year
2025
location
Dallas, Texas
design studio
Bjarke Ingels Group
role
Team Leader, Concept Design & Visioning
project phases
RFP, Concept
A Vision for the Future
Our firm was invited by a major developer to help shape a vision for the future expansion of their district. At the conceptual level, they were not only interested in exploring the potential density and massing needed to meet financial goals, but also in establishing a distinct identity for the development—an iconic destination they called The Forum. They envisioned a vibrant, sustainable, and inspiring place: a true gift to the city that would energize the local community and draw regional visitors to the site.
Understanding the Constraints
Before exploring massing strategies, it was essential to develop a clear understanding of the site and its surrounding constraints. The future development was planned to span three separate parcels, each divided into two smaller plots. Understanding adjacencies and connections was a critical first step, followed by an analysis of vehicular and pedestrian flows to determine how users would arrive at and move through the site. From the outset, the design approach prioritized integration with the existing pedestrian network, avoiding any sense of isolation from the surrounding district.
Distilling Design Options
Following a thorough site analysis, the team took a deeper dive into the programmatic requirements and how they would be distributed across the various plots. Given the planned density of the development, one of the key challenges was finding a way to make the project feel effortless, inviting, and approachable. Through an iterative process of massing studies and analysis, the team developed a range of options that met the programmatic needs while also establishing a foundational framework for the district’s design language and conceptual direction.
Articulating Schemes
Although the process spanned just three weeks, the design team worked efficiently to articulate the architectural vision in as much detail as possible, giving the client a clear sense of how the development could evolve over time. Visualizations and analyses were crafted to convey both the overall scale of the project and the human-scale placemaking at its core. This design work was complemented by technical studies, including preliminary planning strategies and development metrics to support early pricing and feasibility assessments.
