Forth Worth City Hall Council Chambers

At Fort Worth City Hall, the new council chamber feels less like a closed government room and more like an invitation. The 250-seat chamber was designed around transparency, public engagement, and a "neighborhood front porch" concept shaped by community feedback. A soaring timber roof floats over the room where public decisions happen, then extends outside to wrap the building in the same warm material. The lighting had one job: make that roof appear as a single, continuous gesture without ever calling attention to itself.

 QTL fixtures graze the southern pine timber from both the interior and exterior, creating steady color and beam quality across the entire structure. Shielding and louver accessories keep the light sources out of sight, so you see the wood, not the fixture.

 Since the wide timber flexes more than typical construction, QTL's custom team built a bracket that holds each fixture in a fixed, straight down aim while giving the structure room to move. That protects the fixtures without compromising the sightline architects designed for.

 The structure is also one of the few municipal council chambers in the United States designed with daylight as a central feature. Through daylight harvesting and high-efficiency LED systems, the space supports LEED Gold sustainability goals while maintaining a bright, transparent atmosphere for public proceedings.

 Outside, programmable rooftop lighting turns the building into a civic signal. It runs the city's official blue by default and shifts for holidays, game days, and New Year's Eve, extending the chamber's public presence out into the community.

 The result is a chamber that feels open by day and connected by night, with lighting that supports the architecture instead of competing with it.