For the recently completed 2020 Rocky Mountain Real Estate Challenge, STUDIO paired with a team of MBA students from the University of Denver to develop a Denver International Airport (DEN) site located at 61st Ave and Pena Boulevard in Denver, CO.
Recognizing the transient nature of DEN, our DU team wanted to create a unique sense of community that would attract local residents and visitors, connect to the surrounding natural environment, and simultaneously integrate technology into new urban amenities. The STUDIO team honored their team’s commitment to sustainability and the surrounding natural beauty of the site by creating green spaces and focusing on pedestrian circulation, most notably along Panasonic Way.
During the first phase of proposed development, the DU team planned to build a new, futuristic E-Sports Event Center that would serve as the social hub of the new campus. The first phase also included two new hotels: an Atari-style hotel directly East of the event center and a Sonder Hotel for long-term stays. The second phase aimed to increase multimodal traffic on site with the construction of a mobility hub that helped connect visitors to RTD’s Light Rail system and link it to a new automated bus system running down Panasonic Way. Phase two also added two new office buildings with ground floor retail to help attract the local community to the new development. The third phase of development added another office building and parking structure that help activate open space and retail uses along Panasonic Way. To complete the proposed campus, the final phase included three additional office buildings that framed a large plaza on the south end of the site.
STUDIO was thrilled to work with such an amazing team of DU students. They envisioned a truly unique technologically-integrated urban campus that would be integrated into the surrounding natural environment. To our fantastic DU team, thank you for all of your hard work, and we look forward to working with you again in the future!
