The Hispanic Contractors of Colorado honored industry leaders and member firms at the association’s 21st Annual Awards Banquet on March 5 at the Denver Grand Hyatt. The community awards featured: • Phillip A. Washington, general manager of Denver’s Regional Transportation District, who received the Public Achievement Award for his overall leadership and spearheading of the Eagle P3 Project, a public-private partnership serving as a pilot program that allows the U.S. Dept of Transportation to study PPPs, including completion dates, projections of costs and benefits and overall project performance.  • Ismael Guerrero, executive director of the Denver Housing Authority, who received

New York-based Architectural Record magazine has selected the Denver Art Museum Shop as one of only nine winning projects in its annual Good Design is Good Business Awards of Excellence. The museum shop, which opened in November 2009, was designed by Denver’s Roth + Sheppard Architects. Photos: Courtesy of Roth + Sheppard Architects Formerly known as the Business Week/Architectural Record Awards, 2011 is the 13th year the Good Design is Good Business awards have been presented. The editors at Architectural Record said, “As one of only nine winning projects chosen from among dozens of impressive entries from around the world,

Felsburg Holt & Ullevig of Centennial is a finalist in the American Council of Engineering Cos.� 45th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition for the 6th Avenue Waste Tire Noise Wall Project in Lakewood. FHU�s reuse of a waste product addressed the problem of limited landfill space and the demand for effective barriers to insulate neighborhoods from traffic noise. Although several wall products with recycled-tire content are already in use across the country, these systems were deemed too large for the project site. The project team then turned to Tire-Tie, a recycled tire product mainly used for railroad applications. By stacking

With many industry economists predicting slow but steady improvement for construction this year and next, firms may see more work coming their way. But as stimulus funding runs out and the industry faces uncertain infrastructure funding from Congress and overburdened state governments, few contractors and designers can rest easy. The six firms featured here have done more than survive; they have thrived in this tough economy through creativity, risk-taking and solid leadership. Each of their stories is slightly different but all have fostered innovation and diversity on their way to increased revenues. Rowland + Broughton Architecture Aspen design firm extols

Article toolbar Modernization of the 1960s-era Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Denver is putting new chilled-beam technology to work to help reduce energy use in the building’s office tower by almost 70%. Work on the 18-story, 494,000-sq-ft building, home to 11 federal agencies, includes upgrades to structural elements and all major building systems, including mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Built in 1965, the tower’s inefficient and inflexible mechanical system will be removed and replaced with a chilled-beam system. Chilled-beam technology has been used extensively in Europe but is just making its way to the U.S., says

Article toolbar When the Jackson Hole Airport decided three years ago to expand and renovate the terminal, the design was driven by location, location, location. Nestled within Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, the airport is the only U.S. commercial facility to operate within a national park. It must comply with FAA regulations and operate within rules set by the National Park Service. Beyond a concern for parklands and wildlife, the $31-million expansion had to meet strict boundary limitations and an 18.6-ft height restriction to ensure unobstructed views of the Tetons. The tight parameters meant challenges for the design team,

Article toolbar With the rebirth and expansion of light-rail service in the Salt Lake Valley, a warehouse that once housed fur coats for high-end retailers has been converted into a maintenance and storage barn for new trains. The 300,000-sq-ft building, which will include office space as well as a 120,000-sq-ft maintenance facility, sits on 24 acres west of Interstate 15 adjacent to the Jordan River. The current TRAX light-rail system services downtown Salt Lake City and reaches south to the city of Sandy as well as east to the University of Utah and west to the Salt Lake City Intermodal

Chris Hoag, the chief electrician at Invesco Field at Mile High, was looking to add eye-catching lights to the west side of the stadium. The east side already had fluorescent strip lights and metal halide floodlights, so the intent was to even out the lighting and add to the aesthetic appeal of the fa�ade. Photo courtesy of American Lighting The new LEDs contributed to a 72% reduction in energy consumption, with more than $5,000 in annual cost savings. After Conserve-A-Watt, a lighting distributor used by Mile High, heard a presentation from American Lighting on LEDs, they wanted to team up

The recently completed Canopy Airport Parking project at Denver International Airport is the first of its kind to receive LEED-Gold designation from the U.S. Green Building Council. Construction took just under two years from the design-build phase to completion. Photos courtesy of dcb Construction The structure can hold more than 4,200 cars, with more than 1,000 spaces for covered self-parking and around 2,700 spaces for open-air parking. The parking facility incorporates a 16.9 kW solar array, 9.6 kW wind turbine farm and approximately 210 LED lighting fixtures inside the garage and 68 LED light poles throughout the parking lot. The

In Colorado�s resorts, where land values are often as steep as some of the building sites, terra firma can literally be a moving target and provide builders and developers with some special challenges. Photo courtesy of Warner Developments Denver-based geotechnical-repair firm Hayward Baker used state-of-the-art micropile technology to shore up luxury homes in McCoy Springs near Arrowhead. Soils in the Rockies can range from solid rock to glacial debris, and can be anything but firm. Building a building or home on them can be a challenge as veteran resort builder Bob Warner of Warner Developments in Avon discovered when two