A Glimpse Into Denver’s Sustainable Future

People riding on a two lane bikeway in Denver

A Glimpse Into Denver’s Sustainable Future

Sustainability is a cornerstone issue for Denver and its citizens. As we look ahead at a future where climate change will impact every one of us, we want to give a platform to the people and groups spearheading sustainability efforts in the Mile High City. In this sustainability series, we will discuss the problems, explore the solutions, track the efforts and explain how to develop better sustainable practices in daily life.

Over the past decade, Denver hasn’t progressed on its sustainability goals like it was hoping to. Some of that is due to the rapidly evolving understanding of climate change and its consequences, but most of it can be blamed on inaction and disjointed efforts. Recent developments, however, have invigorated the city’s sustainability efforts. 

A few years ago, City Council member (and president at the time) Jolon Clark decided to start piecing together how sustainability was addressed within the city’s departments. He found different people in various departments working haphazardly on some goals. It wasn’t good. When a few outside advocates set up a meeting with him to explain how climate change should be proclaimed an emergency, he explained that something clicked. “I said ok I get that it’s an emergency, so the last thing we should do is declare it one. We need to start putting out the fire and doing the work.” 

Read more from 303Magazine.com here.

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

Populus in Denver Colorado

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.