Case Study · The Sinclair (formerly Energy Plaza) · 1601 Bryan Street

The value of this conversion lives almost entirely at the base of the building. Everything that makes the tower newly desirable, the separate residential and office entrances, the opened 30 foot lobbies, the gated motor court, and the garden terrace carved out of what had been hard plaza, did not exist yet and could not be photographed. Leasing conversations for both the residential and the office side had to begin long before the scaffolding came down, and the two audiences needed to see two different buildings that happen to share an address.

We modeled the reworked base as one continuous environment so the stone, bronze, glazing, and planting read the same whether you enter from the plaza, the motor court, or the street. From it we composed the dusk plaza pavilion, the residential arrival with its fountain and shade canopy, the gated resident drive against the restored tower facade, the residential lobby with its concierge desk, the office lobby with the feature stair and new curtain wall, and the resident lounge opening onto the garden terrace. Daylight and materials stay consistent across the set, so the two lobbies clearly belong to one building without collapsing the distinction between the two front doors.

The team had a coordinated image set for a landmark conversion well ahead of reopening, covering both the residential and office stories from the same geometry. The Sinclair opened in 2024 after a redevelopment reported at roughly $300 million and went on to take an ENR Texas and Louisiana Best Projects Award of Merit for renovation and restoration.

The Sinclair is part of our Dallas architectural rendering work for conversions, mixed-use, and downtown repositioning.