Denver Archives - School Construction News

University of Colorado Tops Out Residence Hall Project

School News — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 13:29:01 +0000

By Lisa Kopochinski

DENVER—The University of Colorado Denver recently celebrated its official “topping out” for its new City Heights Residence Hall and Learning Commons.

The 182,000-square-foot residence hall will add approximately 555 beds and is the first on-campus student housing complex for the university.

The $62.4 million project comprises a seven-story residence hall comprised of two wings connected vertically by internal communal scaled to encourage student interaction between floors.

Stantec is providing architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, lighting, and sustainability services on the project. JE Dunn is the general contractor

The residential tower offers students mountain or downtown views, and the L-shaped configuration of the building’s upper floors flank a sunny courtyard space that will provide a new campus gathering place and connection between the CU Denver campus neighborhood and the Tivoli Student Union.

The lower floors include a central campus dining hall on the ground floor, and a 30,000-square-foot student services center called the Learning Commons, designed to enhance faculty development and support students outside the classroom.

The Learning Commons will centralize student academic support and tutoring services into a collaborative facility that will serve residents and non-residents with the aim of making academic support approachable and convenient. The Learning Commons will also feature faculty development programs and expanded space supporting online education—a rapidly evolving and critical component of the academic landscape, even prior to the COVID pandemic.

As another prominent addition to the CU Denver neighborhood on the Auraria Campus, the project will complement the university’s refined masonry palate while showcasing public spaces with expanses of glass, including a new retail space.

The City Heights Residence Hall is pursuing a LEED Gold rating and will include a green roof on the Learning Commons, as well as five beehives to support the campus’ pollinator habitat.

“The City Heights Residence Hall is an exciting project that brings together on-campus student life and academic success by merging housing with student academic support services,” said Stantec Principal Dominic Weilminster, in a statement.

“Once complete, the facility will dramatically shift the campus culture, celebrating the diverse student body that makes CU Denver so special.”

Set to open August 2021 for residents, the building is in alignment with the potential ongoing impacts of COVID-19. Operational and physical design adaptations could include modified dining operations to allow for longer meal periods and reduced density at mealtimes, modified cleaning procedures, and touchless faucets for handwashing throughout.

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Slight Rebound in Architecture Billings Index

WASHINGTON – Following a drop of nearly three points last fall, the Architecture Billings Index nudged up more than two points from January to February, according to figures released today.

As a leading economic indicator of construction activity created by the American Institute of Architects, the ABI reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending.

The February ABI rating was 44.8, up from a reading of 42.5 in January. Despite the slight uptick, the score indicates a continued decline in demand for design services.

“We continue to hear that funding dedicated for construction projects in the stimulus package has not yet been awarded, resulting in a bottleneck of potential projects that could help jumpstart the economy,” says AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. “That, coupled with a persistently rigid credit market for private sector projects, is a key reason why the design and construction industry continue to suffer at near historic levels in terms of job losses.”

In February, ABI averages reached 49.4 in the Midwest, 44.1 in the Northeast, 43.6 in the West, and 40.7 in the South. Multi-family residential homes averaged 47.3 on the ABI in February, while institutional buildings were around 44.2, mixed-practice buildings 43.3, and commercial/industrial complexes 43.2.

The ABI is derived from a monthly survey of work on the boards at architectural firms produced by the AIA Economics Market Research Group. It compares data compiled since the survey’s inception in 1995 with figures from the Department of Commerce on Construction Put in Place.

The diffusion indexes contained in the full report are derived from a monthly survey sent to a panel of AIA member-owned firms. Participants are asked whether their billings increased, decreased, or stayed the same in the month that just ended. According to the proportion of respondents choosing each option, a score is generated, which represents an index value for each month. The regional and sector data is formulated using a three-month moving average.

American Institute of Architects

The post Slight Rebound in Architecture Billings Index appeared first on School Construction News.

Slight Rebound in Architecture Billings Index

WASHINGTON – Following a drop of nearly three points last fall, the Architecture Billings Index nudged up more than two points from January to February, according to figures released today.

As a leading economic indicator of construction activity created by the American Institute of Architects, the ABI reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending.

The February ABI rating was 44.8, up from a reading of 42.5 in January. Despite the slight uptick, the score indicates a continued decline in demand for design services.

“We continue to hear that funding dedicated for construction projects in the stimulus package has not yet been awarded, resulting in a bottleneck of potential projects that could help jumpstart the economy,” says AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. “That, coupled with a persistently rigid credit market for private sector projects, is a key reason why the design and construction industry continue to suffer at near historic levels in terms of job losses.”

In February, ABI averages reached 49.4 in the Midwest, 44.1 in the Northeast, 43.6 in the West, and 40.7 in the South. Multi-family residential homes averaged 47.3 on the ABI in February, while institutional buildings were around 44.2, mixed-practice buildings 43.3, and commercial/industrial complexes 43.2.

The ABI is derived from a monthly survey of work on the boards at architectural firms produced by the AIA Economics Market Research Group. It compares data compiled since the survey’s inception in 1995 with figures from the Department of Commerce on Construction Put in Place.

The diffusion indexes contained in the full report are derived from a monthly survey sent to a panel of AIA member-owned firms. Participants are asked whether their billings increased, decreased, or stayed the same in the month that just ended. According to the proportion of respondents choosing each option, a score is generated, which represents an index value for each month. The regional and sector data is formulated using a three-month moving average.

American Institute of Architects

The post Slight Rebound in Architecture Billings Index appeared first on School Construction News.