Using DenverInfill to keep up to date on this project works pretty well. But seeing it in person is another story.
Ken is out of town, so I will be conducting the tour so please join me this Saturday at 10:00AM in front of the historic station at 17th and Wynkoop. Even if you have taken recent tours, you may want to come along on this one to see the project from a new perspective: 200 feet above.
Since we will be walking a little more than usual, you should plan to spend more than an hour. The suggested (truly optional) donation for the tour is $10 per person and all proceeds go to the non-profit Union Station Advocates.
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this “Inside the Infill” series, we looked at how construction is coming along on the State of Colorado’s new 695,000 square foot, $260 million, LEED-Gold judicial center in Denver’s Civic Center district. In this Part 3, it’s all about the view. As the tallest building along the southern edge of Civic Center Park, the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center will provide employees and visitors with awesome views of central Denver in all directions. Here are a few of my and Ryan’s favorites from our recent tour.
Left: View to the north at the upper end of Downtown. Right: View to the southeast at part of the Capitol Hill district.
Left: View to the northeast at part of the Uptown district. Right: View to the northeast at the State Capitol.
Left: A zoomed-in view to the northwest down the new 14th Street. Right: View to the northwest at the City & County Building, with the Colorado Convention Center, Pepsi Center, and Elitch Gardens beyond.
Left: View to the southwest at part of the library/art museum facilities and Golden Triangle district. Right: View to the south at the ING/Security Life Building across 13th Avenue.
Neat reflection in that last photo, eh?
We’re not quite done. The Ralph Carr isn’t the only new building with a nice view. Here’s a bonus photo of a view from the outdoor terrace at the new History Colorado Center:
Just a block away from History Colorado Center is the State of Colorado’s new judicial complex, officially known as the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center. Ryan just posted Part 1 of this “Inside the Infill” feature, so here’s a second dose of infill goodness for you to enjoy. Rumor has it there may be a Part 3!
The Ralph Carr Judicial Center is already making an impact on the Civic Center skyline, and I like it. The architecture is classic Neoclassical, with marble columns and all. The state courts wanted a building that communicated a stately, civic presence on par with (and visually oriented towards) the State Capitol, and they are getting it. But despite the Ralph Carr’s architectural gravitas, I find its contemporary touches and generous fenestration (for this style) welcome features that give the building an inspiring, approachable quality. And it’s not even finished yet. Kudos to Denver’s Fentress Architects for designing a building that is clearly worthy to take its place at Denver’s hallowed ground, Civic Center. Our thanks to Trammell Crow and Mortenson Construction for the tour.
I like the exterior materials too. A light gray granite wraps the 4-story courthouse wing as well as the lower levels of the 12-story office tower, and pre-cast panels complete the upper floors of the tower. They work well together to give the complex a unified visual appearance, while exposing pedestrians to the high-quality material like granite we expect in important government buildings. Here’s a view (an inner courtyard along Broadway) of the vertical transition from granite to pre-cast panels. The darker-gray window glazing complements both materials. This wasn’t intentional, but I now notice the nice reflection in the window of perhaps Denver’s best light gray granite-clad modern building, Republic Plaza:
The office tower incorporates into both its north and south facades the columnar form, with vertical glass “columns” in between adding a modern gesture.
Before we we went up to the project’s upper floors, we saw a quick preview of Mortenson’s digital planroom technology. More on that in a future post. Then we took a ride in the construction elevator “cage” that climbs up the outside of the building:
From the 12th floor, here’s a nice view of the two courthouse domes: the smaller one in the foreground will be centered above the Colorado Supreme Court courtroom, and the larger one will cover the grand atrium. On the right, a stack of windows are being lifted up by a crane while traffic below on Broadway goes about its business:
From the Supreme Court’s fourth-floor atrium entrance, here’s the symbolic view looking back at the statehouse. Once all the scaffolding and temporary window supports are removed, this will appear as one big window offering one fantastic view of our state’s beautiful gold-domed Capitol.
Finally, while we now have real-life views of this project to observe, I recently ran across some additional renderings of the project I hadn’t seen before. They can be viewed here.
PS. If you don’t know who Ralph Carr is and why he is worthy of having a justice center named after him, please go here.
Next on our ‘Inside the Infill’ tour we will be taking a look at the Ralph Carr Judicial Center. Every week this project is changing and we now have an exclusive inside look!
Thank you once again to the folks at Trammell Crow Company for making this tour possible.
First up, the 12-story office tower. On the left, this is what you would see when going into the back entrance located at 13th Avenue and Broadway. To the right is what you would first walk in to. Yes, there will be a security check point but what is unique about this complex is that you will be inside when you are waiting to get screened separate from both the elements and the lobby.
Looking down the lobby area (left) you have the waiting area for security as well as elevator access just down the hall. Up and away we go to the top floor where they are starting to complete the columns of the office tower. There were spectacular views from the top which we will have a post dedicated to coming up soon.
There is a section of the building connecting the courts to the office tower. Here you will be greeted by a 4-story atrium with a glass roof and solid glass wall. In the picture on the right, the gaps you see in the floor will be for a staircase connecting the floors.
The supreme court is spectacular with a glass dome above where you would stand in front of the justices. You also get a great view of the office tower.
The lobby of the courts will be complete with real stone columns in the front and a two-story entrance with a giant court seal. The court side of the complex also comes complete with judges quarters.
Keep your eyes peeled for more shots of this great project as well as a special look at the never before seen views!
Ryan and I recently had the opportunity to tour the inside of the new History Colorado Center. Our sincere appreciation to the good folks at Trammell Crow, Tryba Architects, Hensel Phelps Construction, and History Colorado for organizing and joining us on the tour. Ryan’s last update on this project was in May, so much progress has been made since then. In fact, the building will be turned over very soon to the State, although it won’t be until Spring 2012 before the museum opens to the public because all the exhibits, dioramas, etc. have to be built. Ryan posted his observations and photos from the tour in Part 1. Here are mine.
The construction barriers are down, new sidewalks and streetscaping are in place, landscaping has been planted, and the finishing touches are being applied. The main entrance on Broadway is impressive and welcoming. Wide stairs lead up to the front doors, creating a seamless transition from sidewalk to lobby. Zipping past the building in a car at 30 miles an hour, the building’s exterior can read as just plain beige. But inspecting the building up close for the first time, I was pleased at the warmth and the subtle variations of color and texture that meander throughout the beautiful limestone facade.
In Ryan’s Part 1, he included a photo of the lobby and its wood ceiling. The wood used there is beetle-kill pine, an appropriate material to use in a building dedicated to Colorado’s history, and a good local material to use in a building aiming for LEED-Gold certification. The floor of the lobby features a large COLORADO inlaid the terrazzo floor, which itself is rich and warm in color. The almost-golden hue of the interior finishes extends into the stairs as well, with Colorado sandstone walls.
The terrazzo floor continues into the grand atrium where, in the voluminous space above, a cool color palette and a more modernist feel prevails. The four-story glass wall facing 12th Avenue, and skylights above, flood the space in light. The building’s secondary entrance, reserved for large groups like school field trips, leads directly into the grand atrium from 12th Avenue, where a bus drop-off zone is located.
As Ryan mentioned, the top floor facing Broadway features a handsome function space, available for rent. Here, dark bamboo flooring contrasts nicely with the bright light coming in from the west-facing windows. A covered terrace extends this space outdoors, with sweeping views of the mountains and downtown skyline.
Overall, this is a fantastic building and I’m quite impressed. It features many beautiful (and durable) natural materials throughout, and manages to make its interior spaces feel spacious and intimate, modern and warm, at the same time. Congratulations to Tryba Architects for a job well done, and to Hensel Phelps and Trammell Crow for getting the building built on-time and on-budget. I know History Colorado (formerly the Colorado Historical Society) is eager to move into their new home and get it ready for a series of exhibit grand openings over the next year or two.
DenverInfill will be back to History Colorado Center later this year after the huge map of Colorado is installed on the atrium floor!
Finally, I’ll leave you with a time-lapse video, provided by History Colorado, of the building’s construction:
The entrance to the Broadway side was nearly complete and a lot of landscaping was taking place. There are custom street lamps, lights to project on the building at night and a grand stair case to the entrance, which brings you in to an open lobby as you can see on the bottom right. From the lobby you can choose to go into the museum, the restaurant, or the gift shop.
Once you enter the museum you are brought into an immaculate atrium with a giant screen and what is soon to be a giant map of Colorado on the floor. A unique feature of the map is that one can carry around a ‘time machine’ that will tell you the history of certain regions in Colorado when you stand over them.
Here is just a glimpse of what the staircases in the museum will look like leading to the upper floors and exhibits. This was also a great and rare opportunity to see what an exhibit room looks like before anything is in it.
Also included in the building are offices, a library and plenty of storage.
On the top floor there are also two meeting rooms that you can reserve for your own function. The one on the bottom left, where you can see our tour group, comes complete with an outdoor space. The rooms also come complete with blackout blinds so you can make presentations.
The atrium was a very impressive aspect of the whole project and was very hard to capture in one picture. I’m pleased to share with you a short video that gives you a 360 degree look.
The History Colorado Center will be turned over within the next couple weeks to the state and then to the public Spring 2012.
