In recognition of Denver Architecture Week, I’ve devoted this column to the good, the bad and the ugly of the city’s built environment.
At the macro scale, there’s great news. Downtown parking rates are increasing an average 8 percent to 9 percent since 2006 as new buildings emerge from former surface parking. Monthly rates are roughly $10 higher this year than in 2007, depending on the lot. The loss of surface parking is directly related to the number of tower cranes on the skyline.
Wider sidewalks, narrower streets, fewer one-ways, sidewalk cafes, newsstands and street activity remain unrealized components of a truly interesting downtown. Let’s hope Denver’s soon-to-be-released Strategic Transportation Plan calls for these urban enhancements.
Higher parking rates and greater, mixed-use downtown densities should focus renewed attention on how the numerous transit stations, funded through the $6.2 billion FasTracks initiative, are being planned, designed and built. The success of these stations — urban design, connections to adjacent neighborhoods, human scale, maximized opportunities for appropriate density, civic space and amenities — will shape Denver and the region for decades to come. These issues and their impact on the city should be a top priority for Denver’s Greenprint initiative and for the thorough integration of land-use regulations and transportation planning.
At a smaller scale, the new stone steps on the Platte Valley’s Millennium Bridge are a significant improvement over the rusted and stained metal and concrete treads they replace.
There are interesting contrasts in Denver’s close-in neighborhoods. One of the best small projects in the city is in situ Design’s Merchants Row Brownstones, at 2555 Champa in Curtis Park. The project is an outstanding example of how contemporary design compliments a historic district. Attention to detail, material and appropriate scale characterize the flats, demonstrating the talents of lead architect Joe Colistra, recently recognized as AIA Colorado’s Young Architect of the Year.
In sharp contrast is the truly awful design of three townhouses on the edge of Denver’s much tonier Cherry Creek North neighborhood. Architect Patrick Cashen designed the La Dolce Vita, undoubtedly named for the design genre, happy Tuscan stucco muffin. Characterized by faux stucco revealing faux brick at various locations, these $1.9 million (each) units are the worst of what has come to characterize very mediocre architecture in one of Denver’s priciest urban infill neighborhoods.
A mix of projects defines First Avenue, the southern, commercial edge of Cherry Creek North. A small gem at First and Jackson designed by Denver’s Bothwell Davis George Architects, the two-story office condominiums use concrete, wood and glass in an elegant, thoroughly contemporary manner.
The repurposing of the Tattered Cover on First and Milwaukee is an outstanding example of transforming quality 50-year- old building infrastructure into sleek contemporary design. Hats off to architects Semple Brown Roberts.
Let me know what you think about Denver’s architectural character, urban design, strengths and weaknesses. And thanks to the AIA for inviting us to look around.
