Denver Police Crime Lab #3

Archive of posts filed under the Government & Civic category.

Denver Police Crime Lab #3

Posted by Ryan Dravitz on March 21, 2012

Along with the Auraria projects, the last time we took a peek at the Denver Police Crime Lab, we were touring the inside. This project is also coming along great and looking more complete by the week. In case you missed the inside tour take a look at it here.

Most of the orange panels are gone and you can now see what this project is all about. With the jagged edges and blue reflective glass, it looks very futuristic and sports having the title of a crime lab. This is one of the more cutting edge developments Denver hasn’t seen until now as far as design and architecture go.

The back doesn’t look like the front, the east side doesn’t look like the west side which gives this project a very unique look. It breaks up the boring old symmetry that we see in a lot of modern day projects along with catching the eye making you want to see every angle of the building when you are passing by.

This LEED-Silver project is a dedicated crime lab for the Denver Police department which is expected to open next month.

Filed under Civic Center, Government & Civic, Infill.

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Denver Union Station Update #96

Posted by Ken Schroeppel on March 6, 2012

By Andy Vuong

I’ve been trying to focus on one section of the Union Station development with each update, but Kiewit has been working so fast I can barely keep up! So, for this update, we’re going to hit two areas: the bus box and the 17^th Street Gardens.

First, we now have one continuous floor for the regional bus facility! Crews recently made the final concrete pours and connected the floor of the Union Station half of the bus box to that of the light rail half. All together, that’s one continuous 4-foot-thick slab of concrete approximately 940 feet long and 140 feet wide! This picture was taken through a window in Union Station a couple of weeks ago. You can see the crew and the concrete pumper hose in the upper left of the photo pouring a segment of the final section.

Second, check out the new structures that have popped up along the 17^th Street Gardens. The two structures sit to the left of the skylights (when facing Union Station from the light rail station) and will house the emergency egress stairs and the fire command controls.

Andy Vuong is a management consultant who lives and works in the Union Station neighborhood and is an avid proponent of urban density. Andy will be providing updates on the Union Station project as a back-up to Rick, our regular Union Station project blogger. DenverInfill’s Andy Vuong is not the same person as the Denver Post writer of the same name.

Filed under Government & Civic, Infrastructure, Union Station.

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Denver International Airport Terminal Expansion Update

Posted by Ken Schroeppel on February 28, 2012

Let’s take a look at the latest designs of the exciting expansion that’s getting underway at the terminal at Denver International Airport. The $500 million expansion incorporates three major elements:

A new Public Transit Center that will accommodate the end-of-line station for RTD’s East Line—a 23-mile rail transit connection between DIA and Union Station in Downtown Denver—currently under construction and scheduled to open for service in January 2016.

A new 500-room Westin Hotel & Conference Center that will be located immediately south of the existing Jeppeson Terminal and above the Public Transit Center.

A new 60,000 square foot Public Plaza that will connect the Jeppesen terminal with the new hotel.

Gensler is the principal architect of the entire South Terminal Redevelopment program at DIA, with Anderson Mason Dale working on the Public Transit Center. Here are some new renderings of the project, courtesy of my friends at Gensler’s Denver office. You have two options to view the renderings: click on an image to view a larger version of it, or use the link below an image to open a giant-sized version in a new window. Here we go:

View (looking north) at the Public Transit Center and Westin Hotel, with the existing terminal complex beyond:

(extra-large version)

View (looking northwest) of the Public Transit Center and Westin Hotel:

(extra-large version)

View (looking southeast) of the Public Plaza in between the existing Jeppesen Terminal and the new Westin Hotel:

(extra-large version)

View from the train platforms inside the Public Transit Center:

(extra-large version)

View of the entry to the hotel from the Public Transit Center:

(extra-large version)

View looking southwest from the Public Plaza, with the existing Jeppesen Terminal on the right and the Westin Hotel on the left:

(extra-large version)

For a few additional renderings, visit the project’s page on the Gensler website.

Filed under Architecture, Government & Civic, Hospitality, Transit.

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Denver Union Station Update #95

Posted by Ken Schroeppel on February 23, 2012

By Andy Vuong

Today’s update is all about pavers! We have lots of progress on the walkways that lead away from the light rail station and surround the tear drop planters. The pavers not only look nice, but are also easier to maintain due to how they are installed. For the walkways, several colors of pavers (beige, grey, and red) are being used and will form a series of shapes and angles that will break up the space nicely.

It’s taken about 6 weeks to get to the progress shown in the picture above, so we can probably expect the pavers to continue to be laid down for another couple of months. How many pavers do you think it’s going to take to complete the entire walkway?

Filed under FasTracks, Government & Civic, Infill, Union Station.

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Denver Union Station Update #94

Posted by Ken Schroeppel on February 10, 2012

I’d like to introduce Andy Vuong (not the Denver Post writer) as a new contributor to DenverInfill. Andy is a management consultant who lives and works in the Union Station neighborhood and is an avid proponent of urban density. Andy will be providing updates on the Union Station project while Rick is out of town for the next couple of the months. Here’s his first post:

Greetings Denver infill community! As I connect with Rick’s contacts at Kiewit, you can expect longer and more informational updates. For now though, updates will be brief and generally based on observations.

Big News!! For the first time on the project, there is construction activity in front of and adjacent to the historic building.

Over the past 6 weeks, a new series of fences have gone up around the former parking lots that straddled the station. That’s right…I said former…because the parking lots that used to exist are now history. Also gone are the sidewalk and traffic lane of northbound 16^th Street between Wynkoop and Wewatta which were dug up to install a new sewer line underneath. Here are a couple of pictures that show how the west parking lot and 16^th Street looked about a week ago. Apologies in advance for the terrible shadows in the first pic—I was going to take a replacement, but then the snow storm hit!

No word on when 16^th Street will go back to two lanes, but for now, mall shuttles going each direction are sharing the remaining southbound lane. Additionally, this new traffic pattern has resulted in the closure of the southbound Wynkoop mall shuttle stop.

So why is this big news? For starters, you have construction activity on a new section of Union Station…its big. But far more exciting news is that the removal of the parking lots and installation of sewer systems foreshadow construction activity on the two wing buildings and public spaces that will line the station!

Filed under Government & Civic, Infill, Infrastructure, Union Station.

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Ralph Carr Judicial Center Update #6

Posted by Ryan Dravitz on January 22, 2012

The last update on the Ralph Carr Judicial Center we were on the inside of it. Today we will be looking at the exterior as much has changed in the past few months.

Taking a look from a higher vantage point, you can see most of the facade is complete and the columns on the court houses are not just raw concrete anymore. One noticeable difference is the new glass on the dome and all the scaffolding is removed. On the tower, it’s amazing what glass can do to the overall look of the building.

On the left, this is the project from the steps leading up to the Capitol. Notice how much of a presence this project on this corner and from the view of The Capitol. On the right is the entrance to the court houses with real granite columns with ‘Liberty and justice for all’ inscribed in gold at the top.

As stated before, these buildings have a great street presence. On Broadway (left) you can see both the office tower and the court houses creating a decent size street wall. On 13th Avenue, the office tower creates a canyon with 1290 Broadway right across the street.

Finally, one of my favorite aspects of this project. The 14th Street view-plane. This completes the wall at the end of 14th Street and resembles a much denser Civic Center skyline.

Filed under Civic Center, Government & Civic, Infill, Office.

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