A Pre-Existing Condition Part Two: Dallas

Last week I showed you Part One of this two-city event designed by AOO Events that featured the same design directives, but in very different hotel ballrooms. Here is how we translated them to meet the goals in the Dallas ballroom, which was smaller and had much lower ceilings.

A palette of copper and teal
As it was in Denver, the color palette was copper and teal. However, in this ballroom we didn't have the luxury of intelligent lighting. With conventional lighting fixtures, attaining a true copper is more difficult so we opted for an amber tone.

Adding texture 
We still wanted to add texture with lighting on the wall. Working with the conventional lighting instruments available, I picked a birch branch breakup pattern and double gelled the teal to get this color.

Creating focal points
In the larger ballroom in Denver we had two focal points -- a central bar and the stage. In this smaller ballroom a central bar would have eaten up too much space. So our focal point here was the stage. The birch branches were still part of that design and were placed on a center credenza (pictured above).

Dealing with the unexpected
This time the client requested a large screen in the room. To integrate it into the design, we placed it over the bar and built around it using both the birch branch break-up pattern and the real thing on either side of the screen as framing. A custom shelf unit filled with birch bark pillar candles helped finish the vignette.

Using what you've got
This room has a bank of windows on one side dressed with sheer white drapes. This provided another empty canvas for me where more golden tones could be introduced into the design. This was done simply with up lights positioned between the window and the drapes.

Sheer genius
Not only was the space larger in Denver, but the ceilings were much higher. I made that space a little more intimate by added sheer fabric panels to create smaller lounge areas. Doing that in Dallas wouldn't have worked. It would have just closed the space in more. So those sheer fabric panels were re-purposed here to make a stage treatment Placing them at different heights created an interesting backdrop and by positioning them at different depths we were also able to hide lighting instruments between them.

Color blocking
Using the colors of the event I blocked the warmer and more inviting color in the foyer entrance that lead to the ballroom. Originally, I had lighted this with the teal in the foyer thinking that the amber tone would be better on the outside to draw one in, but it actually felt colder and less welcoming. A simple shift of colors changed that.

Mirrors...redux!
In Denver I used the existing mirrors as well. This image underlines why I love using them! For no money at all you have an interesting element that frames and reflects other design elements, adding depth and a sense of play.