Reunion Tower Observation Deck Experiences

Hunt Consolidated

Dallas, TX

Reimagining an aging icon as a futuristic beacon, with a groundbreaking virtual tour and dynamic digital architecture.

The Ask

An icon of the Dallas skyline since the Seventies, Reunion Tower was ready for a refresh — the original developers had a vision to turn it into a thoroughly modern and world-class observation deck with interactive elements.

The Journey

Draw inspiration from Gensler's interior design and 360-degree view to develop concepts for two visitor-facing digital experiences. Produce all content and software and manage all physical design and fabrication, AV integration, and lighting installation on a compressed timeline.

The Solution

The "Halo" features 30 interactive displays with interactive virtual tours and real-time zoomable views of Dallas, with commissioned photography and a simulation of the tower's famous lightshows. Cloud 9 bathes visitors in glowing light and real-time digital weather simulations that reflected the current – or desired – weather conditions outside.

Two visitors to the observation deck interact with the virtual tour on the Halo, a bank of fifteen interactive displays, looking out on the panoramic landscape.

Up to 30 visitors can simultaneously explore the city of Dallas on Reunion Tower’s observation deck.

Let's start from the top...

The crown jewel of the 560-foot-tall tower is a 360-degree view of Dallas from high above the city. Our design credo was to “enhance visitors’ view.”

Experience – and explore – the view

The GeO-Deck is an observation deck where visitors can get their first taste of the wide expanse of the Texas landscape. Stimulant designed and developed a reactive and interactive experience for the GeO-Deck called the Halo, a graceful arc of 15 seamlessly-integrated displays, linked together to create a massive 60-foot-wide interactive surface.

There are two Halos on the GeO-Deck, allowing for up to 30 concurrent users. The Halos feature real-time 3D generative backgrounds that respond to both touch and movement throughout the space.

The Halo supports a variety of “apps” — interactive 3D models and photos of Dallas landmarks, zoomable interactive gigapixel photographic panoramas of the view out any window, control of HD cameras mounted outside the tower for exploring the city in detail, custom-curated maps, a unique video about the JFK assassination (which occurred hundreds of yards from the tower), and an interactive simulation of the tower’s famous light shows.

Visitors can simulate the tower's famous lightshows simply by placing different number of fingers on the screen. You'll need more than ten fingers to unlock them all!

Location-aware virtual tours

Each touchscreen is calibrated for its unique position around the circumference of the observation deck and provides an experience tailored to its particular orientation, though all content is available from any station.

A photograph of two children at the Dallas Aquarium, surrounded by sharks and rays swimming overhead. This image is part of the interactive virtual tour of the city of Dallas.

Stimulant commissioned new photographs of the city's most iconic destinations, from bridges and parks to the epic aquarium.

A virtual glass ceiling filled with light and generative art

One floor up from the GeO-Deck is Cloud 9, a futuristic bar and lounge serving Texas-themed food and cocktails from Wolfgang Puck. The “Big Sky” is a breathtaking digital installation on the ceiling, combining abstract steel clouds, dynamic LED lighting, and 17 HD screens that comprise a ceiling-wide abstract weather simulation.

A shot of the generative light sculpture on the ceiling of Cloud 9, showing the generative artwork and weather simulation integrated with the addressable LED light sculpture.
Detail image of the generative weather experience integrated into the LED light sculpture in the ceiling of Cloud 9.

Stimulant’s experience for the ceiling mounted displays on Cloud 9 treats guests to a continuously-changing surrealistic view of Dallas weather, rendered in real time.

As the simulation cycles through different times of day and various weather patterns, color changes are triggered throughout the entire ceiling. Each moment is unique and married seamlessly to the architecture and design of the space.

A fusion of architecture and digital experience design

Stimulant collaborated tightly with Gensler's design team, working to ensure that their vision for the physical environment was translated to the digital domain. We extended their design language across all of the digital experiences for a seamless, integrated look and feel.

Photograph of geometric wall sculpture backlit with LED light.
Construction photo as the interactive virtual tour gets installed.
A wide shot of the custom LED light sculpture and weather visualization on the ceiling of the Cloud 9 bar.

Congratulations to you ... for all of the work that has taken place over the past year to accomplish what the entire Dallas community will be celebrating.

Ray Hunt, Hunt Consolidated