Phone
(903) 583-7500
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Project Overview
Sundance Square Pavilion is a public and private event venue in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, designed to accommodate weddings, corporate functions, exhibitions, cultural gatherings, community festivals, and other events. Because the pavilion serves many different uses, its perimeter needed to adapt to the event rather than permanently separate the interior from Sundance Square Plaza.
Renlita provided 12 custom Hinge vertical lift door systems, formerly the S-2000 Hingeway, around the pavilion. Each motorized counterweight system measures approximately 6’-2 3/4” wide by 13’-8 1/8” tall and incorporates 1” Low-E insulated glass. Together, the glazed openings allow substantial portions of the pavilion to open directly to the surrounding plaza while maintaining an enclosed event space when needed.
The result is a venue whose exterior openings become part of its space-planning strategy. Rather than limiting events to a fixed interior footprint, the Hinge systems allow Sundance Square Pavilion to change its relationship with the surrounding public space according to the event, weather, and operating requirements.
The Challenge
Sundance Square Pavilion needed to accommodate events with very different requirements without sacrificing interior event space or its connection to the surrounding plaza. A wedding or corporate function may require an enclosed venue, while a festival or community gathering can benefit from direct circulation between the pavilion and the public space outside.
Creating that flexibility across numerous tall glazed openings made the movement of the doors particularly important. Conventional overhead doors require tracks extending into the interior, while large hydraulic doors introduce hydraulic equipment, operational noise, and potential fluid leaks. Repeating either approach around a public event venue could interfere with usable space, architectural sightlines, or the experience inside the pavilion.
The project therefore required a glazed opening system capable of creating multiple large connections to Sundance Square Plaza while concentrating the operating equipment at the building perimeter and preserving usable event space inside.
The Solution
Renlita engineered 12 custom Hinge vertical lift systems for Sundance Square Pavilion. Each Hinge uses two glazed panels that fold together as the system rises, creating a large vertical opening without conventional overhead tracks extending deep into the pavilion.
Each approximately 6’-2 3/4” wide by 13’-8 1/8” tall system uses a motorized counterweight mechanism to balance the glazed assembly rather than hydraulic cylinders to raise and lower it. The doors incorporate 1” Low-E insulated glass, allowing them to function as part of the pavilion’s transparent exterior enclosure when closed.
When raised, the two panels fold above the opening and project primarily toward the exterior, preserving interior space for event layouts and circulation. When closed, the glazed systems maintain visibility between the pavilion and Sundance Square Plaza while providing an enclosed building perimeter.
Installing 12 independently operable Hinge systems gives the venue control over how much of its perimeter is open at a given time. Individual openings can be operated as needed, or multiple doors can be raised to establish a much broader connection between an event inside the pavilion and activity in the surrounding plaza.
Key Benefits
Flexible Event Configuration
Twelve independently operable Hinge systems allow Sundance Square Pavilion to adapt its perimeter to different events and operating conditions. The venue can remain enclosed for private functions, open selected areas for additional access, or create a much broader connection with Sundance Square Plaza for events that benefit from indoor-outdoor circulation.
Preserved Interior Event Space
The Hinge’s two-panel vertical folding movement creates tall operable openings without conventional overhead tracks extending deep into the pavilion. Keeping the operating system concentrated near the building perimeter preserves interior ceiling and floor areas for event layouts, guest circulation, furnishings, and other uses.
Connection to Sundance Square Plaza
The 1” Low-E insulated glazing maintains visual connectivity between Sundance Square Pavilion and the surrounding plaza when the Hinge systems are closed. When the doors are raised, those visual connections become direct physical openings, allowing the pavilion to function either as an enclosed event venue or as a space more closely integrated with the public activity of downtown Fort Worth.