The Rollins Center connects four distinct areas in a single, state-of-the-art structure: a 60,000-SF multi-purpose student center, an expanded dining hall boasting a wide variety of food stations, 350-seat banquet facility, and a 40,000-SF modern library. The stunning Campus Center is designed to be the focal point of the growing campus.
The campus center provides dedicated office and meeting space for student media, Student Government Association, religious life, Greek organizations and other clubs. It also includes multiple lounge areas, informal meeting space, computer workstations, and convenience store. Additionally, the more than 500-seat dining hall replaces the College’s current 270-seat space. Food stations will feature nutritious, customized made-to-order meals, plus grab-and-go options.
Striving to achieve LEED certification, the building’s design focuses on sustainability. Sustainable features include the use of geothermal wells for the capture of onsite renewable energy, the sophisticated use of exterior glazing and light shelves to maximize daylight as well as views, reduced water usage both inside and out, the use of both recycled and regional materials as well as the recycling of construction waste.
The building is constructed of a structural steel and concrete frame, a masonry, glass, metal panel and wood exterior skin and both single ply and metal roof systems. Interior design will consist of Class A finishes with an emphasis on wood to create a very social and comfortable environment for the student body.
Constructed during one of the worst winters in local memory, the College Campus Center lost an incredible 192 days to weather. Despite this seemingly insurmountable challenge, Choate Construction delivered the project on time and even without using the officially allowed 90-day overage.
Pankow provided preconstruction and construction services for Phase 1B of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple Master Plan.
The project consisted of a partial renovation of the historic 1929 School Building, a complete renovation of the 1962 School Building, rework of a portion of the 1st floor of the 1962 Administration building, and the site work associated with the areas surrounding the two schools.
The new parking structure was constructed concurrently with the school renovations.
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.
This 84,000 square foot Earth Advantage Gold student housing complex includes two four-story buildings and one five-story building “connected via indoor bridges” and houses 91 living units with a mix of quad-single and quad-double rooms. Each floor includes specified units for resident assistants and resident directors with a variety of additional spaces for student interaction and collaboration such as a game room, a central kitchen, and meeting rooms with projection screen for study spaces.
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.
Located on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus, Marsico Hall is the University’s premiere research facility, bringing together both UNC’s School of Pharmacy and the School of Medicine. This glassy 343,000-SF facility was designed and constructed to LEED Silver standards with sustainable features that include water harvesting, alternate fuel refueling stations, innovative waste water technologies, daylight harvesting, and a 28% energy savings over baseline comparisons. With an average of 932 daily users, the facility’s sustainable features will provide a positive environmental impact for UNC’s campus and the Town of Chapel Hill throughout the life of the facility.
Both preconstruction and construction services for this $163 million project were performed by Choate Construction. At its completion in 2014, the project marked the largest Construction Manager At-Risk project ever completed in the State of North Carolina.