Another significant project in Downtown Denver is making swift vertical progress. Populus, located at the heels of Civic Center Park, has one more floor to go until it tops out at 13 stories. When complete, this hotel will have a significant presence in the area, as its facade will resemble an aspen tree. While there are no signs of the facade going up yet, the building’s structure has quite a presence on a block on the edge of Central Downtown Denver.
Let’s begin our update of Populus with a few photos from around Downtown and Civic Center. Because of its location, the building is visible from multiple angles around the area.
Next up, more photos that are a bit closer. As seen below, the concrete structure is mostly in place, except for the last floor. While there are no signs of the facade on any corner, it won’t be long until we start to see it go up.
With the great design that Populus will feature, we are excited to see its journey toward completion.
| Project Description | Developer | Architect | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Stories | 297 hotel rooms | 0 (v) parking | Urban Villages | Studio Gang | Beck Group |
This building will look amazing once completed. The abstract Aspen tree design is perfect for its location. Hopefully this building will up the game and inspire more unique and creative buildings around downtown Denver from other developers. I also love how it bookends the City and County Building with the Denver Art Museum (which has some similar massing and exterior details).
And another mtu-Rolls-Royce genset going in this building this coming week!
Are we due for an Arapahoe Square update?
Nobody notices the irony of the design having being inspired by an aspen tree but that it’s not a mass timber building? Serious missed opportunity. Sorry can’t help it.
The world’s first “carbon positive” hotel, 13 stories of concrete… shocking. Greenwashing like this hurts those in the building community actually focused on reducing embodied carbon emissions.
You make a fair point. Had an opportunity. Also still haven’t seen details and proof how this will be offset. We’ve heard a lot of “we’ll plant lots of trees” arguments however not sure we con confirm this in our lifetimes that the carbon will be offset so would love more transparency how they came to that.
I am excited to see Populus finish construction. This hotel has that cool factor that a lot of newer hotels in Denver seem to be missing.
Driving by yesterday I saw windows installed on the 2nd and 3rd floors, but no sign of the “aspen motif.” I would think they would start on that before putting glass up, so has the design changed?
As far as I know the design remains the same. I wonder if the windows are the bottom layer of the facade.