Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Provocative and memorable

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 17, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

More More Business

More stories »

There's the former Olinger mortuary building that now houses trendy restaurants such as Lola and Vita in the Highland neighborhood.

At 22nd and Larimer streets, there's Snooze, a coffee shop that gives you a jolt with its space-age art, as well as caffeine. Taxi, a multibuilding, mixed-use development in the mostly industrial River North neighborhood. It's probably the longest office building in Denver, with design surprises every few feet.

They are among the 17 winners of the third annual Mayor's Design Awards, which were honored Tuesday night at Museo de las Americas.

"Great cities are just as enriched by many small and beautiful design interventions as they are by large and bold civic gestures," Mayor John Hickenlooper said.

Categories

• Buildings that beckon: Extraordinary curb appeal

• Reclaimed splendor: Adaptive reuse of space or materials

• Wicked little details: Uncommon design details and the creative use of materials

• Density by design: Redevelopment projects that strategically increase housing and employment densities

• Home is where the art is: Extraordinary contributions to the residential environment

• It isn't easy being green: Buildings or sites that incorporate sustainable or green building principles

• Wild card: Any gesture that makes our city interesting, provocative and memorable

DESIGNED TO RIDE

Cherry Creek-area bus stops

Organizer: Transportation Solution

Category: Wild card

Why it's cool: In an effort to make bus stops more conspicuous within the urban environment, colorful displays were created to provide bright, informational transit stops.

UNIVERSITY HILLS CARES!

Organizer: University Hills Baptist Church and the University Hills Neighborhood Association

Category: Wild card

Why it's cool: More than 150 volunteers provided assistance to 50 neighborhood families in July 2007. These kind gestures included cutting grass, pulling weeds, cleaning out closets and washing windows. These collaborative acts of kindness remind us what it means to be part of a community.

MOUNTAIN VIEW DENTAL

4590 Lowell Blvd.

Owner: Dr. Steve Runnings

Category: Reclaimed splendor

Why it's cool: Removal of a faux mansard roof revealed a charming, turn-of-the-century brick commercial building, making it northwest Denver's new "crown jewel."

THE CURTIS COMPLEX

14th Street between Arapahoe and Curtis streets

Owner: Damen Kompanowski, Jennifer Jones and Galen Krohn

Category: Reclaimed splendor

Why it's cool: The once-dead facade now connects passers-by with funky and engaging interior spaces.

OLINGER COMPLEX

1575 Boulder St.

Owner: Paul Tamburello, Stephanie Garcia

Category: Reclaimed splendor

Why it's cool: The redevelopment of Olinger's mortuary revived this complex with its mix of tenants, including Cafe Karma.

ALLIANCE CENTER

1536 Wynkoop St.

Owner: John Powers, Aaron Nelson

Category: It ain't easy being green

Why it's cool: The space houses a multitude of nonprofit organizations. The building fosters collaboration through shared meeting space, for tenants and non-tenants.

MERCURY CAFE URBAN WIND FARM

2199 California St.

Owner: Marilyn Megenity

Category: It ain't easy being green

Why it's cool: Mercury features Denver's first power-generating windmills atop the restaurant and a "living wall" that filters pollutants.

Z WICK PLACE

3601 Wazee St.

Owner: Susan Wick

Category: Home is where the art is

Why it's cool: This home-gallery-studio occupies a two-story, red brick former hotel, adjacent to the railroad tracks. It's filled with art and artifacts of its occupants.

972 S. GILPIN ST.

Owner: Ron Faleide, Ellin Rosenthal

Category: Home is where the art is

Why it's cool: Sleek architectural lines altered a traditional Tudor from simple home to inhabitable sculpture. Though irrefutably bold, it overwhelms neither the scale nor texture of nearby brick homes.

Z CUISINE

2239 W. 30th Ave. (at Wyandot Street)

Owner: Patrick and Lynnde Dupays

Category: Buildings that beckon

Why it's cool: The windows on the outside of this charming French bistro reveal an intimate room similar to that on the Rue du Bac.

DELUXE

30 S. Broadway

Owner: Chef Dylan Moore

Category: Buildings that beckon

Why it's cool: Boasting the two best bar seats in town, this intimate, sleek storefront restaurant with its delicious food and bar offers a hideaway from the busy city.

TAXI

3455 Ringsby Court

Owners: Mickey Zeppelin

Category: Density by design

Why it's cool: At the intersection of great architecture, lively enterprise and art, Taxi is situated in Denver's most interesting emerging neighborhood, River North.

43 RUSSIA

43rd Avenue and Bryant Street

Owner: Mark Meiser

Category: Density by design

Why it's cool: The complex sensitively uses 21st century details (including solar panel siding) to bring the present into harmony with a vintage neighborhood.

SNOOZE

2262 Larimer St.

Owner: Jonathan Schlegel

Category: Wicked little details

Why it's cool: Starbursts, atomic amoebas and other Sputnik and space-age details in the signage, wall art and custom booths give Snooze architectural humor.

WEIR BUILDING & DUO RESTAURANT

2413 W. 32nd Ave. (at Zuni Street)

Owner: Keith Arnold and Stephanie Bonin

Category: Wicked little details

Why it's cool: Historically correct windows define the building, and Duo uses windowpanes as dividers.

PLINTH GALLERY

3520 Brighton Blvd.

Owner: Jonathan Kaplan

Category: Wicked little details

Why it's cool: This ceramics gallery is a traffic-stopping transformation of a funky quasi-industrial space. Pristine white walls and platforms have replaced wood paneling.

ERICO MOTORSPORTS

2855 Walnut St.

Owner: John Beldock

Category: Wild card

Why it's cool: Formerly a brick service station, owners converted garage doors into expansive picture display windows. Erico is a clever reuse of an industrial space.