| | Projects | |  | | Contacts | | | | Contents | | |
Site
13 downtown city blocks, between Broadway and Market Street
| |  | Denver, Colorado
Gross Area
Street surface: 340,000 s/f
(7.8 acres)Length: 4,300' Width: 80' Client
Regional Transport District,
Denver, Colorado Time Frame
Planning: 10/78–
Construction: 7/80–
Completion: 10/82 |
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16th Street Transitway Mall |
| Denver, Colorado
Completed 1982 |
Street conversion into pedestrian and transit mall
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| Click on image to enlarge
Denver's development in the 1970s led to the dense congestion of 16th Street, a narrow but lively
spine of commerce, transport and retail. This project was undertaken to facilitate public transportation for both downtown and outlying areas, while consolidating and revitalizing the diverse city core. The challenge was to create a cohesive identity for 16th Street without sacrificing its distinctive personality. The solution, emphasizing people and specialized transit, involves a nearly one-mile-long integrated mall with a suburban bus node at each end. From the nodes commuters transfer to
the mall's shuttle buses for passage through downtown, reducing center city bus traffic by 50%. The 80-foot-wide mall uses paving, lighting and planting to articulate three zones of activity. The first is a 22-foot-wide central promenade with mature trees that shade without blocking visibility or access to
shopping. This pedestrian spine is flanked by 10-foot-wide bus paths (slightly depressed for safety) and expanded 19-foot sidewalks. Granite pavers of charcoal gray, light gray and Colorado red articulate the zones in a rattlesnake-like pattern that, pronounced at center, becomes less busy at the edges so as not to detract from building coloration or window displays. Specially designed lanterns variously light the mall for dusk, night and after-hours security, while a wide range of new street
furniture fosters a sense of coherence. |
| 1984 |
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| Associated Landscape Contractors of America: Environmental Improvement Award of Distinction |
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| College of Design and Planning,
University of Colorado:
Honor Award for Excellence in Urban Design |
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| Promenade, transit paths, sidewalks, post
lanterns, trees, street furniture (benches, planters, fountains, trash receptacles, traffic signal posts, signage, public telephones), building vault reconstruction |
I. M. Pei & Partners services |
| Urban Design; Complete Architectural Services |
| Hanna/Olin, Philadelphia, PA; Phillip E. Flores
Associates, Inc., Denver, CO |
| Howard Brandston Lighting Design, Inc., New York, NY |
| Barton-Aschman Associates, Inc., Evanston, IL |
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