After more than 18 months of planning and fundraising, Metro CareRing broke ground May 14 on its new Hunger Relief Center at East 18th Avenue and Downing Street. GH Phipps Construction Cos. is building the 15,000-sq-ft center. Visualization by Norris Design / Design by Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture During the event, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock revved up a bulldozer brought in for the occasion to “bulldoze hunger”—but not the building. Construction began in early June, with completion expected in early 2015.The $3.4-million project replaces a cramped and deteriorating building constructed in the 1950s. The new facility, designed by Denver’s Barker

Denver-based Saunders Construction has invested in and established a partnership with Heath Construction, Fort Collins, that will allow Heath to acquire more local work and tackle more complex and larger projects in Northern Colorado’s accelerating construction market.
 “We’re a local construction company that now operates with the horsepower of a $400-million firm,” said Heath President Randy DeMario. “The investment has vastly increased our capabilities without compromising our local character and relationships with the local business community. Northern Colorado always will be our home.” 
“This is an investment where we share 50-50 ownership with Randy. It’s not a merger, acquisition or

The Denver Art Museum’s new administration building is now open and in full operation. The three-story, 50,000-sq-ft structure is located on Denver Art Museum (DAM) property formally used for staff parking, directly west of the DAM Hamilton Building and just south of the Clyfford Still Museum. Photo courtesy of Roth Sheppard Architects The new building consolidates the museum’s 100-plus employees, including administration, curators and others, allowing for greater cross-campus collaboration. Its modernist interior has been designed to heighten staff creativity and productivity, while the structure’s exterior completes Denver’s iconic Civic Center Cultural Complex, according to the designers.In addition to staff

Donors, educators and students celebrated the early May groundbreaking of the University of Denver’s new Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, the future home of the Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging.The $47-million, 130,000-sq-ft, five-story project is designed to organize instruction and research by theme. Facilities will include common spaces, laboratories and classrooms, bringing together science, engineering, robotics and social sciences. Rendering by AMD, DU Architects Office, courtesy of GH Phipps The new building’s engineering and computer science elements will be named after Chancellor Emeritus Daniel Ritchie’s father, the result of Ritchie’s lead gift on the

The American Institute of Architects Colorado Chapter presented 21 awards and honors during its annual YAAG awards program held on May 9 at OZ Architecture in Denver. Photo courtesy of AIA Colorado Photo courtesy of AIA Colorado The following 12 awards and honorable mentions were selected from entries submitted by firms, designers, students and young architects (licensed 10 years or less) from across the state.The entries were judged by a jury of architects and community leaders: Dr. Mark Gelernter (Jury Chair) - Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver, Harvey Hine, Maria Cole, Andrea

Thousands of people will celebrate the May 9 grand opening of the exterior renovation of Denver Union Station into a sprawling $500-million multimodal transportation hub for the Mountain West. Union Station’s transit component includes an underground regional bus facility with 22 bays, an eight-track commuter rail hall with five platforms  covered by a sweeping canopy and significant landscaping and improvements to surrounding streets.The Union Station design-build project stretches over 40 acres in downtown Denver’s Central Platte Valley and was done under the aegis of the Denver Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA) as owner. The redevelopment is part of metro Denver’s

During the week of April 17, more than 300 of the region’s leading green building providers gathered in Denver for the Rocky Mountain Green Conference, hosted by U.S. Green Building Council of Colorado. The two-day conference explored issues ranging from net-zero energy and tactical urbanism to how to best take advantage of emerging green-building economic opportunities.“USGBC Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Green conference strives to inspire, educate and connect the Centennial State’s green building leaders. It is such an exciting time of growth for Colorado, we are looking forward to further engaging our community in the greater economic development of the Rocky

At a press conference during halftime of the Kansas State Wildcats’ Spring Football Game in Manhattan, Kan., representatives from K-State Athletics and Kansas State University announced plans for the new Vanier Football Complex (VFC) and North Endzone Project at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Rendering by Populous, courtesy of GE Johnson The $65-million VFC will encompass 132,000 sq ft of enclosed space as well as new north end zone seating. The project marks the third phase of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium master plan. Situated along the north end zone of the stadium, the state-of-the-art facility will serve all K-State student

The Utah Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors recently recognized member companies for achievements in workplace safety. The ABC National Safety Excellence Awards (STEP) recognize companies who exhibit a continued commitment to jobsite safety and whose safety performance and programs are judged to be exemplary by the ABC National Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) Committee. Photo courtesy of ABC Utah Jeremy Speas of Staker Parson Cos. (left) accepts his firms ABC National STEP Diamond Award for outstanding performance in safety, presented by David Hill, 2014 ABC Utah chairman. Established in 1989, the STEP process serves as an important tool for

The Colorado Dept. of Transportation reports that work is “progressing well” on a project to improve safety at the S.H. 172 intersection at Oxford in La Plata County. The county is managing the project at county roads 311 and 513, which began in mid-February. Map courtesy of CDOT The project reconstructs and improves the S.H. 172 intersection at Oxford in La Plata County, Colo. The project is expected to extend through November and will reconstruct the intersection by adding acceleration and deceleration lanes on S.H. 172, realigning County Road 311 with County Road and improving drainage and irrigation.The cost of