So that might be a cheesy title for this final look at The Link, but this building seriously reflects everything in its vicinity, and it’s great. The Link, previously mentioned as 930 15th Street, is now complete and open for tenants to move in. Here are some details about this building from our original announcement post.
Built in the early 1960s as a five-story addition to the historic Telephone building next door, an additional seven floors were added in 1966 to reach the current 12 stories. CenturyLink recently moved their offices out of the building and sold the structure in January 2019 to Rialto Capital and SteelWave, the firms planning the renovation. In total, The Link provides 223,000 square feet of office space and includes an expanded lobby with a bar/lounge and café. Gensler is the architect behind the project.
This building featured a mostly opaque facade and was a visual disservice to the historic buildings surrounding it. Present-day, its shiny, new, patterned glass facade breathes new life into this corner, creating a juxtaposition between modern and historic architecture. Below are a few photos highlighting the new facade.
Looking down the Curtis Street street wall, you can see that The Link adds a nice splash of glass in a masonry-heavy corridor.
Finally, let’s take a look at the all-important ground level. The renovated ground floor feels much more open and inviting when compared to the blank wall that used to face Curtis Street.
While this is a 1960s building at its core, it feels like Downtown Denver gained a brand new building. I think we can all agree that while preserving history is a good thing, the previous rendition of this building had absolutely nothing to contribute when looking back at 1960s brutalism. The Link, however, will now stand the test of time for many years to come.
I have lots of quibbles with today’s architectural styles — too many miserable landscrapers, for example — but MY GOD how did that original building even get built? It was barely suitable for human occupation!
This was a much-needed change for people inside and outside of the building.
I believe the original building was a data center or something. So it was not designed to be habitable.
It actually was an office building with a data center in the basement and first floor! Many CenturyLink (now Lumen) employees used to office here!
Love that they included some ground floor cafe space!
Interesting how it seems to disappear. I think this is subtle and elegantly detailed. Also, the adjacent older buildings seem to stand out more than ever when juxtaposed with the slick glass. A huge improvement over what used to be there.
I am curious if it is possible for you to share the data behind the “Project Map” in an excel format? I manage economic resources for a local bank and my colleagues reference this map to get a gauge on project activity around the Metro Area. Having the data in an excel format would allow a little more ease for identifying and analyzing projects in a given area. Thank you!
https://denverinfill.com/project-map
I personally enjoy the juxtaposition of the all glass facade between the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Building and the Gas and Electric Building. It is a vast improvement from the previous facade of the CenturyLink building. It serves to highlight the adjacent historic architecture and provides a street level connection with pedestrians that was not present previously.