Grand Hall Experience

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 experience recently underwent a major upgrade, including new projectors, media servers, and content.

DreamLab Immersive designed and installed the system, with the goal of bringing the experience up to current technological standards, for higher resolution, smoother frame rates, richer color, and more dynamic shows.

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. In addition, DreamLab Immersive installed brand new VYV Xenon servers for their performance, reliability, and compatibility with high-frame-rate content. DreamLab Immersive rebuilt the system from fiber to lens to suit a next-generation immersive show environment.

DreamLab Immersive selected Christie Griffyn 4K50-RGB pure laser projectors for this project for a few reasons. First, brightness: the 50,000-lumen Griffyn 4K50-RGB is powerful enough to overcome the ambient light in the Grand Hall during the day to expand on the ability to play daytime shows without washing out the projection.

Second, color: the RGB laser architecture delivers a broader and more saturated color gamut, allowing us to produce vivid, painterly visuals and delicate tones that weren’t as achievable with older lamp-based or single-source projectors.
Third, resolution and frame rate: combined with the upgraded server infrastructure, DreamLab Immersive can push true 16K imagery at 60 fps, giving the show a much smoother, more cinematic feel than before.

“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 John Miceli, founder and executive creative director of DreamLab Immersive. “Guests will see familiar themes, historic rail references, architectural motifs, nature sequences, but elevated with richer detail, more dynamic transitions, and enhanced color fidelity.”

As with any retrofit of this scale in a historic venue, DreamLab Immersive faced a number of hurdles:
Mounting and concealment: Projectors and hardware needed to be installed without damaging or altering protected architectural elements. We originally worked with preservation architects and structural engineers to design the main towers for discreet stable installation.

Calibration: Aligning multiple projectors across a curved barrel ceiling and walls to blend seamlessly required precision. We dedicated significant time to 3D laser mapping and iterative calibration, to ensure perfect geometry and locking that in.

Show expansion and re-rendering: Rendering 10 shows in 16K/60fps with complex transitions was computationally intensive. Our team optimized pipelines and leveraged the VYV Xenon servers to manage load and playback reliably. Our creative team worked to expand the elevation of the media allowing us to add in extended media because the coverage was extended as well on the ceiling this time around.

St. Louis Union Station’s Grand Hall Experience is the recipient of a 2015 THEA Award and a IAAPA Brass Ring-winning attraction that has been experienced by over 8 million guests.

It has been a signature landmark since its opening in 2014, becoming the emotional centerpiece of the Union Station redevelopment, helping reposition the historic landmark as a tourism and entertainment destination.

The attraction increased visitor traffic and hotel occupancy, reinforced the building’s historic character, and helped catalyze the broader redevelopment of Union Station.

But after 11 years, both Lodging Hospitality Management (LHM) and DreamLab saw an opportunity to raise the visual and emotional impact. The primary goal was to bring the experience up to current technological standards, while preserving the architectural integrity and magic of the space. LHM recognized that a refresh would not only delight guests but also reaffirm the Grand Hall’s position as a must-see, immersive destination for events and visitors.

This refresh represents not just a technical upgrade, but a reaffirmation of what immersive storytelling can be in a historic space. DreamLab Immersive’s mission is to fuse artistry and technology in ways that deepen emotional connection, celebrate architectural heritage, and create memories. This project is a powerful example of that ethos, blending modern visual storytelling with a space steeped in history.