From megaplex theming to 3D-printed stadium art, Dimensional Innovations builds experiences that transform brands
Standing nine stories tall, inside Allegiant Stadium, is what’s believed to be the largest 3D-printed structure in the world – a sculptural torch that stops visitors in their tracks. The Al Davis Memorial Torch photographs beautifully and is a hit on social media. It also demonstrates the kind of manufacturing capability that is rarely found under one roof. Behind that torch sits Dimensional Innovations (DI), a Kansas City-based design, build, and technology company that has spent three decades turning ambitious ideas into physical, functional reality for some of the biggest brands and venues in the world.
Established in 1993, DI’s history dates back to AMC Movie Theatres and the formation of the megaplex idea. The company played a huge role in building the interiors of theaters around the globe – leading to far more work within the cinema industry. CEO Tucker Trotter and President Tom Collins, both join us to expand on DI’s current notable projects and the much-anticipated transition to employee ownership.
“Back in the early 2000s, we faced some challenges in the cinema industry, similar to what it’s facing now, which forced us to diversify our business,” reveals Tucker. “This was a good strategic move in the long run because it allowed us to expand into as many markets as possible, while adding more capabilities and bringing in companies that help us provide an end-to-end solution. Today, we continue to deliver maximum value and the best speed of delivery in what we do.”
Together with cinema and entertainment, the company works in the pediatric healthcare, corporate, civic, museum, and transportation fields. With Kansas City being known as the sports architecture center of the world, sports is one of the main sectors in which it designs and builds exceptional experiences. “From a capability standpoint, we begin as a design firm but we’re also a custom fabricator – that means metal fabrication, along with wood and various other materials,” adds Tom. “We have large-scale 3D printing capabilities, and large-format graphics and printing. When you take those capabilities along with our technology offerings, we really merge digital with physical.”
After becoming an open-book management company in 2018, which resulted in visible cultural improvements, DI decided to go down the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) route. “Sharing the results of the company with employees brought an ownership mentality across the entire business,” says Tucker. “It convinced us that an ESOP would be the right long-term fit for us. We officially became an ESOP at the beginning of 2026. We know it will have a big impact over time; it’s still in the early days for us, but the big idea is that employee-owners create profits through their hard work. There are numerous ESOPs in the Kansas City region, and we’ve seen the incredible effect it can have.”
Tom adds: “We see a real path for growth here. I think there are many other manufacturing and technology companies out there that would like to become part of an ESOP. We believe we’ve created a vehicle that will allow others to join us, while also allowing us to continue diversifying.”
In conjunction with the truly impressive Raiders stadium is another of DI’s largest and most high-profile projects – the SoFi Stadium in LA. As the experience agency working between the stadium owner and sponsorship brands, DI collaborated with some of the largest names in the world, including SoFi and Google. “We’ve also partnered with Disney on some fantastic projects,” notes Tucker. “We feel very lucky to have worked with such a huge, recognizable brand. Plus, we just finished building an immersive experience ourselves, called Atlas9, in Kansas City. We were the designer and builder of both the building and the experience inside. It’s probably the best showcase of our end-to-end capabilities.
“We also do a lot of work in pediatric healthcare including the Arthur Blank Hospital at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The goal is to create positive distractions that help take children’s minds off the anxiety of treatment, which makes developing this technology especially fulfilling.”
Such groundbreaking projects require a high level of innovation and R&D, for which DI has a dedicated innovation and prototyping lab with a separate team – the same team that discovered the company’s ability to 3D-print at scale. “They’re constantly working to solve complex customer and client challenges,” emphasizes Tucker. “Because of that, they helped us launch a company within our ESOP called Shield, which builds antimicrobial furniture for the healthcare, corporate, and sports worlds – real innovation feeding a genuine requirement we saw in the market. Having a dedicated team tasked with solving complicated problems is a big part of why we’re able to stay on the cutting edge of innovation.” This innovation incorporates AI, which Tucker says is used as a tool in DI’s workflow, alongside implementing AI-based experiences in some recent projects. “For the recent Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library project, which is probably the most high-profile project we’ve ever worked on, you can see yourself as a character back in the world Teddy Roosevelt lived in. There’s a lot of magic in seeing that come to life.”
DI’s five-year vision ties back predominantly to the ESOP, which Tucker describes as an “incredible opportunity to watch the momentum build” as employee-owners come to understand the long-term impact it will have on them, the customers, and the business as a whole. “As Tom said earlier, we’re genuinely thrilled about the opportunity for other companies to see what we’re building and want to become part of our ESOP,” Tucker finalizes. “It can sometimes feel like our capabilities are endless, but they’re not; we get excited about the chance for others to join us to bring capabilities we might be lacking and help us deliver even faster than we do today.”
