Linbeck, McCarthy Land Starring Roles in Dallas' New Performing Arts Center

The new $275 performing arts center will be the main-stage production facility for numerous arts and entertainment organizations serving Dallas and a draw for first-run Broadway productions and world-renowned performers.

Charles and Dee Wyly Theatre

rendering courtesy the Office for Metropolitan Architecture of Rotterdam and New York

Finalists Announced for Dallas Center for Performing Arts

The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation announced the selection of two Texas-based firms as the construction management teams for the center's Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House and the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre. Linbeck was chosen as construction manager for the Winspear Opera House and McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. as the construction manager for the Wyly Theatre.

The two firms were awarded the work for the pre-construction design phase based on their experience with cultural and performing arts buildings, key personnel with related experience and demonstrated examples of successful pre-construction services.

"We are excited to add Linbeck and McCarthy to the team of extraordinary professionals we have assembled to design and construct one of the world's finest performing arts centers," said Bob Kaminski, charter member of the foundation's board of directors and chair of the Construction Management Committee.

Linbeck and McCarthy will join the design teams for the Winspear Opera House and Wyly Theatre throughout the pre-construction design phase and will provide detailed construction cost projections and address venue constructability issues.

The $275 million center is scheduled to break ground next year. When it opens in 2009, it will complete the eastern terminus of the Dallas Arts District.

The Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House will be constructed to the northeast of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and on the north side of the Grand Plaza. The opera house, with seating for 2,200, will be engineered specifically for performances of opera and musical theater, with its stages designed and equipped with appropriate flooring for performances of ballet and other forms of dance.

The center's Charles and Dee Wyly Theatre will be designed to accommodate thrust, proscenium and arena stages, depending on individual production requirements, and will seat approximately 600. The theater will be engineered with state-of-the-art technology supporting classical and experimental drama, as well as dance and music productions.

A list of architecture and urban planning firms with worldwide experience makes up the design team. Fosters and Partners of London is the design architect for the Winspear Opera House. The Office for Metropolitan Architecture of Rotterdam and New York is the design architect for the multiform theater.

The architect of record, Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc. of Houston, will execute primary designs and drawings for OMA and will handle daily management of the project. The project's landscape architect of record, SmithGroup JJR of Chicago, will lead a team that includes landscape architect Michel Desvigne of Paris and Kevin W. Sloan of Dallas.

Last August, the foundation announced it had selected Magnusson Klemencic Associates of Seattle as the project's structural engineer of record and Cosentini Associates of New York in a collaboration with Transsolar Energietechnik of Stuttgart, Germany, as the MEP engineer of record.

Beck Awarded New Projects

The Beck Group of Dallas has recently been awarded several new construction projects in Texas.

The firm was selected by Simon Property Group Inc, one of America's largest mall developers, to construct The Domain, a $65 million retail center in Austin. Beck is currently providing architect-of-record and construction services for the Firewheel Town Center in Garland, another Simon property.

The Beck Group has also been selected to construct the Criswell Center at the First Baptist Church in Dallas. The 200,000-sq.-ft. multipurpose facility will be adjacent to an existing sanctuary.

Kinsman Ventures Breaks Ground in Plano

Kinsman Ventures, developer of commercial office building sites and professional office campuses, recently announced it broke ground on the first of five luxury office suites at the Chapel Hill II development in Plano. The 6,000-sq.-ft. building is the first to be constructed in the 35,167-sq.-ft. development and is scheduled for completion in February.

The Chapel Hill II development is a five-building single-story general and medical office campus.

Cadence McShane Completes Facility for Liberty Property Trust

Cadence McShane Corp. recently announced that the firm completed a new 65,650-sq.-ft. build-to-suit facility on behalf of Liberty Property Trust. The new distribution center facility was completed for the TJX Companies Inc., owner of clothing retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.

The build-to-suit was constructed of painted tilt-wall panels accented by colored reveals and a glass entry vestibule. More than 64,000 sq. ft. is dedicated to warehouse and shipping with a small office component.

Cadence McShane constructed a 25 ft. clear height within the facility together with 40 external truck docks to facilitate efficient distribution operations. The design, provided by architect Seeberger & Associates LP of Houston, incorporated future expansion capabilities up to 21,000 sq. ft.

Liberty Property Trust maintains an extensive portfolio within the Houston market, including nine warehouse/distribution facilities totaling 1.3 million sq. ft.