Page 28 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— May 4-May 17, 2016
Construction, Design & Engineering News
Mortenson
Construction
recently completed one of the
most transformational capital
construction projects in inter-
collegiate athletics at the Uni-
versity of Colorado Boulder.
“Our vision of sustainable
excellence is about transform-
ing opportunity,” said Rick
George, University of Colora-
do athletic director. “In achiev-
ing this vision, each student
athlete that takes the field in
black and gold will do so bol-
stered with the knowledge
that we’ve provided them with
every resource necessary to be
successful – both in competi-
tion and in life beyond gradu-
ation.”
Key elements of the project
include:
• A 212,000-square-foot
expansion to Folsom Field.
• The state-of-the-art Cham-
pions Center, which serves
as the new home of CU foot-
ball and many Olympic sport
coaches and the athletic admin-
istration. The Champions Cen-
ter houses a team locker room
and lounge, team dining facili-
ties, and a rooftop terrace for
game-day and special events.
• A new Sports Medicine and
Performance Center, in part-
nership with Boulder Commu-
nity Health, that is open to the
public.
• A 38,000-sf renovation
of Dal Ward Athletic Center,
which includes the addition of
a men’s and women’s Olympic
sport locker room, expansion
of the Academic Center and a
new weight room.
• The construction of a
108,000-sf, net-zero energy
indoor practice facility. This
facility serves all sports pro-
grams and the six-lane, 300-
meter Olympic track allows
CU to host sanctioned track
and field events on campus.
• A 534-car underground
parking garage below the
indoor practice facility.
• Franklin Field, a 106,000-
sf outdoor grass practice field,
adjacent to the indoor practice
facility.
“Designing and building
concurrently while working
around all of the events and
activities that brought hun-
dreds of thousands of people
in and around the project site
for events for a schedule that
could not change, in order to
accommodate collegiate foot-
ball schedules, was one of sev-
eral challenges on the project,”
said Gene Hodge, Morten-
son vice president, project
development. “Yet when you
look at the end result, which
included delivering one of
the largest collegiate net-zero
energy facilities – the indoor
practice facility with a park-
ing garage underneath – our
team is incredibly proud of our
efforts.”
During construction, Morten-
son helped engage the com-
munity and various stakehold-
ers by creating an interactive
model of the project that users
could navigate using a game
controller. The exhibit was also
displayed on a mobile TV in
campus buildings near the sta-
dium and served as a commu-
nication and fundraising tool.
Populous was the architect.
The Mortenson design-build
team completed the fast-paced
project without significant dis-
ruption to daily campus activ-
ity, and the seating portion was
completed prior to the start
of the football season, allow-
ing revenue generation for the
owner.
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Folsom Field shines as the centerpiece of CU Boulder’s newly transformed athletics hub.
The new indoor fitness practice facility serves all sports programs. Its 300-meter Olympic track allows CU to
host sanctioned track and field events.
Northeast Denver Housing
Center has selected Palace Con-
struction as the general contractor
to construct its latest affordable
housing development located at
the entrance to the Northfield @
Stapleton development. Cuning-
ham Group Architecture Inc. is
working with Palace Construc-
tion on the new development,
along with MEP engineers BCER
Group and structural engineers
KL&AInc. Northfield @ Stapleton
is scheduled to be completed in
October.
The 84-unit development is
an Enterprise Green Communi-
ty, which is aligning affordable
housing with environmentally
responsive building practices. The
82,495-square-foot Northfield @
Stapleton project will house 12.7
kilowatts of solar panels and has
access-controlled, enclosed stair-
cases to increase tenant security.
“This is a breakthrough project
for Denver,” said Maggie Bolden,
director of client relations, Palace
Construction. “Affordable hous-
ing tends to be overlooked, but
the Northfield @ Stapleton project
is a living environment that will
hold a physical and social edge
of the Stapleton Northfield neigh-
borhood.”With a community gar-
den, bike storage facility, play area,
community kitchen and barbecue
pit, this project is designed with
market-rate apartment amenities
in an affordable housing complex.
The design team for this project
considered the building’s pres-
ence as the gateway to the broader
Stapleton Northfield neighbor-
hood. The presence is upheldwith
a prominent corner element and
the use of color to give the devel-
opment substance. The aspect of
invitation in the design is con-
veyed by a visual cue of transpar-
ency at the entrance corner.
Palace Construction developed
and implemented a Section 3 pro-
gram with the assistance of the
city of Denver to identify subcon-
tractorswithemployeeswhomeet
the low-income standards for liv-
ing in federally funded affordable
housing. The goal of Section 3 is to
put people from low-income com-
munities to work on affordable
housing projects. Palace Construc-
tion has a successful track record
in building affordable housing
and Section 3 projects.
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Turner Construction’s Spe-
cial Projects Division has begun
renovation to the Helen G. Bon-
fils Theatre Complex for the
Denver Center for the Perform-
ing Arts. Designed by Semple
Brown Design, phase one
includes the renovation of the
existing (1985) 532-seat, two-
level in-the-round Space The-
atre, associated backstage sup-
port areas and public restrooms
servicing the Space Theatre. The
renovation of the Space Theatre
has been designed to address
code compliance, accessibility,
public safety, health and con-
venience, and operational effi-
ciency.
The Bonfils Theatre Complex,
home to the Stage, Space, Rick-
etson and Jones theaters, was
built by the DCPA and granted
to the city of Denver in 1979.
At the time it was built, Time
magazine called it “the crown
jewel of the Rockies.” More
than 400 plays have been pro-
duced in the Bonfils Complex
since it opened 36 years ago
and over 150 new plays have
originated in the DCPA’s new
play program.
Turner has been working on
various projects for the Den-
ver Performing Arts Complex
continuously since March 2009.
Each of these projects involved
close coordination with theater
operations and performances.
In addition, as a national firm,
Turner has performed work on
over 100 performing arts proj-
ects across the country at 45
different facilities.
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Renovations are underway at the Helen G. Bonfils Theatre Complex at DCPA.
‘This is a
breakthrough
project for
Denver.’
– Maggie Bolden,
Palace Construction
