CREJ

September 2020 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \ 85 Denverstudiohasbeeninoperationfor47yearsandtoday carriesonawidely recognized legacyof designexcellence. SeniorProjectArchitect JefferyHall,who ledGensler’s6900 Layton team, enjoys the creative challenge and camarade- rie of designing and building in tandem as design-build necessitates. “Structurally, the building is something of a hybrid,” says Hall of the building frame, which accommodates ga- raged parking on the first five levels. “We have a central cast-in-place concrete core surrounded by a precast podi- um coming out of the ground for five stories, capped by a structural steel tower rising to the full height. Fusing these systems together with a unitized glass curtain wall required a lot of coordination betweenmany parties.” Hall, like Neenan, points to the team’s strong internal familiarity established through a long line of similar com- mercial office buildings over the last three decades as fun- damental to 6900 Layton’s speed tomarket. Investigations into building systems and solutions that responded favor- ably to the high-tempo delivery schedule resulted in the selection of glass curtain wall panels that snapped onto the floor plates. This allowed the building to be dried-in quite quickly even compared to typical precast construc- tion. District design guidelines also significantly shaped ex- pectations, as thedirection for awalkable,mixed-use com- mercial neighborhood permeates all the properties being built at Belleview Station. With the building’s secondary frontage situated along South Newport Street, the design called for a strong contribution to the district’s primary retail paseo. “Activating the streetscape was an important part of the vision,” continuesHall. On level one, 15,000 square feet of retail is joined by a large tenant-accessible fitness cen- / Long-Time Allies /