The new 384,000-sq-ft Garden City High School was built to hold more than 2,000 students. Designed more like a community college than a traditional high school, the facility is segmented into four distinct academies, providing an incubator for real-world job skills. Photo courtesy of Adolfson and Peterson The school is designed more like a community college than a traditional high school. Related Links: A&P Earns National ABC Award for Garden City High School A&P Breaks Ground on Two Arvada Police Stations The project scope included a 121-acre campus with 120 classrooms, a 750-seat auditorium, 750-seat commons area, 500-seat auxiliary gymnasium

The new Granger High School, the largest high school in Utah, replaced an aging 1950s building that was too small and outdated and that did not meet building codes to withstand a major earthquake. The 440,000-sq-ft replacement facility features three hallways that allow students to be grouped in learning communities in order to attend classes with others in the same grade or with those who share interest in the same field, such as health and medicine. The new school opened with about 1,700 students in fall 2013. Photo courtesy of Jacobsen Construction The school's amenities rival and even exceed those

This year's Best Projects competition in the Mountain States region featured more than 80 entries. As in past years, projects were judged on design and construction quality, their contribution to the community and industry practice, and how well teams overcame unusual challenges through collaboration and innovation.

Once little more than several blocks of deteriorating public housing, the new Mariposa District in Denver now boasts energy-efficient apartments and townhomes, a local café, computer center, youth music studio and fitness circuit—all a short walk from the 10th Avenue and Osage Street light rail station. The affordable, workforce and market rate apartments are 95% pre-leased. Photo courtesy of Denver Housing Authority Crews continue work on new apartment buildings at DHAs Mariposa Development south of downtown Denver near Lincoln Park. On October 4, the Denver Housing Authority (DHA) celebrated the grand opening of this nationally recognized development. The event marks

Phase 1 of Craig Hospital’s $90-million expansion and renovation in Englewood, Colo., has gone vertical. The existing 135,034-sq-ft building will expand to 219,934 sq ft.  Due to changing codes since the original building was erected in 1969-70, all utilities had to be re-designed to meet current code standards. Sixteen months after the start of programming and design, Clarkson Street in Englewood is permanently closed, the sitework, foundation and updated utilities are complete and the structural-steel frame is now being erected. The hospital is projected to be complete late in 2016.RTA Architects partnered with SmithGroupJJR and GE Johnson Construction to resolve

The Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Colo.,  opened on Sept. 3. The new four-story, 87,600-sq-ft building, designed by Denver’s Davis Partnership Architects, complements the existing EGSMC campus and provides a state-of-the-art health care facility where patients and families can receive treatment in a caring environment. The Cancer Center’s first two floors are dedicated to comprehensive cancer care—including radiation oncology, medical oncology and alternative therapies—consolidating all cancer-related services at the EGSMC Campus into one location for the comfort of patients and their families. The upper two floors will be leased physician office space.The Cancer

The Kansas State University Wildcats took the field in early September in the shadow of the massive new West Stadium Center at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan. The project, which included deconstruction of the existing Dev Nelson Press Box late last year, was completed on an extremely tight schedule. Work on the majority of the 218,000-sq-ft expansion project began in January, and a certificate of occupancy was awarded near the end of August, five days ahead of schedule. Photo courtesy of Mortenson/GE Johnson JV The landmark project serves as the new northwest gateway to the Kansas State University

The Suzanne and Walter Scott, Jr. Bioengineering Building, the newest addition to the Colorado State University campus, celebrated its grand opening on Sept. 12. The Scott Building is the second engineering building on the Fort Collins campus. Courtesy of CSU The building includes ample research space, teaching labs, design studios and a 24-hour study space. The $75-million, 122,000-sq-ft building occupies the southeast corner of Laurel Street and Meridian Avenue in Fort Collins. The building contains classroom and high-tech research space for about 40 faculty members in biomedical engineering; bioanalytic devices—sensors to detect a host of organic agents; synthetic biology, which

AIA Colorado South 2013 Awards The AIA Colorado South chapter recognized its 2013 architectural design awards recipients during a ceremony on Aug. 16 at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs.The following two architectural design awards were selected from seven entries submitted by architect members of AIA Colorado South. The awards were presented by Jury Chair Carol Ross Barney of Ross Barney Architects, Chicago.• Merit Award for Interior Architecture: Falcon Virtual Academy, Colorado Springs; Firm/Architect: DLR Group, Colorado Springs• Merit Award for Unbuilt Architecture: U.S./Mexico Work Program Border Crossing, El Paso/Ciudad Juarez; Firm/Architect: markharris Architects, Colorado SpringsAIA Colorado

When the two-phase expansion of U.S. Highway 36 between Denver and Boulder is finished in a few years, the roadway will be one of the "smartest" and most innovative in the country. The project, whose first phase is one-third complete, will provide four modes of travel in one place for the first time in Colorado—bus, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) and high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as well as a separate commuter bikeway next to the highway. Related Links: CDOT Selects Ames-Granite Joint Venture CDOT Selects Design-Build Team for Phase 2 The multimodal, design-build U.S. 36 Express Lanes Project is estimated to cost