Author: amsdenver

Public Spaces are where life happens. From playgrounds to musical performances and public demonstrations, they serve as the focal point that communities form, develop, and thrive around.

At Consilium Design, we believe that public spaces should be designed to be lived in – not simply be looked at. This means our design should 1) respond to the cultural context of the site and its surroundings, 2) simplify the landscape and amenity program, and 3) prioritize sustainability goals and objectives.

Our client invited us to create a vision for a downtown premier outdoor music venue, mixing contemporary building expressions into the existing building fabric. Two historic buildings will have their exteriors fully restored.  The three-story hotel that has been vacant for decades will be restored to increase foot traffic and offer much-needed downtown lodging options.   Our idea was to keep the historic structures as artifacts and fill them in with very contemporary new building forms and landscapes evoking something new and compelling emerging from these rustic relics.

Sustainability goals are to capture as much solar energy as possible with rooftop photovoltaics, which doubles as shade for people and buildings, lowering summer a/c costs. An underground cistern is designed to capture and store rainwater to meet all the project’s irrigation needs, evaporative cooler demand, as well as addressing stormwater detention requirements.

This great public space will be a year-round must-see attraction and a huge asset for the city and region.

​At Pointe Plaza and The Commons, wind-friendly design was priority #1. We minimized the impacts of NW winter winds and took advantage of warm SW winds by rotating building orientations to define the space and provide wind-friendly outdoor spaces.

Design features include:

• Upper floor bridge connections between buildings at the plaza
• Point Place is “Main Street”-we maximized the orientation of buildings to this street
• Existing Townhomes and a new building fronting Point Place create a gateway effect
• Point Place can be closed for events from the parking entry to parking entry
• Offices & apartments over daycare facility
• Apartments at upper levels at the Plaza
• Central plaza extended through Point Place to create a pedestrian-friendly zone
• First-floor commercial has good visibility in all buildings
• Windbreaks have been planted at all open space opportunities

Connectivity is the overriding design intent of Larry L. Levin Park. The park provides surrounding businesses, residences, and commuters with a meeting place for recreation, play, and conversation where individuals can connect to create larger groups while experiencing nature. Connectivity is addressed on-site through accessibility and the convergence of a variety of transportation options, bike lanes, and sidewalks make experiencing the park inevitable.

Landscaping has been arranged for clear lines of site, access, and openness with prominent lighting in all areas to promote a sense of safety and well-being at any time of day or night. The surrounding businesses and residences provide eyes-on-the street and a sense of a safe community. A prominent corner monument provides wayfinding and identifies the space.

The large open lawn area invites nearby residents to participate in pop-up games and create social connections with other users. The dog park provides a place for pets and their owners to connect through play and observation. Children and parents can connect while playing on the natural features of the playground. The natural play features provide connections to nature through experience and activity that are not found in traditional play equipment.

The pavilions provide an area to meet, bring take out from a local business or find shelter from the elements when commuting. A 4’ tall bear cub with a stone faux finish is a corner feature of the playground and will greet visitors exiting the light rail at RidgeGate Station while creating photo interactive and memorable experiences to share with friends.

Consilium Design is grateful for our involvement at RidgeGate, a 3,515 acre master-planned community in Lone Tree, Colorado.   The opportunity to work with Keith Simon, Darryl Jones, and the entire Coventry team allows us to experience continuing professional growth, contribute to sustainable and resilient “city building”, and demonstrate the Consilium Design difference in our work every day.

Our involvement at RidgeGate encompasses multiple roles.  Craig Karn, our founder, is a member of the RidgeGate Design Review Committee, offering guidance and insight for applicants, helping them to elevate their designs, have a successful entitlement effort with the City of Lone Tree, and set a higher standard for community development.

Consilium Design is the Landscape Architect of record for the Rampart Range Metropolitan District at RidgeGate.  Our role includes the design and development of District managed streetscapes, parks, and other public spaces.  Working with the District management team, we develop new design and maintenance protocols, coordinate streetscape improvements with adjacent developments, and move projects through the city entitlement process.

Consilium Design works directly with the developers of individual development sites within RidgeGate.  We are the landscape architect for the 228-unit Novus apartment community at the Sky Ridge Station, The 540-unit RidgeGate Station apartment community at the RidgeGate Station, and the Pinnacle medical office building near the Sky Ridge Medical Center. Our familiarity with the design review committee and city entitlement processes allows us to effectively guide our clients through those processes.  Julie Hendricksen, Senior Landscape Architect, leads our work for this and the Rampart Range Metropolitan District.

We collaborated with the Coventry Development team, City staff, and other stakeholders to create a landscape master plan for RidgeGate Parkway and Havana Street. This master plan is now guiding us through phased design and construction encompassing over three miles of multi-modal corridor development. Over 2,800 street trees are included in the design.

At This year’s International Builder Show, be sure to mark your calendars so that you don’t miss Consilium Design’s innovative sessions on design and water management, featuring Craig Karn and other leaders in the home building industry.

Turning the Tide: Making Water an Asset for Your Project, Not a Liability

Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:15 AMRoom: OCCC – W304-G

Water has become a critical issue facing builders throughout much of the country. Home builders and community developers are impacted by issues of ongoing drought and aridification, water quality, stormwater, and aging infrastructure. These issues are influencing the pace of building and housing affordability across the country. Through a diverse set of regional perspectives, this session will demonstrate how to maximize the value of water as an asset instead of treating it as a design and development liability. A panel of industry experts will address key water challenges and innovative steps to overcome them. Discover how innovations in water planning and management can support the entitlement process and community sales and marketing.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore how a water-driven design approach can be used to help enable continued community development and home building in all regions of the country.
• Define how to think of stormwater as an asset for building more resilient communities, rather than as a liability and “waste product” of development.
• Demonstrate the role that water conservation and sustainable landscape design can play in affordability.
• Determine how a water-focused, resilient community design attracts buyers and accelerates sales.

Outdoor Living Designs Solutions for Every Scale

Date: Thursday, February 10, 2022
Time: 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Room: OCCC – W307-C

With the renewed need for outdoor spaces throughout the pandemic, it’s more important than ever that designers and builders are offering a variety of right-sized, well-programmed outdoor living amenities. During this session, panelists will share their highest impact design ideas for outdoor living, discuss the importance of programming outdoor spaces, explore the latest trends in outdoor living and outdoor spaces in larger communities, and address outdoor living and privacy even on smaller lots. Make the most of dog-friendly amenities or get inspiration of otherwise empty, grass yards — regardless of your typical project size, the ideas shared will provide inspiration for outdoor living in your next projects.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify trends and buyer preferences in outdoor living spaces, from smaller lots to larger communities.
• Discuss the importance of programming and right-sizing outdoor living spaces.
• Understand how privacy can be included in outdoor living design, even in closer lots and multifamily living.
• Identify what makes the “wow factor” in outdoor living, even with a smaller budget.

The owners invited us to create a vision for a downtown premier outdoor music venue for 300 to 1000 spectators. They liked the notion of mixing contemporary building expressions into the existing building fabric, so did we.  Two of the historic buildings are to have the exteriors fully restored.  The three-story hotel that has been vacant for decades we recommended restoring back into a hotel to increase foot traffic and offering much-needed downtown lodging options.  A number of the remaining buildings were assessed and recommended for removal, except for a masonry storefront which will be preserved as a historic fragment and will act as a grand entrance & threshold into the courtyard performance space where the stage looks onto a treed cloistered brick-paved plaza.  Our idea was to keep the historic structures as artifacts and fill in with very contemporary new building forms and landscape evoking something new and compelling emerging from these rustic relics.  To activate the space, we employed the ‘power of 10’ Project for Public Spaces framework, integrating, retail, museum & gift shop recognizing local musical artists, food, and beverage establishments, and more.

After developing a pattern language and design principles for the design we created 12 potential site plan diagrams settling on a courtyard scheme expressed by a creative arrangement of buildings as objects which define the spaces.   The central space is an oasis, a green space with trees and water, activated by people using the shops, restaurants, bars, and other retail businesses. The courtyard is partially ringed by a ground-level arcade and contemporary storefronts, and a near-continuous second-level balcony above for circulation, offering a variety of social and commercial activities with great views for people watching in the courtyard, stage events, as well as the western horizon and surrounding cityscape.

The sustainability goals are to capture as much solar energy as possible with rooftop photovoltaics, which double as shade for people and buildings, lowering summer a/c costs.

An underground cistern is designed to capture and store rainwater to meet all the project’s irrigation needs, evaporative cooler demand, as well as addressing stormwater detention requirements.  It may also act as a business incubator for the hospitality sector.

This project has the potential for making Prescott an entertainment destination.  It’s not just a cool outdoor music venue but a year-round must-see attraction and a huge asset for the city and region.  It is good quality urban redevelopment like this that local leadership is looking for to reinvigorate underutilized urban real estate. It drives tourism, increases foot traffic, and gives local families a much-needed, fun social place that also attracts local and world-class performers.

Watch The Video Walkthrough

In 2019, Consilium Design was invited to enter a design competition sponsored by the Irish Network Colorado, INCO for the memorial of an unmarked grave of Irish miners that had worked in the mines found in Leadville, CO.  Shortly after winning the competition, Consilium Design then proceeded to refine the competition design; work closely with the centerpiece sculptor from Ireland; work with local friends of the project; assist with fund raising efforts; estimate costs, solicit bids, and prepare construction documents.

We are proud to announce that Consilium Design has been providing construction administration services for the construction of the memorial and it plans to be installed by the fall of 2022.  It has been an honor to be part of this amazing project and to help memorize these Irish miners.

Click here to read the article in CREJ that recently covered the Irish Miner’s Memorial project.