Haha. I'm actually trying to keep it on a budget, this is a sub-lobby, so, more money is going to the main one. But, lots of people sit here so I think it would be cool to do something.
The idea is to use footage cut specifically for the application, it will be mostly black and white and the contrast of the footage will be purposely pushed because of the ambient light in the lobby.
The image will be projected directly onto white paint, with the edges of the footage/loop having a white vignette so that you can't tell where the screen starts or stops using both a gradient filter around the lens and soft LED spots that blend the wall and image - with a scrim to keep the spots from hitting the main image.
The footage will cut around the application. I'm not going to attempt to have sharp, colorful picture. Instead I want to have imagery that comes and goes, black (dark grays lol) and whites, historical things... I have some ideas for how to make the low-fi look cool (Think of how Guess brand does it with the black and whites and film grain).
The Panasonic PT-AR100U seems to be a option, because of high lumen output and it can do 136" (16:9) at 13 1/2' ....which on projector central it comes out to be okay for use in ambient light. If it's not bright enough I could do 120 and still get the same affect, I'd play with the zoom to see the best combination of size and output. Also it's about 1,300, then I'd replace the bulbs it looks like about once per year based on the hours the lobby is open (2088 hours per year), which isn't so bad.
Panasonic PT-AR100U Projection Calculator - Throw Distance and Screen Size
Also, the lobby I will tint and go pretty dark. There will be some ambient light, but I plan on making it mostly artificial and directional (spots with barn doors - that's why the projector would look okay, because I think the spots with barn doors will pull a whole look together)
Kinda still in the sketching phases for placement, but I know the look I want.