Catalyst is a full-block “Health-Tech Innovation” project in Denver’s River North district planned for Brighton Boulevard between 35th and 36th Streets. At build-out, Catalyst will include approximately 300,000 square feet of office and retail space in two buildings. Here’s the site:
Developed by Koelbel and Company, Mike Biselli and Larry Burgess, the first phase of Catalyst consists of 180,000 square feet of collaborative office space intended for health-care technology companies and other innovative organizations. Two preliminary renderings of Phase 1 are below, courtesy of project architect, The Beck Group:
Brighton Boulevard (foreground) with 35th Street on the left:
35th Street (foreground) with Brighton Boulevard on the right:
If all goes as planned, Phase 1 of Catalyst will be complete by Fall 2017.
Surface parking lots galore in Denver and once again we are tearing down buildings to erect new ones instead of actually infilling the areas where nothing currently exists. I understand most on these buildings are all one story and “not historic” but they gave some actual character to Brighton Boulevard. It will be unfortunate to lose some of that character for more of the bland architecture Denver is currently plagued with.
I guess you haven’t been down there to Brighton Boulevard…
Tyler appears to be on a save-all-buildings in Denver rant as of late. And it’s probably true, he hasn’t been down to this block in a while. Don’t worry Tyler, there are plenty of nondescript ugly one story structures that you can hold on to on other parts of this block and all up and down Brighton Blvd…actually, I could probably take a few hours to list out many other blocks around Denver that contain many of these same buildings. So, fear not, all is not lost.
Not all buildings need to be saved. I could go on a rant about plenty I’d love to see torn down (i.e. every strip mall ever built). Sadly though, none of those buildings ever seem to be on the chopping block.
My desire to save old buildings doesn’t come from not having recently seen them (for I travel down Brighton Boulevard regularly, as well as all over Denver) but rather from an historical, architectural, and environmental standpoint. Many of these buildings (and others I comment about on this site) have no historical significance in the sense of grandeur or importance, but they are still filled with an interesting history that will be forever lost when they are gone. As someone who is passionate about architecture, I also hate to tear down buildings that are interesting architecturally. For this particular block, there are a couple cool old Victorian houses and some cool mid-century industrial type buildings that I think add to the character of Brighton Boulevard that we are quickly erasing for a more vanilla, anywhere USA type look. Perhaps most astoundingly, in our currently fashionable trend of being “environmentally friendly,” we still have no problem tearing down existing buildings to add to our landfills. Adaptive reuse is a much greener solution than the tear down and replace mindset of many developers.
I think what it comes down to is a serious lack of imagination and innovation in the planning and developing of various projects. Instead of looking at this block as a bunch of “nondescript ugly one story structures” that should be torn down to start from an empty plot of land, we should look at it with a vision of what these buildings could be if someone took the time and effort to make them vibrant again. After all, I’m relatively certain that “nondescript ugly one story structure” was more or less once the exact phrase used for places like Avanti Food and Beverage or even Industry (located literally five blocks down Brighton Boulevard from this new project) and I don’t think anyone would now say it was a mistake not to tear those buildings down.
Ultimately, I campaign for buildings like these because, though they may not be as awe inspiring as the Tabor Opera House or the Postal Annex Building (both of which have long since been torn down, to the regret of many), I fear we will one day look back on Denver’s sea of sad, modern, geometrically paneled buildings built in the 21st century with a longing for the interesting old buildings we once tore down for the sake of “progress.”
The problem with trying to preserve these one-story buildings as I see it is that, if Denver had grown in an earlier time or in a more normal manner (no stagnation periods), then those one-story buildings would have likely been already torn down and replaced with buildings that, while not up to the grandeur of the Tabor Opera House, are of far better design than a lot of what is being built now. So the challenge is really getting those replacement buildings to be designed in such a way that they have longevity and positively contribute to the Denver’s built environment well into the future. However, that is a really big challenge.
Health innovation sounds like a step up from the “artists” taking up this area with their dirty music
Hey, everyone! Look! It’s the guy who gets to determine what art is!
It’s such an honor to meet you, sir. I’d love to hear your opinions on Dadaism and the Italian Post-Renaissance Impressionists. In the meantime, could you perhaps elaborate on why internationally renowned musicians who have played this space like Matt & Kim, Dan Deacon, Future Islands, and Health aren’t worthy of your blessing?
Is the city still planning its park along the Platte which moves the street away from the river?
Not that anyone here will care, but this site is the home of one of Denver’s more important music venues. Once its closed and torn down, it will leave a major void in the city’s creative community.
I’m far from an anti-development stance, but it’s tragic time has finally come for this particular site. As we build much needed commercial and residential space to balance the downtown market, we should also think about all the vital musicians, painters, and weirdos we’re pushing out of these neighborhoods. Art isn’t made in $1,300 downtown lofts; it manifests in dilapidated warehouses like this one.
RIP Rhinoceropolis.
I understand things change but come on: this building is hideous. Next time instead of applying generic massing strategies do your research. A visit to the site would have discovered Rhinoceropolis… Which, as Ryan said, is a major creative community in our town… Discovering this should have inspired a building with character, uniqueness and pride.
Shame.