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/ BUILDING DIALOGUE / DECEMBER 2016

it all just started to flow.”

The solution was to stack the building’s components ver-

tically. So, the ground floor of Union Tower West is office,

retail, the Hotel Indigo lobby, restaurant and bar. Above that

will be three floors of parking – which will include bicycle

parking and electric-car charging stations. Floors 5 through

8 are Hotel Indigo rooms and the top three floors are office

floors with incredible views. With a brilliant glass façade,

broken up massing, green roofs, silver panels and clean

lines, Union Tower West has a decidedly Portman look to it,

but the draw for Beckman was pure Denver.

“We don’t take every project that gets presented to us,”

says Beckman. “But I was drawn here by the city and the

community. (Denver) is just one of these places that is uber

cool, that’s what I like about it.”

Once the concept was nailed down, John Portman & As-

sociates, Portman Holdings, Phelps Development and Hen-

sel Phelps went through the usual iterations of program-

ming and pro forma study. The team had to deal with zonal

limitations for building height, zonal limitations for type

of project, all the while balancing an interest in creating a

Portman signature building, and, of course, keeping a close

eye on the budget.

Oh, and the odd shaped lot? Now we can call it inspira-

tional.

“Wewatta does this little S-curve, so you get this little

shape like a piano,” says Beckman. “It’s got the curve of a

grand piano and by taking that and repeating the curve

with this simple trellis it gives an enclosure to the space

and it gives the space an identity, it’s not just left over space.”

Beckman said that the curving trellis acts as cover for pa-

trons of the hotel’s restaurant and bar, while at the same

time acting as a draw to pedestrian traffic.

“Suddenly, this becomes a weaving together of uses, of

ideas, of people. Everything we do, we base around people.

It’s not about this as an object; it’s about how does this object

take care of the people it’s meant to serve. Whether you’re

on an office floor, whether you’re in hotel room, wheth-

er you’re on the ground, whether you’re walking down the

street and whether you’re in the hotel. All of those things

get woven together.”

According to Travis Garland, director of leasing for Port-

man Holdings, the site and the chance to be a connector to

Union Station attracted them from the start.

“We loved our site from the moment we bought it,” Gar-

land says. “We knew we had a special location – connected

to Union Station with incredible views. The public use of

the hotel, restaurant and retail adds to the incredible retail

base and walk-ability of the neighborhood.”

And once construction began, the complexities of build-

ing on a constrained urban site had its own set of challeng-

es – not the least of which was the 141-year-old next-door

neighbor: Xcel Energy’s steam plant.

However, according to Dooley, communication is the best

tool in his box when dealing with the tight spaces of urban

infill.

“In any downtown environment, it’s working with the

neighbors to make sure that you’re communicating and

/ Union Tower West – from Dusty Lot to Stunning Gem /