The Non-Conventional Convention Center

May 9

*Photo credit: Mark Bealer, Studio 66 Photography*

On March 13, 2025, Moody Nolan’s Vince Terry, AIA and others led a tour of the Cincinnati Convention Center Expansion. Twenty-some architects and design professionals including AIA Cincinnati’s Urban Design Community members Jim Guthrie, Frank Russell, Couper Gardiner, Chair Aaron Kingsley, and Co-Chair Manuel Granja, got a preview of the project’s objectives, changes required during design development, and the current status of construction. The learning objectives of the tour were:

Judge the public good that architects offer uniquely among planning and design disciplines in budgeting changes to key urban assets.
Compare examples of large-scale land-use and construction systems for public access, security, and well-being.
Explain the relationships between primary design moves and major functional objectives for protecting and viability within building complexes and their surrounding areas.
Understand the story behind how the Duke Energy Convention Center renews the civic vitality of its district and stimulates future development nearby.

This is the third remake of the building, originally constructed in 1967, renovated in 1984, and again in 2006. Current plans anticipate a plaza opening in time for ice skating season 2025 and a full opening soon after. The current project seeks to establish our convention center as a regional leader in both aesthetic, amenities, and functionality through reconfigured (usable) space. Additionally, the design team expressed a goal to open the building, conventionally inward focused as a type, to the surrounding community. Architectural gestures to this end include large expanses of glazing on all sides and a large public plaza to the east. The design team has made a noble effort to refresh a timeworn building and typology working within significant budget challenges.

More Space = More Conventions – yes, but what kind of space?

A leading argument for the renovation was stiff competition in the regional market for conventions. The existing center had been deemed undersized and non-competitive with convention centers in similar size cities. While the design brief presented indicated the primary goal was to modernize the aging facility, public discourse included conversations regarding the size and capacity of the existing facility and its inability to compete in the market. It appears that a significant percentage of the interior square footage will be devoted to non-exhibit (public concourse) space leaving the existing exhibit square footage space unchanged. While this amenity space provides much value to the interior and exterior spaces, the current project will only be larger than the existing space by developing a future hotel complementing interior exhibit space with exterior areas within the Elm Street public right-of-way, now privatized, and adjacent proposed plaza to the east, which could provide space for a future expansion, as could a western addition after completion of the Brent Spence Bridge project.

This approach is modeled after the Houston Convention Center renovation (in progress) which brings together an existing public park with controlled outdoor exhibit area in what they call the Convention Center District [emphasis added].

The predictably larger-than-life Texan approach is to create an exciting and action-packed outdoor area that is a place where the urban vitality of downtown Houston meets major convention programming (see video link). Here a portion of the existing structure was removed to create a controlled (and shaded) outdoor area, and this separation allows a linkage through and between a large existing downtown park and a future green cap on the highway trough adjacent to the center. This appears to be a Daniel Burnham (“make no small plans…”) scale urban design move that promises to remake the feel and functionality of the larger downtown area.

Remarkably, it appears that every convention center in Texas has a park area or a green feature connected to it, e.g. the RiverWalk in San Antonio. Few of our tri-state regional competitors have any exterior greenspace connected or even proximate to their convention centers – perhaps in response to climate extremes (with the exception of the “over-the-top” Cleveland Convention Center where the roof of the structure literally doubles as a park).

*Image provided by Dexigner:* *Cleveland Civic Core Complex Wins 2017 National AIA Honor Award for Regional & Urban Design*

While short of a moon shot, the Cincinnati project team and city leaders are aiming high as they plan to have BOTH a more attractive convention center AND a revitalized convention center district in the heretofore sleepy west Fifth Street zone of the CBD.

The indoor-outdoor convention center programming concept calls for oversized connectivity (aircraft hangar doors) on the east façade to promote flow through from the main interior concourse to the new Elm Street plaza and beyond to the greenspace. For this outdoor area, the design team described publicly programmed amenities (stage, skating rink, food kiosks, etc.) when not in use as outdoor exhibition space.

This design approach serves to allow an innovative new approach unique to this building typology and convention offerings in our region. However, there remains a question as to whether the public will have access to the space when it is being used for exhibitions and how that access will be managed. What kind of landscape features of the plaza will be heroic enough to offset the irregularity of the unfinished mid-block west elevation of the massive 84˚51 building which was never meant to be visible? While certainly an amenity to conventioneers, a true test of the public benefit will be how it is shared with the public. If successful, this plaza could be the Fountain Square of western end of downtown; unsuccessful and it becomes the Hard Rock Casino lawn – presenting a gated and chain link street façade most of the time.

Another progressive outdoor feature for conventioneers is the expansive roof deck, with dramatically open views of downtown to the east (also found in Houston). This effort had a significant impact on the construction budget. The long spans of the existing structure, which provides column-free interiors, had to be modified to accommodate assembly-occupancy live loads. This restricted the size of the exterior area, but we hope it will become an opportunity for development of the vast expanse of the remaining roof which could include a solar array or low-profile green roof.

Visual and Physical Access

Arguably, the building, prior to renovations, was opaque from the point of access and entry. Where was the front door? In the current plans, entry points have been greatly improved through alignment within the interior and more intuitive wayfinding through view management. Access to the Convention Center will be mainly on the street level access points from the corner of Sixth and Elm streets at the north, to the plaza over doors looking east, and the main entry at Fifth & Elm streets. This entry point will remain the main front door to the convention center with a complimentary entry at Plum and Fifth streets across from the new HQ Convention Hotel. Both entry points at the eastern corners are grand and transparent, leaving no question as to where the facility is accessed physically. Additionally, the east wall is being dramatically opened, with entries at the northeast and operable center wall sections supplementing the main southeast entry.

A New Transparency

Developing a more transparent exterior also introduces daylight into what is typically a sequestered and inward focused program of exhibition halls and concourses. How many times have we left a convention just to get some sunlight and fresh air? The design removes the opaque cladding on the entire south side of the building to better connect the interior to exterior space and provide daylighting and street views along the main concourses. The design also includes exposing concealed stairwells for enhanced visibility.

The new cladding concept for the building as a whole is a nice balance between utilizing existing curtain wall systems with an overlay of geometric shapes, organized around a theme celebrating some historic urban features (initially the seven hills of Cincinnati and later value engineered to the five long gone 19th century inclines). The geometric composition of opaque and transparent provides needed energy along the edge of Fifth Street. There was discussion about whether or not this will result in enough activation and how it will relate to the pedestrian scale of the street. While the transparency created between the inside and the outside is progressive, the lack of modulation of the curtain wall along the south elevation at the sidewalk level may not sustain or enhance the pedestrian experience. Of course, the success of the architecture depends largely on building operations and active programming of the concourse during conventions, but also doing so when the building is not occupied. Is transparency alone enough?

Future Developments

Future developments include a hotel to the south on the current site of a surface parking lot at Fifth and Plum streets. The design team of Moody Nolan and Copper Carry are promising a beautiful rippling compliment for Cincinnati’s skyline. While the design is evolving every month, the square footage will be approximately 600,000-square-feet and house approximately 700-800 rooms, flexible meeting space, and nearly 12,000 square feet of ground-floor leasable retail space. It will also include rooftop outdoor space and a sky bridge connecting the hotel to the convention center across Fifth Street for guest convenience. But will the proposed skywalk and rooftop functions take users off the street and reduce pedestrian activity on the sidewalk level? And how does this strategy square with the recent campaign to remove the skywalk system bridges throughout the CBD to put more people on the streets and plazas? While certainly providing an expanded program through access to smaller conference and meeting rooms of the hotel, this amenity does not seem to be aligned with other investments in the building program.

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t give some love to the east side of downtown. There’s been a lot of discussion about moving the arena. As a committee focused on urban design issues, we think there is a similar opportunity, and perhaps an obligation, for the arena in its current location. Stay tuned.

Jenna Wasz

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AIA Cincinnati