The Advantage projects at the University of Denver campus include a new community commons building, a new residence hall for first year students, and a new career center, all centrally located adjacent to the University’s Campus Green. As the landscape architect for all three projects, Didier Design Studio assembled a unified vision for the landscape with consideration toward biodiversity, habitat and water conservation while crafting key social nodes for interaction and engagement.
The Community Commons features a green roof placing a steppe-inspired landscape within the heart of Denver. Composed of flowing bands of primarily grasses and flowering perennials, many plants were specifically selected upon successful trialing for green roof suitability at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Catching light and moving with the wind, the planting is designed to evoke the experience of a prairie or sky meadow as a way of animating the unique rooftop perspective and distant views.
The Burwell Career Center landscape echoes the steppe-inspired plantings on the green roof with resilient selections to provide year-round interest. The LEED platinum project in collaboration with Lake Flato Architects bridges architecture and site to create a unified indoor-outdoor experience. Sustainable design strategies include rain gardens to detain and filter stormwater, and high SRI materials to mitigate reflected heat. Designed as one of Colorado’s first mass timber structures, the Center is anticipated to use 70% less energy than comparable university buildings.
The DU Advantage projects were conducted in close collaboration with MRY Architects, AMD Architects, Lake Flato Architects, Martin Martin Engineers, and the Office of the University Architect at DU.
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