DENVER UNION STATION NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSFORMATION, 2014 - Denver, Colorado, USA

Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP., Chicago, Illinois, USA
Client: Denver Union Station Project Authority (City and County of Denver, Colorado Department of Transportation, Denver Regional Council of Governments, and Regional Transportation District), Denver, Colorado, USA
Master Developer: Union Station Neighborhood Company (USNC), Denver, Colorado, USA
General Contractor: Kiewit Western Co., Littleton, Colorado, USA
Urban Design Consultant: Ronald A Straka, FAIA., Denver, Colorado, USA
Historic Preservation: Iron Horse Architects, Denver, Colorado, USA
Prime Engineer: AECOM USA., Los Angeles, California, USA
Public Realm Designer: Hargreaves Associates, San Francisco, California, USA

Project Description


Redevelopment of the former rail yards at Denver Union Station (DUS) is a national case study of the power of transit-oriented urban design. The proposer’s master planning, urban design and architectural design work on this project knits together light rail, commuter and intercity rail, regional and local buses, downtown shuttle buses, taxis, shuttles, vans, limousines, bicycle routes and pedestrian networks into a 21st-century intermodal transportation hub and urban transit district.

Investing in a 21st Century American City
The DUS project represents an historic investment in the core of an American city that, like so many others, had suffered from the blight of obsolete industrial land and the mistakes of 1960s Urban Renewal. In a region with few limits to sprawl, an outsize dependence on the automobile, and a heritage of open frontiers, Denver’s bet on public transportation infrastructure, transit-oriented and mixed-use development, and high-quality walkable public spaces in the heart of downtown is paying off handsomely.

The masterplan provides capacity for more than 200,000 daily trips and facilitates modal connectivity by integrating land use and transportation infrastructure as the backbone to support over 4 million square feet of mixed-use urban infill within a quarter-mile (15-minute) walk of the station. Adjacent to Denver’s CBD, with a revived historic Union Station building as its focal point, the emerging Union Station neighborhood anchors and seamlessly connects the two smart growth neighborhoods in the heart of the city — Lower Downtown and the Central Platte Valley.

The new open-air commuter rail terminal, light rail station and below-grade bus terminal create a connected constellation of transportation programs distributed across the 42-acre redevelopment area. The application of strong urban design principles, including use of a common architectural language for the transportation elements, allows users to intuitively identify entrance points for both at-grade and below-grade stations. Moreover, the transportation facilities are elevated to the status of civic buildings woven into an urban fabric of high-quality public spaces across 8 acres, bracketed by a gateway plaza at the light rail station in the west and two major urban squares flanking the historic station building in the east.

Capturing Transit Momentum
The project is the centerpiece of the Regional Transportation District’s ambitious FasTracks program, which is being delivered as a public-private partnership with federal, state, and local funding. This substantial public transportation investment has already catalyzed an unprecedented wave of private-sector activity. The historic landmark station building itself is being transformed into a 110-key boutique hotel and retail center. Within the immediate Denver Union Station neighborhood six multifamily and office projects (nearly a million square feet of construction) are in the ground today, with six more – an additional 2 million square feet – in the design and permitting stages. Economists estimate more than $1 billion in private investment has been stimulated by the transformational transportation investment.

The DUS Redevelopment realizes the City of Denver’s visionary objectives for sustainable development known as Greenprint Denver. By strategically organizing the multi-modal transportation elements across the site, the project provides a fully integrated network of transit connections and public spaces, while serving as a catalyst for private development. The presence of so many new transit modes and LEED certified transportation facilities, along with future LEED ND designation for the mixed-use neighborhood and individual LEED certification for the privately built buildings, will create an exemplary sustainable urban environment of high order. The project is predicted to be 32.7% more energy-efficient as compared to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 baseline rating.

One of the largest of its kind in the United States, this major city-building undertaking required close collaboration between visionary community advocates, a community-crafted master planning process, four governmental partners, a consortium of local developers, and the support of the US Federal government. This project sets a new standard in the US for delivering on the highest aspirations for sustainability as both a means and an end: an integrated, LEED-certified transportation hub as the heart of a vibrant, thriving community that is transit-served, economically robust and advancing the quality of life for Denver residents, workers and visitors.