Nothing brings people together in the architecture and design community like… well physically being together. As many of us try to convince our peers that being in the same room from time to time has its merits, the Denver Local Advisors group of AIA Colorado has taken it upon itself to provide multiple tours of recently completed, or under construction, projects around the city.
Colorado Convention Center expansion tour
Most recently, the group visited the active construction site of the Colorado Convention Center expansion. The contractor team led a group of about thirty architects, aspiring architects, engineers, and other industry partners through the building that is nearing completion and spoke to the logistical hurdles that they had to overcome, such as building over an active parking garage while wedged between the Convention Center, which continues to be used on a weekly basis, and a major arterial thoroughfare through downtown Denver. In just about an hour, the group had ventured through multiple exhibit and pre-function areas, the “largest kitchen west of the Mississippi”, and across multiple staging and overlook points. Of course, the only way to round out the afternoon was with a group happy hour at a nearby beverage establishment.
National Western Complex tour
These sorts of gatherings have been gaining momentum here in Denver over the summer. What began on a rainy day in May to tour the recently completed City Heights dormitory on the Auraria Campus was followed by a tour through the National Western Complex in June. These events have provided opportunities for behind the scenes looks at various high-profile projects around Denver, but also allowed people the chance to mingle with their counterparts that they haven’t seen since before the pandemic and given younger aspiring architects the chance to make a dent in their AXP hours.
For the Denver Local Advisors, the focus this year has been on bringing people together and highlighting some of the incredible work being done around this every-changing city. The group has taken steps to provide platforms for people to showcase their work and come together to be inspired by current and future work. The group plans to expand its efforts to include other prominent projects currently under construction and to also highlight larger scale plans that will dramatically alter the landscape of Denver with future events on a (hopefully) monthly basis.
In the meantime, if you or your office would like to have a project featured by this group, please contact AIA Colorado to get on the schedule. Keep an eye on the bi-weekly newsletters for more opportunities to tour these excellent projects and to come together as a Denver architecture community that continues to grow, evolve, and coalesce around this great city and region.