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/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / DECEMBER 2014
Publisher’s Note
T
aking the words at face value, and beyond, we are building a dialogue with all of you who
are involved in the process, from the developers, who, let’s face it, get the party started, to
the end-users, and everyone in between. A to Z. Soup to nuts. General contractors to archi-
tects to engineers to landscape architects to tenant rep brokers.
In this issue, you’ll find everything fromhow theMcWhinneys got their start with straw-
berry stands to how KTI designs great restaurants – in a town that is known now for its great restau-
rants. We also have features on the new Westin hotel and transit center at DIA and East West’s
Triangle office building near Denver Union Station. We get to know the personalities behind Studio
NYL and Semple Brown Design. And the hits keep coming. Get a front-row seat as GSA tackles sus-
tainability with Grand Junction’s federal courthouse overhaul, CSNA’s game-changing design of Bal
Seal’s new manufacturing facility and the evolution of integrated project delivery.
Regular columnists Cynthia Kemper, Beth Mosenthal and Jenny West share insights into the de-
sign community, from Brad Buchanan’s new role at the helm of Denver’s planning department to
how the millennials see things to how technology fits into our workplaces.
The lineup of trend stories in this issue is diverse, from marijuana retail design to bio-walls to
Cherry Creek North’s new outdoor aesthetic and much more.
Susan Powers of DURA and Urban Ventures fame kicks off our Sages and Stars feature. And don’t
skip the last pages, filled with landmark Colorado buildings.
Getting reacquainted with so many of the industry’s leaders, all of whom have had a hand in
helping launch this magazine, was a privilege. I’d like to give special thanks to Cynthia Kemper,
Joy Spatz and Jennifer White. Their knowledge is breathtaking, their enthusiasm contagious, their
appreciation for your work unbounded and their collaborative spirits treasured. And, of course, it is
an honor to be part of the Colorado Real Estate Journal, our mother ship.
As for future issues, please let me know what you would like to read or contribute. We are build-
ing this dialogue together.
Kris Oppermann Stern
Publisher
Building Dialogue. Building. Dialogue.
build·ing
noun
\’bil-diŋ\ a structure with a roof and walls that is used as a place
for people to live, work, do activities, store things, etc.; the art or business
of assembling materials into a structure
verb \’bild\ to develop or form gradually
di·a·logue
noun
\’dī-e-,log, -,läg\ a conversation between two or more people; an
exchange of ideas and opinions
