Florida Pitt Waller is a new Pre-K-to-8th grade school that serves 750 students in the Green Valley Ranch Development in northeast Denver. The building is two stories with classroom pods of Pre-K through 5th grade on the first floor, including administration, music, art, cafeteria, kitchen and a gymnasium.
 
The second floor consists of classroom pods for grades 6 through 8 and the library, which has spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains to the west. The overall site occupies 12.1 acres along the eastern edge of Green Valley Ranch. 

Integration was a key element of the design and planning phase. Joint venture designers MOA Architecture and Larson Incitti Architects worked closely with Denver Public Schools to integrate school district requirements and objectives from the Construction Advisory Committee process, plus compliance with Green Valley Ranch North Design Standards. Close relationships were developed through this process, which resulted in an integrated design that helped anchor the new community of Green Valley Ranch.

The quality of the construction documents and timing produced a final cost well below the budget, which allowed the construction of four additional classrooms. The real challenge came by way of a tight construction schedule. The team had only 12 months to build the 105,000-sq-ft school and develop the remaining 12.1-acre site. The project also incorporated sustainable design features such as daylighting and a sophisticated automated building system.

Florida Pitt Waller School
Denver

This $32-million project at the University of Colorado School of Business included asbestos abatement, a 101,000-sq-ft renovation, sprinkler and HVAC upgrades and significant site upgrades to the Business Quad greenbelt on the Boulder campus.

The project also included a 63,000-sq-ft structural steel and stone veneer addition, named after the Koelbel family, one of Denver's prominent developers and a major contributor to the project. The Koelbel addition features classrooms, dining facilities, a grand atrium with a limestone floor and a clay tile dome with copper accents.

Programming for the renovation included classrooms, teaching laboratories, a library and group study rooms. Pinkard worked closely with CU and the architect, Davis Partnership, to earn a LEED-gold certification. Pinkard's LEED construction practices produced these results:

 • Procurement of 35% of construction materials from local/regional sources;

 • Recycling of 91% of construction waste;

 • Development and construction of a temporary protection intake shaft to allow exterior earthwork to begin while classes were still in session. The shaft had 30-ft walls, ductwork and filter media to protect building users from diesel exhaust and dust;

 • Construction of a temporary parking lot complete with lights for public safety;

 • Construction of a tunnel/stairway for safe pedestrian egress and delivery traffic to the working dock.

Nine months into the project, additional funding was made available, allowing CU to add $5.9 million, or 22% in additional scope, with no corresponding schedule extension. Pinkard reevaluated the schedule with special attention to which subcontractors were performing on the critical path and identified ways to double-shift or work more efficiently. Despite the fast-track, 16-month schedule, a surprise OSHA inspection resulted in zero citations.

Leeds School of Business
Boulder

Silver Hard Hat Award

The new Student Recreation Center on the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden provides the college’s fast-growing student body with a long-desired campus amenity. The 108,000-sq-ft project includes a versatile competition/practice gymnasium with seating for 2,500 spectators, a separate recreation gymnasium, multiple fitness areas, an extensive climbing wall, an indoor competition/recreation pool, student and team locker rooms, offices, outdoor recreation program headquarters, multi-purpose meeting rooms and casual lounge space distributed throughout the facility.

The site is adjacent to the existing student center and creates an important campus link to future on-campus housing as well as the recently completed Greek housing areas of the campus. A central upper-level concourse provides spectator access to the competition gymnasium and allows students to move through the building on their way to recreate or attend classes. The lower-level entry is oriented to a primary campus intersection, emphasizing the building’s prominence in campus life.

Colorado School of Mines
Student Recreation Center
Golden

Bronze Hard Hat Award

On November 1, 2005, the voters of Aspen approved a $33-million bond issue for major improvements at the Aspen School District’s main K-12 campus adjacent to Maroon Creek Road. In 2005, Hutton Ford Architects, in association with Studio B Architects of Aspen, started working on facility programming, existing facility analysis, conceptual design and a public relations campaign.

Guided by an Asset Committee composed of administrators, teachers, parents and community members, the project consists of a classroom expansion to the existing elementary school, improvements to the school district theater, a replacement middle school with playground and site alterations to improve pedestrian and traffic flow. The additions, improvements and new building alterations reflect the community's core values: academic excellence, appreciation of the arts, outdoor education and environmentalism.

Key sustainable strategies for the new middle school are daylighting, high-efficiency electric lighting, multi-story form and high-performance glazing. Other sustainable features of note include reflective roofing, waterless urinals, low-maintenance concrete floors and linoleum.

The design team worked with the Community Office of Resource Efficiency, Rebuild Colorado and the Holy Cross Utility Company to explore creative funding for the project and may utilize the LEED system to assess sustainability.

Aspen Middle School
Aspen

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