First look at major expansion plans for AT&T Hotel & Conference Center

The AT&T Hotel and Conference Center—you know, that big building on MLK where Players used to be—is already home to 297 or so hotel rooms or suites, an award-winning restaurant (The Carillon), 80,000 square feet of meeting space, and a choice location close to the UT campus (of course, since the university owns it), the state Capitol, and downtown’s famed Innovation District (under construction).

Now, the facility is about to get bigger and more colorful, adding 30,000 square feet of new meeting and event space, designed by New York-based architecture firm Ennead Architects and scheduled to open in January 2018.

The expansion will include the 15,000-square-foot Zlotnik Family Ballroom, where the entry area will feature a large mural by José Parlá, a Brooklyn-based artist known for his paintings, sculpture, photography, and architectural collaborations.

According to information provided by the project, the mural—commissioned by the UT Landmarks program—will be Parlá’s most ambitious project to date and will encompass 4,000 square feet.

Courtesy of AT&T Hotel and Convention Center

“The artwork will highlight Austin’s natural environment and cityscape and will feature Parlá’s characteristic traces of collage, pulled impasto surfaces and signature calligraphic marks,” according to the release.

Courtesy of AT&T Hotel and Convention Center

The project will also add nine additional meeting rooms, connected to the conference center by an enclosed walkway; the an expansion is part of Rowling Hall, which will also house UT’s McCombs School of Business graduate programs.

Courtesy of AT&T Hotel and Conference Center

Courtesy of AT&T Hotel and Conference Center

Courtesy of AT&T Hotel and Conference Center