The City of Dallas undertook a project to improve visibility for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, increase the sense of safety and security, and ease wayfinding to and from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) train station. The train station is located under the convention center on the south side. The main entrance to the convention center is on the north side. This space connects pedestrians to the convention center, Omni Hotel and new development on both the north and south sides.

Schuler Shook, in collaboration with HKS Architects, the City of Dallas, and the full design team, worked to address the concerns of the city by creating a new 16-foot high sandwich wall consisting of a solid white metal panel and an white expanded metal panel separated by a one foot space along 580 feet of the underpass.

Schuler Shook selected color-changing LED lighting to illuminate the interstitial space and bleed out through the expanded metal front layer. By reusing existing electrical service and mounting positions as much as possible, Schuler Shook helped keep installations costs low to meet a tight budget. Wayfinding was enhanced by applying graphics to the backlit expanded metal surface.

The lighting for the wall is controlled on one-foot increments. A show controller was installed to allow the programming of multiple different lighting scenes. This gives the Convention Center and city the ability to customize the wall color for special holidays, city events or conventions.