Building: Populus Hotel
Location: Denver, Colorado ????
Completed: 2024
Height: 48.5m / 159 ft
Floor area: 135,000 sq ft / 265 hotel rooms
Floors: 13
Architect: Studio Gang
Developer: Urban Villages
The Populus Hotel is a 265-room, 13-story hotel at the north end of Civic Center Park and the Denver City and County Building. The rooftop restaurant and terrace have amazing views of the Denver Art Museum, Denver Public Library and the state capitol.
The architectural design with the white exterior and the windows’ distinctive shape is inspired by the bark of aspen trees, an instantly recognizable symbol of Colorado.
The hotel is the nation’s first carbon positive hotel. It’s also a striking new architectural feat with a biophilic design that feels both modern and contemporary. The white facade of the wedge-shaped building is marked with hundreds of windows in more than 60 rounded shapes meant to mimic the bark of an aspen (known by its scientific name as Populus tremuloides), a tree native to Colorado.
The hotel building was created with recycled or low-carbon materials, and it operates with 100 percent wind and solar energy. Part of the carbon-positive effort also includes planting tens of thousands of trees across the state every quarter.
Sustainably ??
To keep track of its sustainability efforts and to stay transparent about its ambitious carbon-positive goals, Populus works with Lotus Engineering and Sustainability to gathers data on operations and offsetting measures. The hotel is also targeting Leed Gold Certification.
The on-site food digester and composter, turns all food waste into fertilizer that then goes back to the farms where they source ingredients.
With the help of the U.S. Forest Service, Populus also plans to plant one tree per guest per night in the national forests in Colorado. Specifically, it will plant an Engelmann spruce tree. The goal is to plant around 250,000 trees per year . Populus also invites guests to do their own gardening, the sleeves that hold their room keys are biodegradable and infused with wildflower seeds.
Key Project Team ??
Architect
Studio Gang
Hotel Operator
Aparium Hotel Group
Interior Design
Wildman Chalmers Design, LLC
Fowler Architecture & Planning
Landscape Architect
Superbloom
Structural Engineer & Fa?ade Consultant
Studio NYL
MEP Engineers
WSP
CMTA, Inc.
Civil Engineer
Kimley-Horn
Lighting Consultant
LS Group
VT Consultants
Lerch Bates Inc.
Acoustics Engineer
Arup
AV/IT design
Pique Technologies LLC
Food Service Consultant
Next Step Design
Code Consultant
Advance Consulting Engineers Ltd
General Contractor
The Beck Group
If your company was involved in the construction of this amazing building. Please let us know in the comments.