RB+B and the Northern Water community celebrated a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony last week at the organization’s newly expanded West Slope Headquarters Campus. Northern Water—the entity responsible for delivering water to Northeastern Colorado for agricultural, municipal, domestic and industrial uses—focuses on water conservation, water quality, environmental stewardship, and regional water supply planning. With more growth on the front range and increased responsibilities of Northern Water, they have continued to experience employee growth and increased equipment, as well as increased need for more office and storage buildings to accommodate them.

The most recently completed phases of the expansion to LEED Silver pending Building A include extensively renovated existing office space, reconfiguration and expansion of the board room, and a new secure lobby and a three-story office wing. A covered outdoor meeting area with restrooms was added to assist with educational programs and internal conference needs. Illustrating NW’s mission to encourage responsible water usage, the project will be one of the first in Colorado to achieve SITES certification. 

RB+B’s master plan for the Northern Water expansion called for approximately doubling the building square footage on this site over several phases and updating their security and functional operations with a new System Control Center. New site amenities include increased parking for employees, additional parking for guests, and a new demonstration garden and pavilion.

Previous phases of this multi-phase project included the addition of three new buildings and their associated site work, including a three-story LEED Silver Operations Building, a long-term storage building and fleet vehicle storage building with a small conference room and locker room wing.

All buildings were designed with similar agrarian building forms and materials for a unified feel in this rural setting. Care was taken to design efficient vehicular and pedestrian connections from building to building and demonstration gardens were incorporated throughout the landscape to create a park-like feel throughout.

(Images courtesy of Northern Water)

RB+B Architects teamed with Sampson Construction to design and construct renovations and additions to Vikan Middle School in Brighton. The $6.7 million Design-Build project celebrated its grand opening Thursday. Vikan is the Sampson/RB+B Team’s second Design-Build project in the last year and one of four total projects on which the firms have collaborated.

The scope of the project included renovating six small classrooms into four larger classrooms, as well as electrical, mechanical, and infrastructural upgrades. The design adds 10,000 square feet of new space to accommodate more classrooms and support facilities. A new entry and vestibule were also redesigned to enhance the overall aesthetic of the school; the reception area was also renovated and a new secure entry and administrative area was designed.

Vikan was one of a dozen new or major renovation projects funded through the District’s 2015 Bond Program. Numerous other schools in the District also received safety, security, and maintenance upgrades. The project was completed under a short schedule—11 months for design, permitting and construction—and was completed within budget and on time for the 2017/18 school year.

Students, staff and community members gathered last Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of their newest school in Weld School District Re-6.

The new 103,267-square-foot Prairie Heights Middle School replaces the former, ailing John Evans Middle School and houses 650 students in grades six through eight. The design is based upon a series of atrium spaces providing amenities in clusters to the students of each age group. The “pods” divide the school into smaller more intimate houses.

The arrangement of the classroom wing allows for natural light from both north and south windows, as well as from skylights serving the central atrium hallway spaces, providing light to both the front and back of classrooms. Located on the second floor, the library benefits from natural light, views west to the Rocky Mountains, and access to a rooftop garden above the main entry.

The new $22 million school has an international focus, which is highlighted in the character and detailing of the building. An emphasis is placed on technology and sustainability within the design, and serves as a feature of the project for both students and the public. 

This project was a joint venture with Hord Coplan Macht. 

Last week marked the opening of Daredevil Brewing Company’s new tap room in Speedway, Indiana.

Daredevil is an independent, Central Indiana based craft brewery that was founded by two award winning craft brewers and a talented craft beer enthusiast to bring their eclectic interpretation of aggressively fun beers to the market. The new facility was designed to blend industrial and modern architecture into an aesthetic that supports the functions of both brewing and serving beer. The project, located in an historic neighborhood, includes a new brewhouse and tasting room within its 10,000-square-foot structure.

The design itself combines precast architectural wall panels integrated with traditional brick and detailing to retain the feel of the surrounding neighborhood. The interior of the building is treated as a single volume, with spaces separating the tasting room from the brewhouse remaining low in ceiling height to give visitors a sense that the ‘magic’ of the brewing process is happening just around the corner.

RB+B Architects was the Design Architect for Daredevil’s new facility. The local affiliated architect was JRA Architecture of Indianapolis, IN.

Students, staff and community members gathered today to celebrate the grand opening of Stapleton’s newest ECE-8 school at Conservatory Green.

Located north of I-70 on the former Stapleton International Airport site, the 113,600-square-foot facility serves the expanding community of Stapleton’s Conservatory Green neighborhood. In order to meet district needs, the building is designed to operate as two autonomous schools, sharing only the gymnasium, cafeteria, and other support spaces. High Tech Elementary School will contain early childhood education through fifth grades and Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST): Conservatory Green houses sixth through eighth grades. Colors and textures from the natural and built world are used throughout the design to inspire students to be more aware of the patterns that surround them every day.

Key sustainable characteristics of the project include a high efficiency building envelope combined with triple-pane windows to minimize energy costs. The school promotes the 21^st Century learning model with collaborative and individual scaled learning areas, outdoor classroom and vegetable garden, and ties to the local community.  The west wall of the gym features a brick mural of the runways of the original airport, lending itself to the elementary school curriculum of learning about regional history.  The building was designed by RB+B Architects, Inc. and built by Roche Constructors.