The City of Kansas City

Bartle Hall Convention Center North Dock

“Convention Center Dock Disguised in Art”

The City of Kansas City hired Crawford to correct the functional problems with the north loading dock at the Bartle Hall Convention Center. Ingress and egress traffic patterns combined with the increase in truck sizes created a situation where the loading dock was nearly unusable. This caused the underutilization of nearly 200,000 square feet of exhibition hall area and created an economic shortfall for the convention center, which correlated directly to a reduced number of hotel room nights and a significant city-wide economic impact.

Crawford’s solution improved the flow of truck traffic and increased the number of vehicles capable of being on the dock at the same time, which was instrumental in regaining the usage of the underutilized and compromised exhibit space. The design also incorporates the municipal requirement of 1% for art into the overall aesthetic by involving the artist in the design process and building the art into the façade as a screen to shield the view of the dock. Vertical canopies or sails span across the top of the dock structure and act as large visual louvers to mask the view of the dock from the surrounding hotels and office buildings, while still allowing natural air movement and sunlight to filter into the dock area.

CLIENT

City of Kansas City

LOCATION

Kansas City, MO

EXPERTISE

Master Planning/ Concept Design, Convention, Architecture, Signage & Wayfinding

Designed with local artist: Suikang Zhao