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94 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / December 2020 / Interstitial Spaces/ scattered programs of the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Arts and Media. AW was also able to transform another old theater space into the Comcast Media & Tech- nology Center. Now a hub of collaboration, AW’s elegantly modern rethink transformed this double-height space as a research and media lab for the College of Arts and Me- dia, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Computer Science Engineering. The upper level of the Tivo- li Starz Theater recently has been repositioned as UCD’s LynxConnect, a one-stop-shop for student advisory ser- vices in experiential learning, international studies, career services and study-abroad programs, among others. “Human interaction is fascinating and greatly influences our work,” says Bowers. “The ways people live, learn, work and play don’t just happen in a home, classroom or office, but indeed, often take place in the spaces in between.” In searching for the heart and soul of a space, Bowers is committed to fostering a team-think environment to uncover a project’s hidden potential. AW’s creative ethos stems from a workshop approach to conceptual discovery whereby owners, engineers, contractors and architects all work as a unified team to dissect each design’s constraints and opportunities. In the workshop format, everything from space planning and programming, to materiality, sustainability, cost, schedule, quality and safety are holis- tically evaluated – literally put on the table. AW’s office en- vironment is open plan with plenty of room to spread out adorned by areas for model making, material and product consideration, and quiet contemplation. Applying theworkshop approach is not restricted tohigh- er education or small-scale adaptive reuse. At East Village, AW’s creative reimagination of established space was ap- plied to approximately 140,000 square feet of commercially leased office property. Built in 1982, this Greenwood Village office building was developed around a central atrium space that originally intended to bring the outside in, com- pletewith a pond, trees and vegetation. By the time AWwas invited to reconsider the space with architect Alan Colussy, the atrium was stagnant, dark, dated and overgrown. The building owner intended to simply reposition the lacklus- ter central volume as more leasable offices, eliminating the unappealing space while adding usable square footage. “We felt theatriumstill providedanopportunity, a chance to create a centralized, cohesive sense of functionality and community,” shares Jenista of the building’s transforma- LynxConnect is a one-stop-shop for student advisory services in experiential learning, international studies, career services and study-abroad programs, among others. AW has developed several net-zero energy and net-positive energy single-family residential projects and is in the process of scaling those lessons learned up to an 18-unit program for Habitat for Hu- manity of Teller County. Identifying unused spaces in the Tivoli Student Center, AW was able to create niches throughout, such as these writable wall pan- els.