The judges did not select a Gold Hard Hat winner in this category.

Silver Hard Hat Award (tie)

Denver Museum of Nature and Science Parking Structure
Submitted by: RNL Design

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science Parking Structure is a 550-car facility designed to relieve parking congestion for museum and City Park patrons. The garage is located adjacent to the primary museum entrance and consists of one level of surface parking and two subterranean levels. Design began in May 2002 and the garage opened in June 2003.

Parking was made easier to negotiate, with wider-than-normal parking spaces to accommodate larger vehicles. Clearance within the garage is eight-ft, six-in. for taller vehicles such as sport utility vehicles with rooftop carriers. The parking floors are flat rather than ramped, providing a safer and more open environment for visitors.

Because the garage is located in a prominent portion of City Park, the design creates a "seamless" top level surface deck that integrates with the landscaping of the adjacent park land and the existing surface parking lot.

The garage itself is almost invisible except for the vehicular entrance and the elevators that lead to the museum's front door. The elevators create a pavilion building among mature evergreen trees that frames a terraced light-well, bringing natural daylight into the lower parking levels.

As much existing parking as possible had to be maintained during construction and the site is surrounded by mature trees, so staging space for construction was extremely limited, and materials were delivered on a "just-in-time" basis. With the museum open during construction and the garage essentially at its front door, the site needed to be extremely secure for visitors' safety.

PROJECT TEAM
Owner:	City and County of Denver
General Contractor:	Haselden Construction
Architect:	RNL Design
Structural Engineer:	Jirsa+Hedrick
Civil Engineer:	SA Miro
Mechanical Design-Build Contractor:	AMI Mechanical
Electrical Design-Build Contractor:	Laser Electric

Silver Hard Hat (tie)

South Denver Cardiology
Submitted by: MKK Consulting Engineers Inc.

The physicians and staff of South Denver Cardiology had a vision of expert cardiac care coupled with prevention, rehabilitation and education.

The result is a new 65,000-sq-ft outpatient Heart Center in Littleton, boasting state-of-the-art equipment and technology, including nuclear medicine/treadmill testing, CT Scan, cardiac catheterization lab with recovery area, a 4,000-sq-ft wellness facility and an integrative medicine center offering massage, acupuncture, herbology, pilates and yoga. A 168-seat conference room includes a full display kitchen for "heart healthy" cooking demonstrations.

A unique design challenge involved a 52-ft-high central spine/atrium area where the view of mechanical and electrical equipment was minimized and potentially high heating and cooling demands were reduced. The lighting design challenge introduced by the atrium was solved by using wall sconces on the limited wall space and downlights and uplights to highlight the tall ceiling.

Another unique aspect of the design was a complete feng shui facility review, resulting in the inclusion of a healing garden at the rear of the building, a natural gas fireplace in the waiting area, a waterfall fountain near the entrance and a revised layout for the furniture and interior spaces.

The cardiac catheterization lab is served by its own rooftop air handling unit that provides higher air filtration and enhances infection control during this invasive procedure. Humidification and HEPA filters incorporated into the diffusers were used to assure an especially clean environment for this space.

To assure power to critical equipment, an emergency generator and UPS were designed to serve the catheterization labs, computers and miscellaneous emergency equipment.

Bronze Hard Hat (tie)

Denver District 1 Police Station
Submitted by: Reseutek Design Group LLC

Denver's new 41,031-sq-ft District Police Station No. 1 sits on 4.85 acres in northwest Denver. The project was completed in February 2003.

The building program incorporates a new goal of providing decentralized, "community-based" policing. This radical change moves many of the services headquartered in the downtown facility to district stations where they are more accessible to neighborhoods. As a result of the program requiring a more community-oriented facility, the design reflects an open and welcoming facility while still meeting the high-security needs of post 9/11 public facilities.

The program called for the new facility to continue Denver's legacy of inspired urban design in a public realm. It reinforces design quality, functions and character connections between public places and their neighborhood context. The design also employs sustainable design and energy-efficient strategies to achieve a LEED silver level certification.

To achieve the goals of the programming, the facility was designed primarily as a tool to bring people together for resolving differences and encouraging new ideas. The final scheme creates a facility that establishes a positive presence not only within the community it serves, but also throughout Denver.

Click here for more Features >>