A3 thoughts Blog

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BESTawards Building Tour: Sustainability

November 30, 2016

For initial tour photos and information on Davis Partnership Architect’s new workplace, visit our previous post about BESTawards Building Tours.

Davis Partnership

Davis Partnership designed with the environment in mind. The first step in the building process for their new home was to test the concrete and, as a precaution, abate the old ink stains left from years past. Now that they are safe, the concrete helps tell the story of the building while allowing the design to proudly and beautifully complement the architecture.

An in house lighting designer elected to equip the new space with occupancy and daylight sensors for the lighting and designed the system with four preset scenes to complement the amount of daylight at any given time. Each desk is equipped with an individual LED task lamp to bring light levels up when necessary. Keeping the “don’t screw it up” mantra in mind, the lighting designer opted for a track system mounted to the trusses to provide ambient lighting.

For the heating and cooling system, Davis Partnership utilized a raised floor system to allow for a passive heating and cooling system. The floor has fin vents at the windows on the far wall which pulls in the cold or hot air from the windows, circulates that air beneath the floor and up the opposite side, which has a series of fans to push the air up into the work space. The whole system is then maximized with the use of several Big Ass Fans that smartly circulate the air back through the space. All of this allows their energy costs to be ¢.75 per square foot!

Davis Partnership chose a spray on organic acoustical treatment applied at the top of the clearstory above the trusses to aid with the acoustics of working in such a cavernous space. All of these steps, the onsite bike storage, and the use of local craftsmen and products allowed them to apply for LEED Gold Certification under the level 4 qualifications – which are extremely stringent!

The studio layout was artfully done, with conference rooms along the gallery, a large central work space and circulation defined by a spine showcasing collaborative meeting spaces, pin up walls, and landscape plantings which highlights the collaborative nature of how the firm works. In addition, there are several break out meeting rooms titled with names of various Denver neighborhoods, quiet rooms, phone rooms and an attractive company cafeteria and kitchen. The firm held an art competition to bring a local artist in to provide large murals to jazz up the space and connect them to the artistic nature of the River North (RiNO) Arts District. The interiors speak to the energy of the firm, the architecture of the building, and provide a healthy and sustainable work environment for their 200 employees. The tour was an amazing way to network with our peers and appreciate a beautifully designed workplace.

—Nicole