Denver Area Highrise Represents Company’s Tallest Building To Date

Next door to the Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater in Greenwood Village, Colorado - a unique outdoor venue where the rhythm and beat of big name bands rise nightly into the Rocky Mountain air during the summer concert season - DPR is poised to begin construction on an upscale 23-story residential tower. The project is DPR’s third for the owner, John Madden & Co., following construction of the adjacent Fiddler’s Green Phase II office building and a build out of that six-story, 235,000-sq.-ft. structure last year.

Soaring 288 ft. high atop a single-story parking garage that serves as a visual “pedestal” for the building’s 5,000-sq.-ft. footprint, Fiddler’s Green Residential Tower represents the tallest building constructed by DPR to date. Its cast in place concrete design, to be clad in a travertine exterior skin to the third floor and EFIS system replicating stone above that, is unusual for a high-rise building in this region. Concrete was chosen over structural steel in order to maximize the number of floors, while staying within the height restriction set by the city, according to project sponsor Will Hopkins. He notes that DPR hopes to capitalize on the cost advantages offered by self-performing major portions of the construction, including all concrete and rough carpentry work.

DPR has been working closely with the owner and the architect, Fentress Bradburn, during preconstruction to help ensure the constructibility of the various unique and high-end finishes envisioned by the owner, which will include marble flooring, granite countertops, high-end wood base and crown molding, architecturally sculptured doors and a special plaster finish designed to simulate stone. Each floor will contain a single unit of roughly 4,500 sq. ft., for a total of 115,000 sq. ft overall in the building.

Open communication among the owner, architect and DPR has been key to a successful preconstruction phase and will carry through the project, Hopkins says. “The entire project team is really motivated by what the owner wants. If there is a challenge raised, by our next meeting we’re ready to offer a suggested solution and its associated costs. Our focus is on solving potential issues before they occur.”

The biggest challenge expected during construction is coordinating the needs and desires of 20-plus different owners. To help facilitate that coordination effort, DPR plans to keep a full-time customer service person on site during construction.

Public safety will also be a paramount concern for DPR, as construction gets underway in the middle of the summer concert season. The project site directly abuts the property line of the Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater, but a 17-ft. elevation differential between the two properties will require DPR to shore the entire property line against the concert area.

Although final design will not be completed until two months later, construction is scheduled to begin this August, with project completion set for September 2002. At least two additional projects are planned for the Fiddler’s Green development, including a phase III office building identical to the phase II building DPR previously completed and a second residential tower that will mirror this one.