Developer John Madden’s $55.8 million Palazzo Verdi building in Greenwood Village opens today with a private party showcasing Jackson Pollock’s “Galaxy,” a $30 million painting on loan from the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha.
While the building is 100 percent leased to Ciber and Newmont Mining, it’s much more than an office building.
Offices make up about 300,000 square feet of the building’s 422,000-square-foot space. The remaining space is home to the Madden Museum of Art and a large atrium to be used for events. The Maddens’ personal art collection also is on display.
Architect Curt Fentress, who designed the building, said it’s rare for a developer to devote so much space to an atrium.
“He could have filled it in with floors and rentable space, but he wanted something dramatic,” said Fentress, who did up to 40 designs for the lobby before Madden selected one. “A lot of stuff John’s done out there is dramatic. He doesn’t just do them for money. He does it for fun.”
The atrium features three pieces of permanent art. The 40-foot-tall spiral “Chandelier Chardin,” designed by Lonnie Hanzon, consists of steel, elements from an antique Italian chandelier and pieces of contemporary glass.
Todd Siler’s brightly colored painting “Ascension” dominates a wall of the 55-foot-tall lobby. Inspired by the William Blake poem “Auguries of Innocence,” the painting is intended to evoke the sense of the elements of nature that hold the universe together, Siler said.
The focal point of the atrium is a 42-foot-wide labyrinth modeled after the original at the Chartres Cathedral in France. Installation of the labyrinth was directed by Roger Leit ner. The sacred geometry of labyrinths is considered a spiritual and meditative tool and has been incorporated into alternative medicine because of its healing properties. Visitors starting at the beginning will make 34 turns before reaching the center.
“It has a heated floor,” Leitner said. “Taking off your shoes is the best way to experience it.”
Exhibits at the museum, open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, will change every four months; a Monet will be featured in May. The cost of admission is $10. The museum’s executive director, Abbi Levine, said she expects many of the museum’s visitors will purchase memberships.
The building’s atrium will be used for corporate events, meetings, weddings, bar mitzvahs and retirement parties. Already about 14 events are planned, said Patty Moser, director of event sales and marketing for Palazzo Verdi. Moser expects the space to be used for about 100 occasions a year. Epicurean Catering has the catering contract for the space.
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
