American Airlines Center - Dallas, TX
When Dallas acquired two new sports teams in 1996, Ross Perot, Jr. (owner of the Mavericks) envisioned a new arena as the centerpiece of a central district filled with hotels, shops and restaurants, as well as residential development. He called the project Victory.
Multiple sites were considered and the land that Victory now occupies was the city’s last choice because the land at one time housed a railroad-fueling depot and rail yard, battery factories and a rendering plant, and was contaminated by underground diesel tanks. However, since no other area of Dallas was large enough for Victory, the land Perot called “the last blighted area in downtown Dallas” became the chosen location.
In its finished form, the materials used on the facility’s exterior curtain walls are brick, limestone and granite, with glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) accent pieces. Lehigh white cement can be found in the GFRC panels used around the circumference at the top of the building.
Architect: David M. Schwarz Architectural Services, Washington, DC
GFRC Producer: GFRC Cladding, Garland, TX
Photographer: Steve Hall, Hedrich Blessing
