Denver office building makes use of single-component wall system for retrofit

An emerging trend in Denver, and across the country, involves retrofitting older office buildings to make them more marketable to tenants, as well as more energy efficient and sustainable. One example transformed the Larimer Corporate Plaza, a 205,000-sf office building located in downtown Denver’s financial district. The project involved redesigning and reconstructing the eight-story building’s façade and remodeling all the common areas, along with making extensive upgrades to the building’s mechanical systems. 

The Building Team of 17th & Larimer LLC (owner), Klipp Architects, and J.E. Dunn Construction (general contractor) selected Centria's Formawall Dimension Series to help achieve the retrofit project's goals of improved aesthetics, sustainability, and energy efficiency. “The goal was to give a facelift to a 1970s-style building,” said David Villella, Metal Walls Manager at A-1 Glass Inc., a Centria dealer/installer. “The addition of the Centria panels, along with new color and how these both complemented the glass on the structure, brought this building into the 21st century.”

The Building Team used 12,850 sf of the Formawall system on the facade, resulting in a fresh, welcoming, and modern aesthetic. Formawall is the only wall system that provides Centria's patented advanced thermal and moisture protection (ATMP) in a single panelized component. Compared to traditional multi-component wall construction, the Formawall Dimension Series is manufactured as one component.

“The existing precast façade was to remain, so the design team needed a new façade that was lightweight, so as not to exceed the capacity of the existing structure,” added Villella.  “Metal was the perfect choice because of its design flexibility and light weight.” +