Commercial

Millions of people experience office, mixed-use, and residential environments designed by Fentress Architects each year. Owners, property managers, tenants, and employees alike appreciate the remarkable flexibility and efficiency of the firm’s human-centered designs, which have garnered over 50 honors and awards for commercial space including:

• 1999 Broadway, 25-Year Award, American Institute of Architects Colorado Chapter, 2017
• Dubai Mixed-Use Towers, American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum, 2011
• Palazzo Verdi, LEED Gold Certification, U.S. Green Building Council, 2009

Capitalizing on one of the newest trends in high rise design, this year’s Grand Award winner combines visual excitement with construction efficiency. Refracting sheets of glass overlap the towers’ front facades and these two glass veils bend and move independently to create multiple dimensions and texture in the 57-story towers. To create the bent sculptural forms, each floor plate is nearly identical in layout and proportions, creating an efficient stacking of utilities and structure. 

— Jury comments on Dubai Mixed-Use Towers, PCBC Gold Nugget Awards, Grand Award “International on the Boards,” 2009 

At Fentress Architects, we are experts at designing tenant fit-outs for clients including Vectra Bank; expansive master plans for entire communities such as the Hei Lin Pu Village in Kunming, China; residential condominiums including One Polo Creek; low-rise developments like 116 Inverness; and high-rise mixed-use towers such as Baitek. 

For commercial projects, designing to context also means having a deep understanding of and appreciation for developer and tenant goals, as well as market economics. 

— Ned Kirschbaum, FAIA, CCA, LEED AP BD+C 

Achieving Developer and Owner Goals

While developer and owner goals vary from project to project, there are a couple of underlying, nearly consistent drivers: maximize return on investment (ROI) and enhance marketability. From an architectural standpoint, maximizing ROI or profitability is intrinsically tied to efficiency. Fentress Architects focuses on delivering high interior gross area (IGA) efficiency, superior overall building performance, and flexible floor plate layouts. 169 Inverness, a four-story class-A office building in Denver, CO, achieves 95-percent efficiency over IGA on all office levels. Kuwait Business Town, a series of four class-A towers in Al Sharq, is a good example of reduced energy consumption and minimized solar heat gain. For this project, vertical shards of reflective glass along with high performance, insulating reflective glazing and a series of sun shading devices were utilized for the south side of the buildings. While the Oracle (previously JD Edwards & Co) corporate campus in the Denver Tech Center was developed to serve the long-term needs of a single client, Fentress was equally dedicated to delivering highly flexible, efficient floor plate configurations, which have allowed the buildings to meet departmental needs as they change and ultimately, help provide exceptional value for the company’s real estate portfolio.

I have found the firm of Fentress Architects to not only be excellent architects, but also consider them true partners in every sense of the word. In a fast track project, you want to be teamed with someone who views problems along the way as “our” problems, not just the owner’s problem. Fentress Architects understands the importance of the team’s success over the individual’s success. 

– Lewis R. Taylor, former Director of Campus Development, JD Edwards & Co. (now Oracle)

Tenant and Occupant Marketablity 

Humanism—strengthening the human sense of structure and placing users at the center of design—has guided our process since the beginning. This focus creates an inherent dedication to maintaining and improving the health and wellness of our natural environment. Amenities are humanizing factors as well as strong differentiators in highly competitive markets. High finished ceilings; operable windows; tenant lounge and outdoor social areas; flexible green spaces; electric vehicle charging stations and bike share programs; on-site restaurant and retail locations; and on-site fitness and wellness facilities are not only elements of sustainable design, they elevate the human experience and increase demand for the building.

High-performing glass and a south-facing orientation for Arraya Tower‘s core and mass help the building avoid solar gain, while also maximizing views to the Arabian Gulf, downtown Kuwait City, and the distinctive water towers for which the city is known. Amenities at 169 Inverness include a two-story, expansive entrance lobby with private niche and work bar; enclosed bicycle parking with full locker and shower facilities; seven-foot-tall glass windows with unobstructed mountain views from every level on north, west, and south facades; and outdoor private and public spaces articulated by site walls, plantings, fire pits, and pavings to accommodate formal events and casual gatherings. Fentress’ designs for LGS Innovations, and its recent addition, are a testament to a new kind of secure workplace—one that celebrates and promotes new ways of thinking and working. The addition was inspired by the successes of phase one and the goal was to be more innovative. Low-profile, raised floor systems and mobile desking enhance flexibility for both open and private team-based work environments. 

Our work place is all about human potential. From my perspective, Fentress Architects…has consistently met the challenge of blending architectural elements, technology and furniture systems to create an environment of productivity and profitability for our business. 

– Tom Rivera, former Vice President, Citicorp

Similarly, the designs for both One Polo Creek and Watermark Luxury Residential Condominiums are replete with amenities including courtyard entries, manicured gardens, a rooftop infinity pool, fitness centers, electric vehicle charging stations, 24-hour doormen, concierge desk, and more. 

Watermark Residences was rated as ‘One of the most imaginative, unique, innovative and/or dynamic projects in Colorado,’ thereby winning the Building of America Award.

— Real Estate & Construction Review-Colorado Edition