Profile

Court House Square

Denver, Colorado
Completed 1960

Lead Designers:

I. M. Pei
Henry N. Cobb (department store, pavilion)
Araldo A. Cossutta (hotel)

Mixed-use complex with 22-story deluxe hotel with convention facilities, 4-story department store, public plaza / skating rink and 4-level underground garage
 

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Court House Square is the first major development in any American city to combine a hotel, department store, parking and public space. An innovative application of new materials, structural methods and modernist design in nineteenth-century Denver, it was the second of three projects executed by the firm in a coordinated effort to develop the modern city core.

The block-long hotel is a pioneering venture in precast concrete. It incorporates aggregate excavated from the site in deep Mo-Sai grillwork that changes pattern with interior spaces, shading not only guestrooms but also office and retail — spaces not typically associated with hotels in the late 1950s. The red-brown panels complement neighboring buildings and distant mountains. They simultaneously contrast with the metal curtain walls championed at the time, including the innovative aluminum panels of the adjacent May D&F department store, which were designed for replacement by large glazing units whenever additional display windows were required. A 132' x 113' hyperbolic paraboloid, the country's widest concrete shell, housed additional retail, exhibition space and the store's main entrance.

Interconnected by bridges and walks organized around a sunken garden and skating rink (converted for outdoor summer dining), the complex was designed to enliven downtown with inviting spaces to work, play, shop, dine, socialize and enjoy urban life.

Major Components

Hotel
1,008,955 s/f with 884 guest rooms (280,000 s/f); 49,000 s/f retail; 40,000 s/f offices; Studio / Support: 28,000 s/f; 16,000 s/f main lobby; 11,000 s/f dining; 10,000 s/f ballroom (2,000 capacity); 5,300 s/f exhibit hall

Department store
504,000 s/f including 250,000 s/f sales areas; 13,000 s/f offices; 10,000 s/f rental; 4,000 s/f beauty salon

Skating Rink / Plaza
7,000 s/f

Parking
420,000 s/f for 1,500 cars on 4 levels underground

Awards

I. M. Pei & Associates services

Master Planning; Architectural Design; Interior Design of public spaces

Associate Architect

Rogers and Butler, New York, NY (Hotel),
Alexander Girard, Sante Fe, NM (hotel lobby ceiling) and
Ketchum, Gina and Sharp, Philadelphia, PA (Store)

Structural

Weiskopf & Pickworth, New York, NY (Hotel);
Roberts and Schaefer Co., New York, NY (Store)               

Mechanical / Electrical

Jaros Baum & Bolles, New York, NY

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