Late next month, the Toyota Music Factory, a large entertainment hub in Irving, Texas, with 20 restaurant and entertainment concepts, will have a soft opening for Rayleigh Underground, a 38,000-sf theater with a capacity of 850 and complemented by an overhead 6,000-person concert venue operated by Live Nation.
Named after Lord Rayleigh, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who first identified acoustics and lightwave scattering, Rayleigh Underground features an 18x50-ft stage with a 36x18-ft Absen 2.9 pitch video wall on the center stage. The venue will also have multiple interactive LED screens throughout, six bars, of which two are VIP; a large ballroom/conferencen space that can accommodate three separate dining areas; and an AV Booth to MC any type of event or performance.
According to Chris Michero, co-founder and design principal with Dallas-based Emblem Interior Design, this project’s interior designer, Rayleigh Underground was created to provide a more intimate space for performers, artists, comedians, and guest speakers, along with a “submissive” Pacific Rim-flavored dining experience for guests.
Venue’s design tells stories
This project has been in the works for several years. The Toyota Music Factory opened in late 2017. A year later, following a resolution of a financial dispute between the city and developer, the Dallas News reported that the hub would add five restaurants and bars, including one called Rayleigh Underground and Violet Room that included a large stage.
Michero explains that Rayleigh Underground’s completion was impeded by several factors.
The project’s original designer “created a lot of issues [with] regard to mechanical, HVAC, space planning, etc.,” he says in an email to BD+C. “There was no real design narrative.” When Emblem was hired to replace that designer, it did a full redesign that touched every finish and material. Emblem created “storied spaces that give the guests a sense of place and a history to the interiors, which makes each experience more memorable.” Michero adds that the size of Rayleigh Underground and the multiple areas within it “tie back to our design narrative.”
Like entering a cave
One of those “narratives” fuses innovative technology with the raw aesthetic of an excavated underground amphitheater. StoneCoat’s limestone plaster cladding creates interior and exterior surfaces that project the look and feel of authentic rock, stone, and stucco.
“We wanted to create a unique and memorable guest experience,” said Kim Forsythe, owner of Restaurant Expert Management, Rayleigh Underground’s client, in a prepared statement.
Other members of Rayleigh Underground’s building team include PGP Construction (GC), Herb Goodman (CM and owner’s rep), Mark Hopper (architect), Brookfield Properties Development (the Toyota Music Factory landlord), GME (electrical), EPS (plumbing), Kosel (HVAC and controls), Hatfield (acoustical drywall assemblies), Carpentry Associates (millwork and metalwork for the bars), AllPro (A/V), Highland (fire suppression), Mitec (fire and property protection), Stonehill Industries (painting), Sigma Signs (signage), and CMC Network Solutions (data and low voltage).
Rayleigh Underground is scheduled to open officially in December.
Related Stories
Virtual Reality | Feb 27, 2023
Surfing the Metaversity: The future of online learning?
SmithGroup's tour of the Metaversity gives us insight on bringing together physical and virtual campuses to create a cohesive institution.
Arenas | Feb 14, 2023
A new communications platform aims to help sports and entertainment venues operate greener
GOAL (for Green Operations and Advanced Leadership) will give operators ways to gauge their sustainability journeys.
Giants 400 | Feb 9, 2023
New Giants 400 download: Get the complete at-a-glance 2022 Giants 400 rankings in Excel
See how your architecture, engineering, or construction firm stacks up against the nation's AEC Giants. For more than 45 years, the editors of Building Design+Construction have surveyed the largest AEC firms in the U.S./Canada to create the annual Giants 400 report. This year, a record 519 firms participated in the Giants 400 report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Reconstruction Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. building reconstruction and renovation sector
Gensler, Stantec, IPS, Alfa Tech, STO Building Group, and Turner Construction top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest reconstruction sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 1, 2023
2022 Cultural Facilities Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. cultural facilities sector
Populous, DLR Group, KPFF, Arup, and Turner Construction head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report. Building types include museums, public libraries, performing arts centers, and concert venues.
Performing Arts Centers | Dec 23, 2022
Diller Scofidio + Renfro's renovation of Dallas theater to be ‘faithful reinterpretation’ of Frank Lloyd Wright design
Diller Scofidio + Renfro recently presented plans to restore the Kalita Humphreys Theater at the Dallas Theater Center (DTC) in Dallas. Originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this theater is the only freestanding theater in Wright’s body of work.
University Buildings | Dec 22, 2022
Loyola Marymount University completes a new home for its acclaimed School of Film and Television
California’s Loyola Marymount University (LMU) has completed two new buildings for arts and media education at its Westchester campus. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the Howard B. Fitzpatrick Pavilion is the new home of the undergraduate School of Film and Television, which is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 10 film schools. Also designed by SOM, the open-air Drollinger Family Stage is an outdoor lecture and performance space.
| Oct 3, 2022
The College of the Holy Cross completes a $110 million performing arts center
In Worcester, Mass., a one-hour drive from Boston, the College of the Holy Cross has completed its $110 million Prior Performing Arts Center.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
