February 2021 – Urban Villages

Studio Gang reveals design for hotel with scalloped facade in Denver

American architecture office Studio Gang has unveiled plans for a hotel in Denver with a white facade punctuated with window openings designed to recall the bark of a tree.

Dezeen

Studio Gang Envisions Sculptural Tree-Inspired Building in Denver

New York-based Studio Gang has revealed new renderings for Populus, a 13-story mixed-use building slated for development near Civic Center Park in Denver.

Hospitality Design

Denver building designed to appear as aspen tree

The “Populus” building in downtown Denver, on which work is due to begin this year, has been designed to depict the uneven bark of an aspen tree by Studio Gang and developer Urban Villages.

Global Construction Review

studio gang’s ‘populus’ will express the texture of aspen trees in denver

studio gang partners with real estate firm urban villages in the design of ‘populus,’ a new and iconic landmark in denver. the mixed-use project will introduce a vibrant new social center in downtown denver, opening itself up to both the city and to the rocky mountains beyond.

designboom

Studio Gang will bring Populus, an aspen tree-inspired mixed-use complex, to Denver

Studio Gang will bring Populus, an aspen tree-inspired mixed-use complex, to Denver

Studio Gang has revealed its latest project, a 13-story, mixed-use tower slated to rise on a triangular lot in downtown Denver.

Populus, the firm’s first project in Colorado, will bring 40 “micro” apartments, 250 hotel rooms, and event spaces to city’s Civic Center neighborhood and next to its central park.

Rather than pull from the typical examples of prow-like or Flatiron typologies for the project, Studio Gang heavily modeled the structure after Colorado’s aspen trees (pulling the name from its scientific classification, Populus tremuloides, not the stadium designers) and the project wears the influences on its sleeve. The facade, arranged in columns of white “tree trunks,” will be pocked with eye-shaped windows reminiscent of the distinctive black knots left behind when a branch is removed.

More than just an aesthetic choice, the bulging, curved window arches will double as passive sun shades and help water drain away from the windows and create natural channels for water to flow down the side of the building. Each type of window (double height and split in the mirror, singular, grouped, or extra-large) will correspond to a specific type of unit, with the largest reserved for retail at the ground floor. Inside the residential micro-units, those same windows will extrude inward and double as seating.

Read the rest of the Architect’s Newspaper article here.

Architect's Newspaper

Studio Gang Designs Mixed-Use Hotel Inspired by Aspen Trees in Denver

Studio Gang and Denver-based real estate firm Urban Villages have revealed a new mixed-use, 13-story hotel in Denver, Colorado.

ArchDaily

Studio Gang’s design for Denver mixed-use building is inspired by Colorado’s native aspen tree

Studio Gang and Denver-based real estate firm Urban Villages have revealed designs of a new 13,471-m2 (145,000-sf), 13-story mixed-use building called ‘Populus,’ which will be located immediately adjacent to Civic Center Park in Denver, Colorado.

The Construction Specifier