When making plans for the future few things are as certain as who will be the teachers, mayor, police officers, doctors and engineers the children of today. A renewed focus on providing those children, more specifically those living below the poverty level, with the resources to find success at the earliest stages of development was the driving force for the Volunteers of America (VOA) Early Childhood Education Center.
The VOA-operated Great Kids Head Start Delegate Center in Denver’s Westwood neighborhood, which has been providing early childhood education to preschool children since 2001, had outgrown its location and held a waiting list of 30 eligible children. Enter, VOA Early Childhood Education Center, a new 11,425-square-foot facility located adjacent to a new affordable housing community where many eligible children and families reside.
The University of Colorado Denver (UCD) has grown significantly since 1912, with over 14,000 enrolled students in its Downtown Denver Campus alone. Saunders Construction was more than honored to build UCD’s first ever ground-up building on the UCD Downtown Campus. The Academic Building 1 has helped UCD gain a stronger identity on its’ Downtown campus and has already become an important landmark in the City of Denver. This new building allows a central location for students to give them a better sense of community, with larger classrooms, central location for its staff and innovative teaching spaces.
With construction taking place on a busy student campus in Downtown Denver, a well-planned site logistics was critical to maintaining safety on site and limiting impact to the campus’ daily routine. All utilities needed to be brought into the Academic One site from surrounding streets. Some of the utilities were as deep as 20 feet. A complete temporary bus loop was constructed to redirect RTD buses during a major portion of construction. This allowed the schedule of one bus every seven minutes to experience zero interruptions in service.
The building was open to students and staff in August 2014.
The 50,800-square-foot addition to the JILA complex (a joint institute of the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Science and Technology) is intended to further the capability and capacity of scientific research from Astrophysics to Biophysics to Nanoscience. The facility houses some of the world’s leading scientists including Nobel Prize Laureates. The project is a response to the present and future growth of JILA, and provides cutting-edge laboratory, technical, office and collaborative spaces.
Saunders worked hand-in-hand with the University’s facilities department and JILA scientists/researchers, located in the existing facility, to provide constant communication on noise and vibration levels of construction operations in order to limit construction influence on the highly sensitive research.
The more than $53 million renovation to the University of Colorado Boulder’s student recreation center presented its fair share of challenges, both middling and uncharted, at almost every turn. From complex logistics at the highly active occupied facility to a 100-year flood, Saunders Construction’s ability to maintain construction excellence would be the difference between success and failure.
In order to provide a state-of-the-art facility, every square foot of the existing building (235,242 to be exact) required complete renovation. The renovation also included complete replacement of the building’s mechanical and electrical systems to address deferred maintenance needs.
In addition to the renovation, Saunders built new construction in excess of 70,000 square feet, providing space for expanded strength and conditioning areas, a new ice arena, a three-story rock climbing wall, roof-top tennis courts, and a new indoor turf multi-activity gym. The addition required an excavation of approximately 18 feet deep (33,000 cubic yards of dirt) and nearly five months of campus utility relocations. Additionally, the facility required structural enhancements to meet current seismic requirements.
The new luxury apartment homes is located in the Uptown neighborhood of Downtown Denver. The 172,660-square-foot, structure includes cast-in-place concrete and an underground parking garage to a concrete podium. On top of the podium is the plaza, retail space and wood framed buildings totaling 271,190 sq. ft. This development includes 303 apartments units and 408 parking spaces. The community includes four separate buildings as well as commercial space for retail shops and restaurants.
Conceived out of the ashes of a gang-related arson, the Nancy P. Anschutz Center now houses the Jack A. Vickers Boys and Girls Club, as well as offices of the Prodigal Son Initiative, thereby providing new opportunities for the community surrounding the deserted arson site. The building is a one-story steel-and-timber frame structure of approximately 30,000 square feet.
The warm and welcoming facility includes a learning lab, tech lab, arts and crafts room, gymnasium and locker rooms, dining area and kitchen, games room, teen center, community room, conference room, and other associated spaces, as well as parking and landscaping.
This is Northeast Denver’s first ever Boys and Girls Club, offering compatible community services and giving kids a place to play sports, do homework, and participate in after-school programs. The Prodigal Son Initiative aims to prevent youth violence by providing mentorship and opportunities for young people. On this project, Saunders’ community outreach efforts included hiring local labor, providing job training, hosting a Children’s Art Festival, and several community BBQs during the construction process.
Located at 9th Avenue and Auraria Parkway, the new 151,360-square-foot, four-story Student Success Building serves as a dedicated facility for the University. Metro State has shared the urban Auraria Higher Education Campus with two other higher education institutions since 1965. The Student Success Building creates an identity for Metro State and serve as a gateway for the students and community. The facility is 100% funded by student fees.
The facility consists of two wings surrounding a courtyard. The structure comprises of structural steel with a complex metal panel/brick/glass exterior envelope. The facility includes unique learning spaces including a Community Action Theater, Center for Innovation, First Year Experience Center as well as administrative offices. The building is LEED Gold certified.
This project was completed to combine the former Loma Linda Elementary and Heritage Middle Schools into a new prekindergarten through 8 campus. The new Timberline P-8 school embraces Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) opportunities as well as a continued International Baccalaureate (IB) focus. Grounded in the rigors of educational excellence the school is planned to open in August 2013. The construction is being accomplished while the schools remain operational.
A design/build project completed by the Saunders and MOA team, the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility is a 112,000-square-foot, four-story medical research laboratory and academic facility located within the Science + Technology Park at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus. The building is seeking LEED Gold certification.
Developed as a collaboration between the University of Colorado and the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility offers an unrivaled range of opportunity to life sciences research and development companies of all sizes, from small start-ups to established industry leaders.
The building houses the University of Colorado Department of Bioengineering, and multiple private biotechnology companies working in collaboration with the University including ClinImmune Labs, Precision Biopsy, and iC42 Clinical Research and Development. This state-of-the-art building is intended to be a blend of educational and private laboratories, which encourage collaboration and cross pollination within the bioscience and biotechnology community. The building is expected to be fully leased a year ahead of schedule.
The project included full design and build out of the interiors with a variety of program spaces including classrooms, study rooms, teaching laboratories, wet and dry laboratories, clean rooms, office space, conference rooms, IT support, cryogenic freezer areas, acid storage, and support areas. Approximately 50 percent of the building is research laboratory space and 50 percent academic and office support.
Located in the rural mountain town of Fairplay, Colorado, the 125,000 sq. ft. project provides a new state-of-the-art P-12 education campus. The project was completed in several phases. The campus features separate facilities for the Elementary, Middle and High School as well as new athletic complex. The campus includes covered walkways and a centralized playground providing maximum security and safety for the students.
The new facility also features a 4,700 sq. ft. off-site Athletic Complex comprised of new synthetic turf football field, crusher fine running track, grandstands, and athletic support building.
A portion of the remodel renovation was within the Historic Edith Teter School House built in 1898 (this is the oldest school house in the State of Colorado.
The Fairplay P -12 School is LEED Gold certificated and utilizes an innovative wood-fired biomass boiler as a renewable energy source.