Construction has begun on the Populus Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Designed by Studio Gang, the 13-story, 265-room hotel is described by the team as “the first carbon-positive hotel in the United States,” and the first Studio Gang project to be built in Colorado.
According to the architects, the scheme’s distinctive façade was informed by the patterns found in Colorado’s native Aspen tree, the Populus Tremuloides. The façade is defined by “lids” extending out over each window, which offer passive shading and channel rainwater away from the windows.
The hotel design was first revealed on Archinect in February 2021 and received mostly skeptical responses from our readers.
The interior sees windows change in size to reflect their public or private use, with windows up to 30 feet high at the building’s base to frame the lobby and amenity spaces. Within the hotel guest rooms, the window base becomes a seat and desk fixture facing toward views of the city or mountains.
The ground floor will contain a lobby, café, and wine bar, while the second floor will contain a flexible area for business meetings, co-working areas, weddings and ceremonies, or pop-events. The top floor will feature a series of hospitality-style suites, and a public rooftop with a garden terrace of regional vegetation.
The team states that Populus will be the first carbon-positive hotel in the United States, aided by a series of on-site and off-site actions. The embodied carbon footprint of the building will reportedly be offset by planting trees equivalent to 5,000 acres of forest, removing the equivalent of 500,000 gallons of gas from the atmosphere.
The hotel will be constructed of low-carbon concrete mixes and recycled materials, and sparing use of finishes. The building, which is targeting LEED Gold certification, will also be the first new-build hotel in Denver without onsite parking, encouraging the use of public transport.
“Improving the resiliency of our cities has never been more urgent — and it includes reducing carbon emissions as well as strengthening community bonds,” said Jeanne Gang on the news that the tower had begun construction. “We’ve designed Populus to be a new destination in downtown Denver that combines these environmental and social ambitions. With its distinctive aspen eye windows, the building cultivates a lively pedestrian scene in its neighborhood, while simultaneously connecting you with views of the natural wonders beyond the city limits.”
The scheme broke ground in April 2022, with construction due to be completed in late 2023 by developer Urban Villages. News of the hotel comes one month after Studio Gang revealed their first project in Canada, with a 45-story residential tower.
8 Comments
I am just not buying the idea that “planning” to plant 5000 trees that will “remove” 500,000 gallons of gas from the atmosphere, will nudge this project into a “first” carbon positive hotel.
Agreed. Misleading claim and a terrible headline. Give us the goods: what’s actually being done onsite. What are the mixes? How are the finishes used sparingly? What materials and
what amount are recycled?
Greenwashing to sell to 1) Hotel guests 2) The building materials industry 3) The professional bodies
looks like a pipe organ, those arche look awful, she just jumpe don a style band wagon without any cue why or what.
Trypophpbia Towers.
cool! I like it!
It’s facade is patterned after shapes found in Aspen trees! Awesome, that will make it fit right in in downtown Denver.
related, I recently watched the Front Range Gardener on "five reasons why aspens are not good in the Front Range."
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