University of Denver Breaks Ground for the Burwell Center for Career Achievement

DENVER, CO – In June, the University of Denver (DU) celebrated the groundbreaking of its new Burwell Center for Career Achievement. Designed by  Lake|Flato Architects, along with Denver-based design partner Shears Adkins Rockmore (SA+R), and in collaboration with Landscape Architect Didier Design Studio, the milestone marks an important step toward transforming the campus into a gathering place for the extended DU community.

Burwell Center

Situated at a key nexus between the campus's traditional core and its growing urban edge, the new 23,000-square-foot Burwell Center for Career Achievement will be a campus hub focused on student career development, employer engagement, and alumni activities. A tower stair will serve as a beacon and an executive lounge will provide views to the campus, the adjacent city core, and the nearby Rocky Mountains, connecting visitors to the neighboring landscape. Designed as a LEED Platinum building, the Center is anticipated to use 70 percent less energy than comparable university buildings.

The building and its surrounding site are focused on creating "sticky spaces," areas that encourage users to linger and interact. The ground floor is designed to connect with the surrounding landscape, linking the Center to DU's academic core and its future campus additions. As one moves up through the building, interactions gradually become more intentional and focused. The ground floor encourages serendipitous encounters around the sticky spaces, whereas the upper floors are focused on coaching, interviews, and career advising.

A Fall 2020 opening is planned.

Featured

  • University of Arizona Approves New Residence Hall

    The Arizona Board of Regents recently approved plans for a new residence hall at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., according to a news release. The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2028 and have the capacity for more than 1,200 students, enforcing a new university expectation that all first-year students live on campus.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Photo credit - Chuck Coates

    Florida District Modernizes Central Energy Plants at Two High Schools

    Flagler Schools, a public school district in Flagler County, Fla., recently partnered with Matern Professional Engineering to modernize the central energy plants at two of its high schools, according to a news release. The project is part of a larger, district-wide effort to reduce energy costs and operational expenses.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Acquires VPS Architecture

    Full-service planning, architecture, and engineering firm Wold Architects & Engineers recently announced that it has acquired VPS Architecture, according to a news release. The move will help strengthen Wold’s education and public-sector design expertise, industries in which both companies have strong pre-existing ties and relationships.