The AIA Colorado Design & Honor Awards were held on Monday, August 17 at the Denver Mart Drive-in. The awards presentation was hosted by Roth Sheppard Architects (RSA) Partner and AIA Colorado 2020 Board President, Adam Harding, AIA, and AIA Colorado’s CEO, Mike Waldinger, Honorary AIA. While practicing social distancing and wearing masks, the architectural community gathered to watch the pre-recorded presentation while snacking on movie theater candy in their cars.
Roth Sheppard Architects received an award for every project that the firm submitted for consideration this year. RSA was honored with Awards of Distinction, Denver Section for Firestone Police Department and Municipal Court, Kaffe Landskap, and Rabbit House. After winning in the local section, Kaffe Landskap and Rabbit House were both presented with Awards of Merit at the state level.
Firestone Police Department and Municipal Court
The 28,170-square-foot Firestone Police Department and Municipal Court integrates three distinct programs: Community, Municipal Court, and Police Department. Serving the citizens of Firestone, the facility contains functional public safety requirements and community amenities. The public parking is monitored and well-lit providing a safe swap location. The main entrance is a secure emergency vestibule. A Community Room with galley kitchen can be reserved for meetings. The lobby separating the Courtroom and the Police Department contains a seated waiting area, a queuing area with security screening, restrooms, and citizen’s reporting room. The front desk serves as the first contact point for the Court and Police Department.
“Roth Sheppard Architects’ attention to detail during planning, design, and construction was incredible. They prided themselves in continually striving to work towards an elevated work product. They also worked tirelessly to hold other parties accountable to the vision and expectation of their firm, as well as our department.” – Lieutenant Alan Yoder, Firestone PD
Kaffe Landscap
Kaffe Landskap is located just north of the Union Station train tracks, at the southwest corner of the Coloradan building. Views of the RTD railway and Union Station are the dynamic backdrop to the ‘kaffe’ experience. The space is open and airy, seamlessly blending the interior market-like atmosphere with the exterior urban environment. ‘Kaffe’ & ‘Landskap’ are Swedish words that individually translate to ‘coffee’ and ‘landscape’. When paired together, they engender the notion that this café is directly connected to the land.
The design aesthetic of Kaffe Landskap is a modern-yet-playful composition of a simple palette of materials intended to create a sense of warmth, comfort, and balance. The soft graining of the white oak wood flooring represents the land [Landskap]. On top of the flooring rests the solid white oak timber furniture, which appear like an organized arrangement of Swedish toy blocks. Each custom-designed furniture piece is playful and heavy, yet smooth to the touch. Made of solid white oak, these natural materials are distinctly of the Landskap. The massive wood shelving, suspended over the entire length of the L-shaped coffee bar, represents the lattice of the forest tree canopy. Simple pendants in a soft Swedish sage color are suspended over the large community tables; set low to create intimacy in an otherwise open space. The remainder of the lighting is inconspicuous, creating an ambient glow necessary throughout the space to invite and enchant..
“Although we were particular about the features conceptually, our ideas needed to be refined and translated into a concrete design. Having Roth Sheppard as part of the team made this possible. We were often amazed how Roth Sheppard quickly developed our enthusiastic but vague ideas into beautiful and coherent solutions. Holistically they made the core of what Landskap represents shine through, and they thoughtfully considered every individual piece to ensure it contributed with purpose and strengths,” Tomas Tjarnberg, owner.
Photos courtesy of Roth Sheppard Architects
