned, re-designed, and operated as an inviting multi-use urban park, rather than the windswept concrete plaza it is today.
AND, THERE ARE 5 MORE ACRES TO THE SOUTH, KNOWN NOW AS THE “HORSESHOE" PARKING LOT.
Currently used only for parking, this city-owned land could be re-programmed for amenities and functions that would enhance the appeal of City Hall as a place to work and to do business.
WHAT ABOUT THE FUNCTION OF CITY HALL?
In our White Paper 2, we discussed the inherent advantages of City Hall in some detail, and compared it to alternate locations in existing high-rise downtown towers. We will not reiterate that detail here, but a re-cap of some of those includes:
unique, highly functional ceremonial spaces, like Council Chambers and the Flag Room
better control and security than a multi-tenant commercial building
ability to offer large, efficient floor plates, up to 60,000 sf, as desired today by sophisticated users (like AT&T or Goldman Sachs)
dedicated, secure parking garage with 2,000 spaces
HOW TO UTILIZE THOSE INHERENT ADVANTAGES?
In addition to the well-publicized lack of maintenance, Dallas City Hall has also been badly treated from a space management standpoint. Originally planned and designed and praised for flexibility, openness, and transparency, City Hall has sadly experienced a series of ill-conceived renovations over the years. Once open, connected, flexible spaces have been carved into a warren of small rooms, spaces and corridors.
The resulting mash-mash has resulted not only in an uninspiring work environment, but is also less visually appealing, less efficient, more difficult to adapt to changing department needs, and less inviting to those doing business with the city.
The smart solution is not to give up and move on, but to re-think its planning based on current and future needs, utilizing the inherent flexibility of the building.
This is not a trivial task, given the decades of poor planning, but the diagrams on the following pages offer one proposed approach to leveraging the benefits of City Hall.
THE GROUND FLOOR
At this time, visitors to City Hall are forced to walk from the south parking lot to the north side where, once there, they encounter an underwhelming vestibule, manned by police officers, more suitable for access to a minor gate at Love Field than the government center of a major American city.
Instead, we propose that the Ground Floor should be accessed from all sides, with inviting, glassy entries. Security should not look like a TSA gate, but should be configured as a welcoming visitor service counter. The west end of this level should be allocated to active, public uses — a coffee shop or restaurant with sidewalk seating, a book store, a Big D souvenir shop, or a gallery of local artists.
THE GROUND FLOOR
THE GREAT HALL
The heart of the second floor of City Hall was originally planned as the Great Hall, an open, inviting, expansive space for visitors and staff to come together on city and community business, while looking north to the dramatic Dallas skyline (which is even more dramatic today).
In the intervening years, however, the north side of the Great Hall has been carved into a warren of office space, blocking the view to the skyline, and eliminating valuable public gathering space.
We propose that the Great Hall be updated to recapture its original impact, and re-establishing it as the secure living room of the city, with warm materials, comfortable furnishings, vivid graphics, and updated technology.
THE GREAT HALL
OFFICE SPACES
The upper levels of City Hall are largely dedicated to office areas for staff and elected officials, where they actually do the work of governing Dallas. These spaces should be flexible, comfortable, efficient, and secure, and they should work not only for today, but for future needs and technologies.
The original design was planned for flexibility, with large, column-free floor plates, expansive windows, multiple internal connections, and distributed elevator banks for rapid movement up and down. Over time, ill-advised “renovations” have negated these features, blocking circulation, turning open space into mazes, and eliminating views and access to daylight.
We propose a thorough, phased renovation based on re-establishing the original values of the design, including flexibility and communication. A key aspect of that will be re-establishing internal east-west connections that have been largely blocked.
A renewed City Hall will provide the ideal conditions, desired today for modern work spaces, including column-free space, expansive views, daylighting from two directions, and flexible HVAC, power and communications distribution (as described in the next section).
Today’s office environments require a mix of workspace types to promote the teamwork and collaboration required by today’s organizations, including municipalities. These include both open and closed, collaborative and private, organized to promote optimal communication within and between city departments.
PLANNED FOR FLEXIBILITY
This is wonky stuff, to be sure, but we have examined original construction documents for City Hall and noted an astonishing level of concern for future flexibility, inherent in the design of the building.
One example — each “R” and “S” on the partial plan below represents a return and supply for the HVAC system, at less than 5 feet on center in both directions. This level of flexibility is far beyond that offered in most contemporary offices buildings.
This detail from the original construction documents further illustrates this astonishing level of flexibility built in to the design of City Hall. Again, wonky stuff, but it illustrates an integrated floor system for the office areas, one that carefully provides distribution of not only HVAC, but also electrical power and telephone.
IN SUM...
Dallas City Hall will become, when renewed as part of the CitySOUTH master plan, an integral contributing Anchor Institution in a revitalized southern CBD, ensuring a 24/7/365 active urban district.
Dallas City Hall Plaza, re-envisioned as City Hall Park, will have an impact on the south side of downtown comparable to that of Klyde Warren Park on the north side.
Dallas City Hall was originally designed for openness, transparency, and flexibility as a gathering and work place of the highest quality. Those qualities are still there, inherent in the building that we (the citizens of Dallas) own today, but they have been obscured and negated by decades of neglect, poor planning, and unfortunate decisions.
This analysis was prepared by the 10 Presidents, an informal collaboration of Dallas architects, each a Fellow of the AIA and a former President of AIA at a national, state or local level. We come together on occasions when our expertise might help the City as it considers important decisions affecting the built environment and quality of life.
We represent a diverse variety of architectural practice, from leadership of global corporate firms to sole proprietorships, from in-house municipal government to the non-profit sector. Collectively, we have over 600 years of experience in the design, planning, and execution of public and private sector projects at all scales.
The Ten Presidents (yes, there are now more than ten of us) are:
Larry Good, FAIA 1986 AIA Dallas President
Duncan Fulton, FAIA 1992 AIA Dallas President
Marcel Quimby, FAIA 1995 AIA Dallas President
Dennis Stacy, FAIA 1996 AIA Dallas President
Robert Meckfessel, FAIA 2000 AIA Dallas President
Myriam Camargo, FAIA 2001 AIA Dallas President
Ted Kollaja, FAIA 2003 AIA Dallas President
Craig Raynolds, FAIA 2004 AIA Dallas President + 2012 TxA President
Jeff Potter, FAIA 2004 TxA President + 2012 AIA National President
Tipton Housewright, FAIA 2005 AIA Dallas President
Betsy del Monte, FAIA 2007 AIA Dallas President
Lisa Lamkin, FAIA 2014 AIA Dallas President
Bob Bullis, FAIA 2015 AIA Dallas President
Michael Malone, FAIA 2015 TxA President Zaida Basora, FAIA 2016 AIA Dallas President
with consultation from Anne Kniffen, RID IIDA LEED AP ID+C
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