DENVER | Main Development Thread #6

[FunctionForm]

Originally Posted by Robert.hampton

The whole building is an island surrounded by traffic, resident are really going to feel trapped if they want to go the pedestrian route, so theyll probably drive everywhere, even to the Moes across the street. And 80% of the first floor is garage parking visible from the street.....BLEGH.

I think the picture looks nice but it looks a whole lot worse in person.

Agreed. There are no balconies. So in other words, no outdoor space for any of the units. You know the interiors are not particularly well finished and they are expensive. Why would anyone choose to live there? It's a warehouse for people. Right in line with Guild House. Terrible.

[Denverite]

Re: Gables Speer Blvd - I like the look of this one. Not great, but not bad. Kind of surprised by the placement of the transformers, myself. Not sure those bollards will do much to counter the force of a larger vehicle that hits right there at top speed. It would also be nice to see those transformers screened somehow. It looks rather ugh. My only reservation, as usual, is that it's all timber. I still would like to know how sound proof between floors these timber structures are, or will be in say 10 years.

Someone commented on the Beauvallon. I will never understand why so many people hate this building. It's completely subjective, but I love that building. I think it sits in our skyline very well and is very unique. I also love the Prado - another hated building around here. People hated the library when it first opened, another one I love. It's no wonder we get so much Colotecture around here, few people like anything different.

Meanwhile, the consensus around here seems to be accepting of that turd the Coloradoan. A building that looks like 1970s projects. A structure like Beauvallon would be *perfect* in its place. Almost anything would be better.

[jhwk]

Originally Posted by Denverite

Someone commented on the Beauvallon. I will never understand why so many people hate this building. It's completely subjective, but I love that building. I think it sits in our skyline very well and is very unique.

My main problem with the Beauvallon is the materials. It's massing and details are reasonable but they covered the building in stucco and tried to make it look like stone. It looks cheap and fake because it is cheap and fake. I would have much less of a problem if they had used a veneer stone. It's even more obvious on the Padro where they used stone on the first floor and switched to stucco above.

I'm also not a fan of the street level - somehow the building manages to hide the retail. I checked and there are at least 12 retail spots, restaurants, and professional offices! I had no idea. Pedestrian activation is exactly what this stretch of Broadway and Lincoln need and the Beauvallon isn't doing it well.

[Denverite]

Originally Posted by jhwk

My main problem with the Beauvallon is the materials. It's massing and details are reasonable but they covered the building in stucco and tried to make it look like stone. It looks cheap and fake because it is cheap and fake. I would have much less of a problem if they had used a veneer stone. It's even more obvious on the Padro where they used stone on the first floor and switched to stucco above.

I'm also not a fan of the street level - somehow the building manages to hide the retail. I checked and there are at least 12 retail spots, restaurants, and professional offices! I had no idea. Pedestrian activation is exactly what this stretch of Broadway and Lincoln need and the Beauvallon isn't doing it well.

I agree with you on the materials. I never had a problem with the street level.

[CharlesCO]

Nine 75, the restaurant that was on the corner at 10th when the building opened, was really good. It seemed to have good business, and I don't know why it closed.

[enjo13]

Originally Posted by jhwk

I'm also not a fan of the street level - somehow the building manages to hide the retail. I checked and there are at least 12 retail spots, restaurants, and professional offices! I had no idea. Pedestrian activation is exactly what this stretch of Broadway and Lincoln need and the Beauvallon isn't doing it well.

I don't get it. What do you mean by hidden? The retail is all along Lincoln. There's signage and everything. It just opens to the sidewalk like every other building.

The lack of street level activation isn't really their fault (hell I think that building is a victim, they have a ton of trouble holding on to tenants). There is relatively few people living particularly close. There's a big apartment building across the street (the pyramid!) and... a sea of parking lots otherwise. That new building down the way should help but there is a LOT of work to go if we're going to get that stretch of the city activated. Honestly Sports Authority abandoning the castle is a good start. As much as I really liked having that store there (and I used it often), that parking garage blights that whole block on Broadway. If we get a decent urban use out of the building the whole area will benefit.

[jhwk]

Originally Posted by enjo13

I don't get it. What do you mean by hidden? The retail is all along Lincoln. There's signage and everything. It just opens to the sidewalk like every other building.

More of an opinion than any hard evidence, but I don't think the retail is well articulated architecturally. Each retail entrance is set back from the sidewalk a few feet into those large arched forms. Arches of the same scale are also used for building entrances and balconies on the second floor. There's nothing that says "I'm here!" for the retail stores like you can see, for instance, on 16M where the subtle glass canopy draws attention to the fact that there's a Panera in the building. On the Beauvallon everything blends together into a monolithic lump.

[Scottk]

I always liked the Beauvallon, in a kitschy sort of way.

It reminds me of the Paris in Las Vegas.

[enjo13]

Originally Posted by jhwk

More of an opinion than any hard evidence, but I don't think the retail is well articulated architecturally. Each retail entrance is set back from the sidewalk a few feet into those large arched forms. Arches of the same scale are also used for building entrances and balconies on the second floor. There's nothing that says "I'm here!" for the retail stores like you can see, for instance, on 16M where the subtle glass canopy draws attention to the fact that there's a Panera in the building. On the Beauvallon everything blends together into a monolithic lump.

Ok I see what you mean. I can get behind that as a criticism.

[lumos]

I find beauty in buildings of all periods, using all construction methods and at all price points. Fake anything is starting off on a weak footing, although as has been stated even the classical greek buildings still standing in the ancient world copied earlier wooden buildings. What I find hard to like is the tendency to seemingly design a good clean strong plan, then keep adding bits to it. Take the Triangle Building; a building I really like, but look what they have bolted onto the side, a huge metal tabernacle made with oversized metal beams (it's OK, I already knew this used to have tracks down here, I got that from the track motifs you buried in the plaza, and then I got it from the giant's swingset that you built out of railway tracks also in the plaza. But really, for the sharpest, most arresting building next to the Rail Shed itself you just had to keep on adding thus the carbuncle has landed. Usually, when an architect has to add elements to make a building 'work' something more fundamental is wrong with the design. I am looking at you coloured metal panels slapped to the side of a building.

[TakeFive]

"CU Denver students help Lakewood planners expand live-work-play options"
May 6, 2016 by Caitlin Hendee - Denver Business Journal

The lines are a way that metro-area cities are becoming even more interconnected and many residents are demanding easy access to parks and areas where they can live, work and play nearby.

The University of Colorado Denver's Hometown Colorado Initiative

Students in several classes at CU Denver worked directly with the city of Lakewood's planning department to complete a range of projects meant to boost sustainability and livability.

Quite interesting read.

[Utah_Dave]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Gables Speer Blvd

Image courtesy of Gables Residential

Props to Justin/Denver Urban Review for the May Construction Update which has couple of very nice photos of this project on an overcast day. Here's one of them.

I think this project turned out quite nice.

Hey Fellas, it's pretty slow on the SLC forum right now so I thought I'd throw a few comments around. The rendering looks very nice. They missed a little on the finished product though. The rendering shows a nice lit up glass corner where the finished product has a couple of electrical boxes would be nice if they could have put them in a better spot but maybe that was the only option. Anyway, the real reason I'm posting is not to be picky but an observation that the blocks in SLC are too monotonous. I wish we had a few odd angle streets like this. Just a couple.

[Robert.hampton]

New renderings on cityscape of Route 40 development at Colfax and Corona. A few things stick out:

1- it looks like they are scraping everything. Original renderings had them saving the buildings existing on the east side.

2- The rendering looks a lot better than the previous renderings

3- Looks like they are integrating a pool and other amenities......this will be the most amenitized building on colfax by far. Will be interesting to see how it fares.

[LAM]

Originally Posted by Utah_Dave

Hey Fellas, it's pretty slow on the SLC forum right now so I thought I'd throw a few comments around. The rendering looks very nice. They missed a little on the finished product though. The rendering shows a nice lit up glass corner where the finished product has a couple of electrical boxes would be nice if they could have put them in a better spot but maybe that was the only option. Anyway, the real reason I'm posting is not to be picky but an observation that the blocks in SLC are too monotonous. I wish we had a few odd angle streets like this. Just a couple.

I think you have the wrong end of the building. Here is the other end.

[Utah_Dave]

Originally Posted by LAM

I think you have the wrong end of the building. Here is the other end.

Lol, thanks for clearing that up. That was tricky. I need to visit Denver, I've never been there before.

[TakeFive]

John McEnroe's "National Velvet." - Denver Arts + Venues via Westword

Not having had any art education like not having had any architectural education I'm sure my views are rather vanila on both. In a piece on Denver's
public art program, Georgia Amar, co-founder of Denver's Art District on Santa Fe has a critical take on the program and its results. A bit belabored to me but one thing I did find of interest.

"Enough of This Crap in Denver's Public Arts Program!"
SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2016 by Westword

Most talented artists in Denver that I know and have spoken to have stopped entering competitions because they all know that it is a useless investment of their time to pursue them. This is because the choices appear to be made in advance and tend to go to out-of-state artists.

The same pre-determined decision-making is true for in-state artists as well, as commissions are given to the same Denver artists year after year.

He makes an obvious plug for the local artists who he feels are being ignored.

The idea of focusing on the art in Denver is to create a unique culture and sensitivity that reflects who we are, not some pre-made import which doesn’t belong or fit here.

We as local artists and creatives deserve the chance to prove ourselves. When challenged, we will deliver art that truly will inspire everyone and reflect the great character of the state of Colorado.

[TakeFive]

Sorry, I'm speechless.

Photo courtesy: ARA

"Capitol Hill apartments sell for record price"
May 3, 2016 by Molly Armbrister - Denver Business Journal

A 10-unit apartment complex in Denver's Capitol Hill neighborhood has sold for a Colorado record per-unit price of $525,000, or $5.25 million for the whole complex. Located at 901 Washington St., the complex was built in 2007...

[COtoOC]

That's really going to help clean up that area (Colfax & Corona). I lived on Downing back in the mid 90s and it was sketchy, to say the least.

[Cirrus]

I feel like public art has lost its way. The purpose of public art is to make the public realm pretty. But a lot of artists aren't interested in making things pretty; they're interested in using art to make statements about something. The latter makes for excellent museum exhibits and is wonderful in its own right, but it doesn't accomplish the purpose of public art.

Art that's merely pretty but doesn't make a statement is like ornament in architecture. It's taboo within the artistic/architecture community because high art has moved beyond just making things pretty. But making things pretty is still needed sometimes, and many of today's artists are either incapable or unwilling to draw a distinction.

[The Dirt]

Yeah, it's all just weird shit at this point and it rarely has anything to do with the context of the location. Case in point - the Stapleton rail station's art installation is a white balloon in the shape of a running Pillsbury Dough Boy. I would have expected something that pays homage to Stapleton's aviation history. Instead, we get something that nobody understands and looks silly. Maybe we're supposed to expect everything to have "whimsy" or something but, it's a little overboard. The blue bear and the demon horse are great but, I'm tired of feeling like I live in a Lewis Caroll story.

City Park has some amazing public art and I wish we had more of that. Or at least, give me something with some context that says that you're in Denver.