Denver Traffic Operations

3375, Fox Street, Denver, CO, United States

Add To Collection

Denver Traffic Operations

3375, Fox Street, Denver, CO, United States

Firm

Type

Government + Health › Fire/Police/Military

YEAR

2010

SIZE

25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

BUDGET

$5M - 10M

Sandwiched between the elevated I-25 / 20th Street off-ramp and a future light rail bridge, just north of a dusty train yard and south of a highway maintenance shed, the site for the Traffic Operations Facility was replete with challenges. The collection of scattered concrete facades, security fencing, and industrial silhouettes informed an exciting new corner for the City’s Police Operations and in the process became a regional law enforcement resource.
Programmatic challenges included the need for flexible-use space and an innovative firing range training facility. The initial design challenges associated with the site were resolved by separating the primary programmatic components placing the firing range portion of the facility in a building of its own.
Traditional thinking would suggest that this raw, rough-edged district was without inspiration for meaningful civic discourse. The design team took this challenge to heart, embracing this somewhat forgotten place beneath a highways, beside a creek and below the Central Business District. Determined to celebrate the City’s commitment to improve the quality of service through infrastructure renewal, the team interjected vivid new design elements and crisp, bold colors. The site is now acknowledged as more than an industrial edge. It signals a new point of reference, a new entrance into Lower Downtown.