DECEMBER 2014 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \
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ter, public plaza, multimodal transit center
and terminal expansion – all within a highly
constrained site and timetable.
Stu Williams, DIA’s program manager for
the Hotel and Transit Center Program, has
been on site since the project’s inception. As
he steps onto the concrete platform that will
become an activated outdoor public plaza,
the seasoned engineer and project leader ex-
udes equal excitement about the construction
progress and the project’s public art program.
The football field-sized plaza, which is also
the roof of the transit center, is the expansive
outdoor link between the hotel and the ex-
isting south terminal. “We have beenworking
withDenver’s Arts andVenues to create a syn-
ergy between what’s happening at the airport
and in the city,” saidWilliams of the program-
ming that is underway. “The idea is tohave car
shows, art installations, speakers and concerts
that dovetail with city’s events.”
DIA’s Kim Day experienced a similar en-
vironment at Munich’s Airport and felt the
open-air space could work equally well in
Denver – affording visitors to the airport di-
rect access to Colorado’s celebrated climate
while integrating the airport with the larger
community. With the hotel’s reflective glass
curtain wall as a backdrop and capacity of
up to 4,500 people, DIA’s new civic space will
serve as a gathering place much like Denver’s
Union Station’s new public realm. Native
plantings, a kinetic sculpture, benches and
restaurants (including a brew pub) with patio
seating will give the space a decidedly Denver
feel.
When visitors arrive at the plaza on lev-
el five, accessed directly from the terminal’s
south end or via the grand escalator that
ascends, nonstop, from the transit center on
level one, they’ll find themselves sheltered by
a soaring, aerodynamic canopy that provides
weather protection and unimpeded views of
the surroundings. Similar in structural form
to the historic Boettcher Memorial Tropical
Conservatory at Denver Botanic Gardens, the
canopy design is an exposed, X-shaped dia-
grid of tube and plate steel, inset with lami-
nated glass panels. Although structurally in-
dependent, the double-cantilevered canopy
fly through the center section of the hotel
and establish a tunnel-like aperture to the
train platformbelow.
“It was one of themore challenging areas to
construct,” explained Brett Sisco, construction
executive for MHS. “Four huge steel arches
span the center structure of the hotel and also
share support elements with the canopies.
The construction tolerances were minimal.”
The train platform, completed last Janu-
ary as part of an intergovernmental agree-
ment with the Regional Transportation Dis-
trict, boasts a second canopy of equal grace
and magnitude that guides passengers
to and from the transit center. A smaller,
third canopy – said to resemble a ball cap
FACING PAGE:
The glass canopied, open-
air public transit center
will provide passengers on
the new commuter rail
line with easy access to the
hotel, conference center
and DIA’s Jeppesen Termi-
nal security screening area.
Departing from the train,
passenger can print board-
ing passes, check their bag
and ride escalators directly
to the hotel and plaza.
ABOVE LEFT:
In collaborationwith Arup,
S.A. Miro developed 3D and
4Dmodels to communicate
the intricate details of the
canopies to ensure precise
fabrication and construction
of the steel components.
ABOVE RIGHT:
The Westin’s fitness center
and pool occupies a pre-
miere location on the ho-
tel’s 11th floor. Rare, close-up
views of the Jeppesen tents
and vistas of the moun-
tains, plains, and downtown
Denver can all be seen from
this premiere perch.
\ Complexity and Collaboration \
