Improving Social, Physical and Emotional Health Through Intentional Design
By Laurel Raines, Dig Studio, president | founder A national competition sponsored by Denver Parks and Recreation (DPR) in 2012 invited the design community to “re-imagine play” and help radically transform Denver’s playgrounds. By liberating play equipment from typical defined bubbles of space and spreading play opportunities throughout park environments, people of all …
Design Workshop Receives Multiple Industry Awards
Design Workshop, an international landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm, has received multiple awards in 2020, recognizing the firm, its employees and projects across the U.S., including Colorado. “While the pandemic has required our team to shift the way they work with each other and clients, we are resilient …
SLAM Landscape Architecture & Planning Studio Expands to Denver
As part of its strategic plan to grow the integrated practice across nine offices, the S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM), a national multi-disciplinary design firm, has expanded its SLAM Landscape Architecture & Planning Studio (LA&P) to 1900 Grant Street, Denver. This location is part of a recent acquisition of five CBRE | Heery …
Major Restoration on Tap for Denver’s South Platte River
A leader in river restoration and development, S2O Design and Engineering has been selected to execute a signature component of downtown Denver’s River Mile development—the restoration of the iconic South Platte River. The effort will incorporate sustainability, aquatic and riparian habitat enhancements, and flood control along a more than 1-mile-long …
‘Build the Canopy’ Grants Available to Property Owners in Downtown Denver
The third round of Urban Forest Initiative ‘Build the Canopy’ grants launched on July 29, 2020. This grant program, created by the Downtown Denver Partnership, the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, and City and County of Denver, with funding support from private donors, has the goal of building a robust tree …
Water Conservation and Sustainability Initiative Launches at Centerra
McWhinney, a master-planned developer and investment firm, has launched an official Water Conservation and Sustainability Initiative for its Centerra community in collaboration with environmental nonprofit High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC), to enhance water conservation and sustainable practices in northern Colorado. Over the course of the next year, Centerra, HPEC and local community stakeholders including the …
Using Drones as a Tool to Drive Public Engagement
By Sara Egan and Maddie Clark Landscape architects and planners have relied on Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs or drones) for site analysis, monitoring construction progress and benchmarking projects in recent years. Data and birds-eye imagery from drones can even enhance storytelling to bolster community engagement and deepen the clarity and …
Unico Properties Completes Platte Street Plaza
Unico Properties, a subsidiary of Unico Investment Group LLC, recently completed Platte Street Plaza, a community amenity space at the base of the Highland Bridge. The project was made possible through a public/private partnership between Unico Properties LLC and the City & County of Denver, with the $1.7 million in …
Understanding Sustainable Design: Different Practices Return Different Results
By Clif Dayton, PE, R&R Engineers-Surveyors, Inc. Though sustainable design practices have been around for centuries, in the last twenty-five years, sustainable design practices have been more prevalent in building codes. The 21st century phrase, & “sustainable design” is best defined by what it does: It reduces the negative impacts on the environment, while …
The Benefits of Denver’s Urban Forest Initiative
By Chris Geddes, associate at Design Workshop. With Earth Day upon us, Wednesday, April 22 – it’s a good time to share how the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP), the City of Denver, and community leaders are working to be more sustainable and earth friendly. As landscape architects, Earth Day is every day …