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PROJECT Joule Hotel, Dallas
CLIENT Headington Companies; Juno Development
ARCHITECT ARCHITEXAS
DESIGN TEAM Craig Melde; Gary Skotnicki; Eduardo Churquina; Mark Scruggs; Melissa Paul; Elizabeth Webber Cummings; J.Brandon Burris; Michael Karnowski
CONTRACTOR Balfour Beatty Construction
CONSULTANTS Tihany Design (interiors); Jaster-Quintanilla, Dallas (structural); Goetting & Associates (MEP); Halff Associates (civil); Pelton Marsh Kinsella (acoustical); Counsilman-Hunsaker (pool); Craig Roberts Associates (interior lighting); Focus Lighting (interior lighting); Lindsley Architectural Lighting (exterior lighting); Persohn/Hahn Associates (elevator); IntroSpec (building envelope); Armstrong Berger Landscape Architects (landscape); Juno Development (developer)
PHOTOGRAPHER Eric Laignel, ARCHITEXAS

The 16-story Dallas National Bank was a significant addition to Dallas’ burgeoning skyline in 1927. Its opening made headlines and its grandeur conveyed the prosperity and ambitions of both the young bank and the city around it. By the end of the century, however, its decrepit state and the indignities it had suffered also spoke volumes—not only about the building, but also about the state of Dallas’ urban core. Since then the fortunes of both have taken a happy turn for the better as exemplifi ed in the building’s reincarnation as the Joule Hotel.

The original building, by Coburn Smith & Evans (successor to C.D. Hill’s storied firm), was situated on a diminutive 53-foot lot, the combination of which gave it a striking presence and form—that of a towering aerie. Designed in a Gothic Revival style, it primarily displayed tendencies, but not exclusively so. The overall form and proportion were Gothic, as were the finials and facade’s engaged piers that amplified its verticality, yet the massive round entry arch and solidity of the base and walls skewed toward Romanesque. Substantive materials – such as carved Indiana limestone, granite, terra cotta, bronze, and cast iron – imparted a distinct impression of permanence and prosperity.

But by 2003 very little remained of either the Dallas National Bank building or the city’s home-grown financial institutions. Each was a shell of what once had been; the former literally, the latter fi guratively. For the building, the greatest aff ront occurred in the 1950s when the entire ornamental three-story stone base was shorn from the building and replaced with fl at granite and metal storefront. This loss included a robustly detailed Gothic stone balcony that visually anchored the building base. Inside, the entire building was gutted, with intricately crafted artisanal plaster, marble wainscoting, and carved wood paneling simply tossed aside, leaving only the Tennessee marble lobby fl oor. Outside, the decorative stone ornamentation on the upper three fl oors remained intact, as did the building’s distinctive skyline silhouette—presumably because both were beyond either the reach, or scope, of the wrecking crew.

In 2003, ARCHITEXAS and Tihany Design, a New York hospitality firm, were asked to convert what remained at 1530 Main Street into a luxury hotel that would be a unique cosmopolitan destination with a distinctive brand. Two crucial things soon became apparent: 1) there was more program than building, and 2) even though the lower fl oors’ grand chambers were long gone, their residual spaces were still impressively scaled and possessed wonderful proximity to the street. The responses to both would indelibly shape the impending adaptive re-use in fortuitous ways.

The owner remedied the fi rst by purchasing, then demolishing, the adjacent undistinguished building allowing additional space to accommodate the program. The design team then cleverly matched the character of the existing spaces (particularly those having special qualities) with the capacity of the various program elements to capitalize on them—thereby allowing each to enhance the other. In particular, the lobby, ballroom, meeting center, and other public areas settled into the “money” spaces (literally and fi guratively) while most of the guest rooms were located in what had been the offi ce fl oors above them, and the penthouse (still possessing its original ornamental stone work) once again became, well, a penthouse. A 10-story addition on the adjacent property accommodated specialized operational and support functions not easily housed in the original building, along with some additional guest rooms. While the expansion is clearly subordinate to the original structure, it too used its program elements to maximum effect as evidenced by the wonderful street-level restaurant and stunning rooftop pool terrace.

Completed for an approximate construction cost of $52 million, the two buildings incorporate a total of 146,000 square feet. Funding for the project and associated street improvements derived in part through federal tax credits and City of Dallas tax increment financing. The architects took the lead role in procuring city financing and shepherding the project through local, state, and national review processes.

Using a recently discovered set of the original drawings, the exterior of the original building was faithfully restored—including rebuilding the beautifully crafted stone base that had been cleaved away in the 1950s. Calling on specialty craftsmen throughout the country, ARCHITEXAS helped contractor Balfour Beatty assemble a team that could recreate what had been lost. The building base is carved limestone, including a massive entry arch embellished with a rope motif at the edges, with cast stone being used on the upper levels. The ground-floor window elements of cast bronze mullions, muntins, doors, and grilles were faithfully recreated. Most interesting is the front facade element that serves as a door to the über-exclusive nightclub inhabiting the basement. What by day appears to be a simple tripartite window with stone wainscot, by night becomes a massive pivoting door, thereby accommodating a completely new function congruent with its National Register status while preserving crucial tax credits.

The adjacent addition is of the same general material palette, but more restrained and much more contemporary in attitude—of which it nonetheless has plenty. At the street level, this takes the form of a lively restaurant patio that spills into and energizes the streetscape in a decidedly urban gesture. However, the most memorable gesture happens 10 stories above, where the rooftop pool cantilevers over the street—its clear polymer end creating a jaunty and daring composition.

Inside, the historical motifs recede and the vibe becomes decidedly current and cosmopolitan. Stone and dark woods abound, softened with bold area rugs and rich leather club chairs yielding a warm, welcoming environment. A wonderfully minimalist wine vault sculpted from glass and stainless steel provides a sparkling counterpoint which also forms the link to the Charlie Palmer restaurant where the general lobby palette continues. Lighting design and color are used effectively throughout, sometimes exuberantly so, but in ways that are captivating and appropriate. The guest rooms adopt a more serene posture, both in terms of color and materials, with the Italian casework being a signature feature throughout.

The building at 1530 Main has once again captured Dallas’ attention—this time as the Joule Hotel. In doing so, it provides a useful reminder that both buildings and cities have the capacity to rejuvenate themselves by evolving in exciting and significant ways.

--Duncan T. Fulton III, FAIA, is co-founder and managing principal of Good Fulton & Farrell in Dallas.