50Fifty DTC Redefines Commercial Architecture in DTC

DENVER — 50Fifty DTC, a 185,000-square-foot, 12-story office tower in the Denver Tech Center, celebrated its grand opening this past Friday. The innovative new office building has launched a new era of office design in south Denver. Developed by Corum Real Estate Group in partnership with Clutch Design Studio, the building is shifting the landscape of the city’s office park.

“Traditional office park building design is outdated and doesn’t address what businesses want and need to maintain competitive edge in this market,” says Matt Robertson, president of Clutch Design Studio. “Our client came to us with the directive to not design ‘just another office building.’ What we delivered sets a new bar for the Denver Tech Center.”

As Clutch Design Studio’s largest project to date, the award-winning 50Fifty DTC employs six floor plates, integrated parking, floor-to-ceiling performance glass, and strategically placed light wells to both maximize site effectiveness and promote workplace wellness.

“The light wells animate the interior of the building, providing direct access to natural light throughout, which is rare for buildings of this size and type,” says Robertson. “This not only enhances the work environment, but it also reduces the need for artificial illumination, which studies show negatively affects worker health and causes loss of productivity.”

With expansive views, high-end finishes, and a building envelope more reminiscent of dense urban areas, 50Fifty provides a more modern approach for companies who want the amenities and style of an urban location, but prefer to locate in South Denver.

“Office building design needs to be reimagined to meet the needs of today’s workforce, and address the challenges of urban sprawl,” says Ault. “By uniting parking and office space in a single building envelope, 50Fifty DTC transfers a design narrative historically found in dense urban environments to the suburban landscape, and creates a new paradigm for the future of the Denver Tech Center.”

Located at 5050 South Syracuse Street with easy access to I-25, I-225 and the RTD Light Rail, the amenity-driven, Class AAA space is currently pending LEED Gold certification.

Key Design Elements

Strategic Light Wells

Integrated parking required expanded office floor plates beyond the recommended 45-foot depth (the approximate distance light natural light can penetrate into interior corridors). To ensure core spaces—including centralized restrooms—receive natural light, Clutch incorporated two 25’ x 35’ open-air light wells. While promoting a connection to the exterior, the light wells floods the center of each floor with daylight.

Nautical-Inspired Detailing

The interiors incorporate subtle, nautical-inspired materials and patterns marked by an emphasis on craftsmanship. This reference and materiality extends to the surrounding landscape, where a monolithic palette of gray granite, steel, concrete and wood is draped in drought-resistant ornamental grasses that move and respond to the wind.

“Our client gave us a photo of a sailboat as inspiration for the design, so I used patterns, textures and layers as abstractions of nautical scapes,” says Clutch’s Head of Interior Design Kristen Tonsager. “Veined marble mirrors the movement of water. Herringbone tile nods to twist-braided rope. Repetitive forms nod to shiplapped hulls. “We translated the timeless quality of traditional nautical design into spaces that feel both elegant and approachable without feeling like it was a theme park.”

Porte-Cochére

Guests enter the building through a dramatic porte-cochére flanked by V-shaped columns. An elegant interior glass curtain provides direct view into the marble-lined lobby, while an adjacent terrace offers a semi-private, garden level space.

Other Partners