St. Louis Union Station Grand Hall Experience dazzles

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Opened  in 1894, St. Louis Union Station is a historic landmark in the city. The station’s Grand Hall, which once welcomed rail passengers, now serves as a hotel lobby, event space, and lounge – and features The Grand Hall Experience, combining projection mapping onto the massive and ornate 65-foot-tall ceiling with lights, music, and narration.

The award-winning experience recently underwent a major upgrade, including new projection technology, media servers, and new and refreshed content. DreamLab Immersive designed and installed the system, selecting Christie Griffyn^® 4K50-RGB pure laser projectors and Jazz Series 1DLP laser projectors to create a next-generation immersive show environment.

“Lodging Hospitality Management (LHM) and DreamLab saw an opportunity to raise the visual and emotional impact of the show”, says John Miceli, founder and executive creative director of DreamLab Immersive. “The primary goal was to bring the experience up to current technological standards, upgrading to higher resolution, smoother frame rates, richer color, and more dynamic shows, while preserving the architectural integrity and magic of the space.”

Dreamlab Immersive selected two Griffyn 4K50-RGB pure laser projectors to map the endcaps of the ceiling. With 50,000 lumens of brightness each, the projectors were selected to overcome the daytime brightness in the space, allowing LHM to run shows during the day. Twelve DWU2400-JS 1DLP laser projectors, collectively outputting 285,000 lumens of brightness, map the barrel-shaped vaulted ceiling.

“With the new projection hardware and server capability, we’ve expanded the coverage and re-rendered all existing shows to 16K resolution at 60 frames per second, giving each vignette even more clarity, depth, and fluid motion. The new projectors brought an expanded canvas, allowing us to reenvision the original shows and add content to expand the story. On top of that, we have been asked to create two brand-new shows that will premiere this year, bringing the total to 12 new and refreshed experiences that play each night,” explains Miceli. “Guests will see familiar themes, historic rail references, architectural motifs, nature sequences, but elevated with richer detail, more dynamic transitions, and enhanced color fidelity.”

The initial response to the refresh has been “overwhelmingly positive,” says Miceli. “Guests are responding with the enthusiasm they did in 2014 and beyond when it launched. We are receiving comments on the clarity and luminosity, and even longtime visitors say they feel like they're seeing the Grand Hall in an entirely new light.”