A long-delayed theater will soon open inside a popular Texas entertainment hub

Late next month, the Toyota Music Factory, a large entertainment hub in Irving, Texas, with 20 restaurant and entertainment concepts, will have a soft opening for Rayleigh Underground, a 38,000-sf theater with a capacity of 850 and complemented by an overhead 6,000-person concert venue operated by Live Nation.

Named after Lord Rayleigh, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who first identified acoustics and lightwave scattering, Rayleigh Underground features an 18x50-ft stage with a 36x18-ft Absen  2.9 pitch video wall on the center stage. The venue will also have multiple interactive LED screens throughout, six bars, of which two are VIP;  a large ballroom/conferencen space that can accommodate three separate dining areas; and an AV Booth to MC any type of event or performance.

According to Chris Michero, co-founder and design principal with Dallas-based Emblem Interior Design, this project’s interior designer, Rayleigh Underground was created to provide a more intimate space for performers, artists, comedians, and guest speakers, along with a “submissive” Pacific Rim-flavored dining experience for guests.

Venue’s design tells stories

This project has been in the works for several years.  The Toyota Music Factory opened in late 2017. A year later, following a resolution of a financial dispute between the city and developer, the Dallas News reported that the hub would add five restaurants and bars, including one called Rayleigh Underground and Violet Room that included a large stage.

Michero explains that Rayleigh Underground’s completion was impeded by several factors.

The project’s original designer “created a lot of issues [with] regard to mechanical, HVAC, space planning, etc.,” he says in an email to BD+C. “There was no real design narrative.” When Emblem was hired to replace that designer, it did a full redesign that touched every finish and material. Emblem created “storied spaces that give the guests a sense of place and a history to the interiors, which makes each experience more memorable.” Michero adds that the size of Rayleigh Underground and the multiple areas within it “tie back to our design narrative.”

Like entering a cave

One of those “narratives” fuses innovative technology with the raw aesthetic of an excavated underground amphitheater. StoneCoat’s limestone plaster cladding creates interior and exterior surfaces that project the look and feel of authentic rock, stone, and stucco.

“We wanted to create a unique and memorable guest experience,” said Kim Forsythe, owner of Restaurant Expert Management, Rayleigh Underground’s client, in a prepared statement.

Other members of Rayleigh Underground’s building team include PGP Construction (GC), Herb Goodman (CM and owner’s rep), Mark Hopper (architect), Brookfield Properties Development (the Toyota Music Factory landlord), GME (electrical), EPS (plumbing), Kosel (HVAC and controls), Hatfield (acoustical drywall assemblies), Carpentry Associates (millwork and metalwork for the bars), AllPro (A/V), Highland (fire suppression), Mitec (fire and  property protection), Stonehill Industries (painting), Sigma Signs (signage), and CMC Network Solutions (data and low voltage).

Rayleigh Underground is scheduled to open officially in December.