When the city of Raleigh, N.C., envisioned its new 500,000-square-foot convention center, displaying the building's massive air-conditioning system was not part of the design strategy. But given the building's prominent downtown location with all four elevations in public view, there was no “back of house” space to conceal the HVAC equipment. Left with the mechanical infrastructure sitting on the south façade along McDowell Street where upward of 80,000 cars drive by daily, the team had to figure out a way to hide the equipment with a visually pleasing treatment. The City of Raleigh, with its rich tradition of public art, called on local design firm, Clearscapes, to explore an artistic solution that would screen the unsightly equipment and create a dynamic art feature for the convention center.
