"Courthouse Square - Denver, Colorado; Completed 1960
Lead Designers: I. M. Pei
Mixed-use complex with 22-story deluxe hotel with convention facilities, 4-story department store, public plaza / skating rink and 4-level underground garage
Courthouse 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 (Demolished)
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
1995 - American Institute of Architects, Colorado Chapter: 25 Year Award (for Denver Hilton Hotel)
1961 - American Institute of Architects: National Honor Award (for Denver Hilton Hotel)
1959 - American Institute of Architects: National Honor Award (for May D&F Department Store [Demolished])
I. M. Pei & Associates services - Master Planning; Architectural Design; Interior Design of public spaces" (from (
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