Design of expansion features lots of glass

Design of expansion features lots of glass Aim is to give new convention center welcoming feel

The plan for the expansion of the Indiana Convention Center is a practical one that designers needed to spiff up a bit.

So, Ratio Architects Inc. concentrated on making visitors feel comfortable by accentuating a lot of glass at the entry and around much of the exterior.

“You want them to feel like they can come in,” said Bill Browne, CEO of the Indianapolis firm. “If you present a solid wall to them, they’re not going to feel as welcome.”

Construction of the 420,000-square-foot expansion began late last year and is expected to be finished in December 2010. The project will add 254,000 square feet of exhibit space, 63,000 square feet of meeting rooms, and 100,000 square feet of socalled “pre-function space.”

The $275 million project launched after last fall’s demolition of the RCA Dome. Foundations at the northwest corner of the property are going into the ground, and steel beams are beginning to be erected.

Including Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association will have 1.2 million square feet, 65 percent more than it had in the convention center and dome.

A highlight of the expansion design is the three-story entry pavilion at Capitol Avenue and Georgia Street. The entry will provide a drop-off point for visitors arriving from the north on Capitol Avenue and eliminate the existing, inconvenient need to enter from east-bound Maryland Street.

Perhaps most important aesthetically is that Georgia Street will have anchors at both ends-the convention center to the west and Conseco Fieldhouse to the east, Brown said.

ICVA President Don Welsh called the entrance “architecturally stunning” and said it will “make a statement” on that side of downtown.

The Georgia Street entry is near the rear of the existing convention center. Butting against that building will be two stories of meeting rooms and one story of office space that will be occupied by ICVA and possibly another organization.

A corridor encased by glass at each end will run east and west to divide the meeting rooms and convention space. The hallway will feature two large skylights to further brighten the space and add character, said Lori Dunlap, deputy director of the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority.

“So one of the things we’ve worked to do is bring some daylight into the building, and I think it’s going to be pretty impressive,” she said.

A three-story glass facade will extend from the new entrance down Capitol Avenue to the south end of the facility, where 27 loading docks will line the rear of the building.

To make room for the docks, a dirt embankment that once supported railroad tracks was removed. A temporary, 1,000-foot retaining wall ultimately will be replaced by a permanent, concrete divider.

Two large exhibit halls that take up the bulk of the interior space are surrounded by smaller halls-one on the west side of the building near Missouri Street and two on the east side that extend down Capitol Avenue.

A connector on the Capitol Avenue side of the convention center will link to Lucas Oil Stadium and its convention space. The street-level tunnel will span about a quarter of a mile and duck underground at South Street, and span roughly 50 more yards before connecting to the stadium.

Construction is finished on the belowground segment. The portion at street level will be completed late next year.

The indoor, climate-controlled connector also will link the stadium to numerous downtown hotels, restaurants and Circle Centre mall via the existing network of skywalks tied to the convention center.

The $10 million walkway will be essential in drawing some of the largest events the city hosts: mega-conventions, NCAA Final Fours and the Super Bowl in 2012.

To that end, Browne said the aim of the design is to generate new interest in Indianapolis as a convention destination and help ICVA better compete with other cities.

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