CASE STUDY – S*PARK PROJECT
S*Park (formerly known as Sustainability Park) is an eco-friendly urban agrihood community development on an entire city block in Denver. An incubator for sustainable living, it maximizes the use of sunlight and green spaces and provides savings on energy bills.The S*Park project master plan focused on maximizing the use of sunlight, creating density and variety in living spaces, de-emphasizing the automobile, and opening the site for shared green spaces. Located at 26th and Lawrence, the site is situated in a transition zone between commercial and residential streetscapes. This transition is reflected in the density and mixed-use character of the project.
Communal Park
The overarching concept was to remove the car from the site and allow a space for urban farming, a shared communal park space, and a planted storm water retention system among the residential buildings. With the elimination of the alley and the car onsite, a significant amount of greenspace –roughly 40,000 square feet– was created for the S*Park community. By comparison, the more traditional block to the southeast of the property has roughly 25,000 square feet of greenspace distributed among the single-family homes.
The goal was to create outdoor space that would serve both community and ecological functions. Sunlight was a driving force in the master planning of the S*Park site. The sun’s interaction with the site motivated the decision to open the south end of the block to urban farming and an outdoor green space that can be inhabited year-round. A ground level urban garden occupies the southeastern corner, adjacent to a 7,000 square-foot greenhouse, bringing the character of the original Sustainability Park back to the site.
The second-story greenhouse located at the southwestern corner captures enough natural light to grow microgreens without the use of artificial grow lights. The use of hydroponic growing towers meant the greenhouse could be elevated off the ground, allowing for more hours of sunlight and space for commercial programs at ground level. The greenhouse utilizes passive heating and cooling strategies, with automatic venting and thermal blankets that stretch across the interior on cooler nights. This low energy, high tech glass building has a strong presence that anchors the corner of the site.
Vehicle Circulation
The underlying concept of the site plan was to park all vehicles underground and use the site for people and plants, rather than cars. Numerous low-income housing projects existed at the site previously and were demolished leaving contaminated and unsettled soil in place. This resulted in the need for site remediation requiring the removal of 6 to 8 feet of soil and buried debris throughout the site, which made excavating a few feet deeper for an underground parking structure a viable solution. This approach allowed for the car’s presence to be minimized on the site. By parking underneath the site, the car’s presence is limited to roughly 3,000 square feet compared to 15,000 square feet of area devoted to the car for the block to the southeast.
Energy
At S*Park, everything but heating and the shared outdoor grills are run on electricity, designed with the forethought that Colorado will be moving toward renewable solar and wind energy sources. A 200-kwh rooftop photovoltaic array offsets the site’s energy use. The project utilizes high-efficiency LED lighting inside and out, high performing low-E windows, and advanced insulation levels of R-38 for roofs and R-20 for walls. Lastly the nature of multi-family residential spaces is that shared walls results in less building envelope which translates to less cooling and heating loss. Specifically:
This equates to a S*Park unit using approximately 1/3 of the energy to operate compared to a comparable unit in a new multi-family apartment building.
Stormwater
Aside from the communal park creating a gathering space, it exists to catch and filter storm water from the site. Galvanized steel downspouts and custom angled channels bring storm water from each roof down to the park, watering the plants and percolating back into the earth, reducing the load on the city sewer system and the need to water the landscape.
Aesthetic Approach
Much of the brick at S*Park is reclaimed from Mendoza Brickyard, the Denver-based demolition company that salvages material from buildings torn down throughout the city. The various patterns and uses of brick create interest and texture, as well as supporting specific functions. Strategically omitted bricks at balconies and outdoor stairs allow light to pass through as well as offering a view out. Turned bricks on the ground level facades encourage greenery to climb. The brick and glass brick wall system that wraps the southern façade of the Japanese restaurant, Uchi, is a completely new wall system designed and engineered in the Tres Birds shop. The wall system creates both privacy and visual interest inside and out of the space, and lets sunlight play geometric games through the glass bricks.
Tres Birds has played a unique role in the development of S* Park, acting as master planner, architect, and interior designer for the entire scope of the project, as well as general contractor for Uchi and the “art in the park” swing and birdhouse installations. Tres Birds has called North Denver home since 2008, and has spent that time reclaiming fallow projects, adding value to once derelict buildings, and reactivating the neighborhood.
Communal Park
The overarching concept was to remove the car from the site and allow a space for urban farming, a shared communal park space, and a planted storm water retention system among the residential buildings. With the elimination of the alley and the car onsite, a significant amount of greenspace –roughly 40,000 square feet– was created for the S*Park community. By comparison, the more traditional block to the southeast of the property has roughly 25,000 square feet of greenspace distributed among the single-family homes.
The goal was to create outdoor space that would serve both community and ecological functions. Sunlight was a driving force in the master planning of the S*Park site. The sun’s interaction with the site motivated the decision to open the south end of the block to urban farming and an outdoor green space that can be inhabited year-round. A ground level urban garden occupies the southeastern corner, adjacent to a 7,000 square-foot greenhouse, bringing the character of the original Sustainability Park back to the site.
The second-story greenhouse located at the southwestern corner captures enough natural light to grow microgreens without the use of artificial grow lights. The use of hydroponic growing towers meant the greenhouse could be elevated off the ground, allowing for more hours of sunlight and space for commercial programs at ground level. The greenhouse utilizes passive heating and cooling strategies, with automatic venting and thermal blankets that stretch across the interior on cooler nights. This low energy, high tech glass building has a strong presence that anchors the corner of the site.
Vehicle Circulation
The underlying concept of the site plan was to park all vehicles underground and use the site for people and plants, rather than cars. Numerous low-income housing projects existed at the site previously and were demolished leaving contaminated and unsettled soil in place. This resulted in the need for site remediation requiring the removal of 6 to 8 feet of soil and buried debris throughout the site, which made excavating a few feet deeper for an underground parking structure a viable solution. This approach allowed for the car’s presence to be minimized on the site. By parking underneath the site, the car’s presence is limited to roughly 3,000 square feet compared to 15,000 square feet of area devoted to the car for the block to the southeast.
Energy
At S*Park, everything but heating and the shared outdoor grills are run on electricity, designed with the forethought that Colorado will be moving toward renewable solar and wind energy sources. A 200-kwh rooftop photovoltaic array offsets the site’s energy use. The project utilizes high-efficiency LED lighting inside and out, high performing low-E windows, and advanced insulation levels of R-38 for roofs and R-20 for walls. Lastly the nature of multi-family residential spaces is that shared walls results in less building envelope which translates to less cooling and heating loss. Specifically:
- A typical S*Park unit (subject unit is 1282 square feet) is averaging an operating energy cost of $336 per year for usage of electricity and natural gas.
- The US energy consumption survey states that for a similar size new multifamily condo in the southern mountain region is averaging $1040 per year for usage of electricity and natural gas.
This equates to a S*Park unit using approximately 1/3 of the energy to operate compared to a comparable unit in a new multi-family apartment building.
Stormwater
Aside from the communal park creating a gathering space, it exists to catch and filter storm water from the site. Galvanized steel downspouts and custom angled channels bring storm water from each roof down to the park, watering the plants and percolating back into the earth, reducing the load on the city sewer system and the need to water the landscape.
Aesthetic Approach
Much of the brick at S*Park is reclaimed from Mendoza Brickyard, the Denver-based demolition company that salvages material from buildings torn down throughout the city. The various patterns and uses of brick create interest and texture, as well as supporting specific functions. Strategically omitted bricks at balconies and outdoor stairs allow light to pass through as well as offering a view out. Turned bricks on the ground level facades encourage greenery to climb. The brick and glass brick wall system that wraps the southern façade of the Japanese restaurant, Uchi, is a completely new wall system designed and engineered in the Tres Birds shop. The wall system creates both privacy and visual interest inside and out of the space, and lets sunlight play geometric games through the glass bricks.
Tres Birds has played a unique role in the development of S* Park, acting as master planner, architect, and interior designer for the entire scope of the project, as well as general contractor for Uchi and the “art in the park” swing and birdhouse installations. Tres Birds has called North Denver home since 2008, and has spent that time reclaiming fallow projects, adding value to once derelict buildings, and reactivating the neighborhood.
