DenverInfill Blog

A wall of water in town with water problems?

I'd be curious to know about the usage of water there. A better idea seems like a wall of plants
 

to be henceforth known as the tetris building.

i love the lobby and the LEED rating though. I also think westfield typically does a good job as well.

will this effect sakura square?
 

Very interesting design for what is, I think, one of the most architecturally dull corners in all of Denver: the VA apartments, the backside of the Xcel/Coors HQ, the windowless side of the bunker-like Windsor. I've never been a fan of that two-story concrete mess that this will replace--hooray!
 

I love it!!!

Finally, some good news this week.
 

This is a really nice-looking building, and unique! We need more unique buildings downtown. A lot of the residential properties in LoDo and Riverfront look alike, and our office buildings all seem to be brown and dreary. I can't wait to see this go up!
 

Gotta disagree with the above comment. I think this is a horrible design...another BOX...this time with some blue glass thrown indescriminately all over the place. I think in time it will join the gold-glass Galeria on Colorado Blvd in the the design hall of shame. Very disappointing IMO. Denver deserves much better!!
 

"Denver deserves much better" Ok, design it and build it then. LOL
 

Unique? Give me a break!.......another flat topped, flat walled rectangular box of glass (OK, with some blue glass, big deal!) - someone should take RNL and the developer to Atlanta, Chicago, or Miami (or almost any other major city) to show them how to be creative (and please remove your cowboy hat before leaving the state!)
 

I can only assume you are a Denverite (I am not), and let me tell you Denver is a long way from major city status but this is a step in the right direction.
That's what we should celebrate. Baby steps for Denver. Just because this city has world-class potential does not mean it is world class. Yet.
But if you'd prefer what exists on this site then by all means keep up your air of pretentiousness. But please, for the benefit of this blog, refrain from making insipid comments.
 

I agree with whoever said "Boring" or something like that. Looks like a short version of Republic plaza, lincoln center, Excel Energy, Anaconda (or whatever they call it these days), shall I keep going? There are more... All defferent colors, yet the same flat tops, flat sides and four corners. I just don't get it?? A different color flat walled, flat topped building. Yuck!
 

Not every building out there has to be a masterpiece. We haven't had any proposals for office building for years. Now we have a few. Be happy with that. The companies that are building them want to make the most amount of money on them. Adding spires and other fancy things greatly increase the building cost and the cost to potential renters. We are all architecture snobs and that's ok. On the flipside I am overjoyed that now companies are actually even starting to put plans together for a few new office towers. 5 years ago we would have been happy for even one proposal. Until one of us actually has the money to build one of these, the complaining means nothing.

Like one of the other comentater says, would you rather have the current building??? Dont give me that, i would rather they did this or that. To the builder, it's either this or nothing.
 

From a planning perspective this is a better use of the land than what was there before, but don't confuse that with architectural beauty, and don’t pretend Denver is a beggar child asking for more gruel. It is most definitely NOT either this or nothing. There is such a thing as architectural review, which Denver and many cities do all the time. Where I work (not Denver), not a single building gets built (except individual houses) without architectural review and approval.

Architecturally this is a standard glass box that’s been festooned with band-aides of colored glass placed randomly, with the effect that the building looks like a broken machine that’s been patched endlessly to keep it from falling down. The only extraordinary thing about this is that unlike most boxes, which try to be orderly and mechanical, this one is trying to trick us into thinking it’s somehow abstract or artistic by looking sick, like it’s about to die. But like Disney princesses who put out albums trying to act punk, we know it’s not legitimate. What it is, is the awkward product of an architectural establishment that realizes plain is boring, but in its infantile dogma that any idea which has been tried before is worthless, has lost the ability to decorate buildings in a way that makes sense or is attractive. This is the sort of thing that in 20 years we will all look at it and ask "what the hell were they thinking?"

The answer is, they were thinking how cool it would be to design a ironic parody of a normal building, but not thinking at all about what it will look like once the joke inevitably wears thin. This is the very essence of a “here and now” building that will age terribly, except that unlike real starchitecture, this one is done on the cheap.

It’s not so much truly ugly as it is insulting and pointless. Individually it’s an acceptable if undesirable piece of filler, but taken with similar pieces like Great Gulf, 1900 16th Street and Sugar Cubed, I fear that Denver is entering a new phase of architectural bullshit that taken as a whole and if unchecked will result in a dreadful city of uncomfortable, inhumane buildings.

/Dan as Kunstler
 

I agree with beyond ddc. It is a poor excuse that developers want to make the most money and exclude architecturally pleasing spires, set backs etc. you mean to tell me that in other cities like Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Etc, etc, etc, don't want the most for their money. Seems to me that the more architecturally pleasing the building the more desirable it is to high profile companies. I would think that Saavy businesses and corporations want to be in high profile spaces. The same holds true for people. People will want to brag that they live in Four Seasons Tower. (at least I hope so, I want to see that thing built).
 

I think we should all step back and remove our fangs from this project for a minute and look at it from the developer's perspective. They are not in the business of building remarkable, architecturally interesting properties. They are in the business of making money for their investors.
Yes, you as a distinguished urban planning professional may be "insulted" by the look and feel of the building, but you aren't building it, are you?

I'll bet if you put $1,000,000 of your own money into the project, you would be more concerned about renting the thing that looking at it.

Just a thought.
 

'in the business of making money' is no excuse for crap design. That attitude of 'Denver will accept anything..lets make a buck' is past tense (or damn well should be). We have a plethora of mediocrity in this town...all built in the name of fast buck. Quality design does not have cost more..but it does take companies and individuals that set sights high. It's time Denver.
 

Cities are made up of thousands of undistinguished buildings, and a few that truly call out for admiration (and no, this sentence does not negate my earlier words about the buildings on Court Place that are to be torn down by Brookfield). This will be one of the undistinguished ones, most likely, but I agree that we should not "sink our fangs" into this project, at least not until it's built. Architectural renderings are, at best, unreliable, and at worst are all smoke and mirrors, designed to fool people into thinking a project is better than it really will be. In the "unreliable" category on this particular set of renderings: notice that the daytime view has shadows being cast across both Larimer and 18th. Unless Earth has two suns, this isn't possible--and where, exactly, is the sun coming from--due north, or due south?

While the placement of the blue glass appears random (and likely IS random), and while we may indeed look at this in 20 years and wonder what the architect was thinking, this project will nevertheless introduce more pedestrian activity at an otherwise mostly-dead corner. The crazy blue panels may be a conceit, but I prefer this lively randomness to every other project at this intersection.
 

And the rest of us have to live in the cities made by developer's buildings. Is your life worth $1,000,000? 'Cause mine is. The world does not exist solely for landowners to make money... Just a thought.

But more to the point, that thought ignores your completely outrageous claim that attractive buildings need be prohibitively expensive, which is just that: completely outrageous, and not the least bit true. This building isn’t bad because it’s cheap; it’s bad because it’s poorly designed. It’s possible to build cheap, attractive buildings and it’s possible to build expensive and luxurious, but none the less awful buildings. This particular building would look much better if they simply changed the arrangement of glass, without adding a single element or using one additional square foot of materials. Your position is based on fallacy.
 

Indeed.
at least the building will have "built-green" qualities that benefit the tenants.
a step in the right direction.

I work in the tech center so you can imagine how I would welcome a bldg like this in my 'hood. the dismal land use pattern around here make this urban planner somewhat depressed :(

I only wish I could work downtown where there is at least some urban fabric to keep my mind stimulated.

Oh well, gotta start somewhere.

may the force be with you-
 

I take back my last posting. I just took a really close look at the renderings at their maximum magnifcation, and have to concede that this design needs a LOT of work. It's a box, which is cheap to build, but the blue panels are just the laziest kind of decoration (if they serve some sort of "green" function, then okay--but I suspect they don't). I don't necessarily blame the developer for building a box, and I do think a spire would be silly on such a squat box as this, but the overall composition is just dreadful. Beyonddc is absolutely right (and if you haven't checked out his/her website, do).

My initial enthusiasm must be excused as the desperation I feel whenever I think about what Denver has lost--not just wonderful old buildings with lively facades and intensive uses, but also more opportunities to build great things than I can count. And those opportunities keep getting squandered. But Denver is not alone in this misfortune. It's particularly difficult at a site like this, ruined, as it was, by urban renewal some 35 years ago.
 

Well said History Mystery! Bravo Beyonddc
 

It is so easy to play armchair developer. You may have excellent taste in architecture, but what is the last property you developed? Instead of complaining, why don't you go buy a piece of land and design the next office building masterpiece?

I'm not saying this is a wonderful building by any means, but just the fact that office buildings are being planned is encouraging. It means that Denver's economy is rebounding and hopefully those dreadful surface parking lots will start to vanish. And I think we can all agree that is a good thing.

For now, we can send hate mail to Westfield and tell them how horrible they are for even suggesting such an atrocity. See where that takes us.

warm wishes for the holidays :)
 

Well, I wonder if they could reposition the blue glass or coverings to the corners and then step them into points in the middle on each side. It would give a crisper look and a little twist.

Overall I don't like the exterior of the building and I am tired of square tops, but I like the life brought to the street level.
 

Give me a parking lot or the ugly building that is there now instead of this thing. With a parking lot, I can at least expect or hope for improvement in the near future. If this is built, we're stuck with it for a generation! Please no!!
 

Wow, this is only a 22 story building in the downtown core, not a skyline defining building. If they create a decent streetscape and pedestrian experience is this really that awful? It will be lost in the clutter of other taller buildings nearby. If our architectural wrath should go somewhere, shouldn't it be the Murano? Now there is a building that will define our skyline with a big skinny square box coming out of our westerly side, that building needs some serious help topside! (side note, kudos to 4 seasons for their design).
 

Though I'm no fan of the big block, flat top design of the building, I do hope it will help bring street life to this dead zone corner and if the whole building were clad in blue glass instead of the crossword puzzle effect, I believe it would actually be somewhat iconic.
 

This is sort of a throw-back to the 80s.