COLORADO
CONVENTION CENTER PHASE II EXPANSION
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Background
The
Colorado Convention Center, which opened in 1990, has been
so well received that in the last five years
the facility
has struggled to accommodate convention sponsors’ space
needs. The City of Denver sponsored a ballot initiative in 1999
to expand the convention center to 2.2 million square feet,
more than doubling its original size. Voters approved the initiative
and Fentress Bradburn Architects was chosen in March 2000 to
design
the facility’s phase II expansion.
Lecture
Hall |
Architectural
Design
The
expansion has become a Denver landmark by transforming
the horizontal nature of this building type
and the vertical nature of Denver’s skyline with
a peaked roof line on Speer Boulevard that rises to 155
feet
over a span
of 662 feet.
This canted, upward cutting shape is lit at night to
create a striking gesture of identity for the city and
the building.
Beneath the roof line is a full-facade glass wall that encloses
an over 35,000 square foot lobby and provides entrances
to a 7,800 square-foot terrace. Spatial planning focuses
on
giving
visitors views to
the nearby Rocky Mountains from multiple vantage points.
In the foreground of the majestic Speer Boulevard facade
sits the
rounded shape of a 5,000 seat lecture hall, which geometrically
counterbalances the roof line. The 14th Street facade on
the opposite end of the building is similarly striking.
Also wrapped in
a full-facade glass wall, this end is broken into four distinct
elements with a series of roof blade gestures. The gestures,
coupled with moving the building in from the phase I set
back and raising
it to street level, creates pedestrian and urban scale.
Functional
Aspects
The 1,000 foot-long sides between these two
facades is covered with undulating, perforated metal
panels that conceal 54 semi-truck births and a 1,000 car
garage on the
north side. A glass stairwell on the exterior of the north
wall connects with a covered pedestrian bridge to take
visitors
over Champa Street and into the Denver Center for the Performing
Arts.
Ballroom |
The
interior spaces are designed to maximize flexibility
in order to meet the needs of large, midsize and small
conventions.
The
new 600,000 square-foot exhibit hall (equivalent to the size
of over 12 football fields) can be divided into a dozen different
configurations and up to 18 rooms, each with its own audio
visual capabilities. Directly below the hall are two
ballrooms: the
existing
35,000 square-foot ballroom and a new 50,000 square foot ballroom.
The ballrooms face each other and are directly adjacent to
over 100,000 square feet of meeting rooms. A business
center near
the lecture hall includes telecommunications facilities
and express
mail, but the center can also be dressed up as a lounge area
for special events. The 5,000 seat lecture hall can be divided
into
as many as 5 separate sections.
The interior spaces are designed
to help conventioneers navigate the 2.2 million square foot
facility. Light washes down large panels of frosted glass
warm the facility
and serve as sidelights at meeting room entrances. Layered
ceiling elements reduce the monumental scale of the entrance
area and
establish a cohesive identity with the building’s exterior.
Subtle cues in the dynamic carpet patterns and ceiling treatments
will aid in visitors’ way finding and circulation.
Parts of this headline rely on extracts from www.colorado.construction.com.
For more information, visit their website at: www.colorado.construction.com |
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