Recap: STEAM on the Platte

On Tuesday, January 9, 2018, we toured one of Denver’s newest adaptive reuse spaces: STEAM on the Platte. Susan Powers, President of Urban Ventures LLC, the site’s developer, and Cameron Minor, Project Manager with tres birds workshop, the site’s design firm, guided us through the site.

Image of STEAM’s foyer, courtesy of Urban Ventures LLC

STEAM on the Platte (STEAM) is a 3.2-acre, mixed-use project in Denver’s burgeoning Sun Valley neighborhood along the Platte River. STEAM is an undiscovered gem with a convenient downtown location, light rail stop, bike path, sports arena access, and a riverside setting that makes it desirable for enterprising leaders, creative pioneers, and residents who crave an authentic blend of Denver’s historical and edgy culture.

Phase I includes the conversion of a 65,000-square-foot brick and timber warehouse into workspace for tech companies and creative businesses, and a courtyard leading to the river’s edge. An existing 6,000-square-foot building with an expansive bowstring roof will feature a vibrant restaurant/brewery to be completed in 2018. Future phases will include the addition of more office and residential buildings. – Description courtesy of Urban Ventures LLC

The mission of Urban Ventures is to redevelop urban properties into communities that make a positive contribution to the neighborhood fabric and create sustaining value. The primary objectives in tres birds workshop’s projects are to unite humans with nature through the built environment and lower embodied energy + fossil fuel consumption in the practice of architecture. All of this and more is evident at STEAM on the Platte.

Image of STEAM’s third floor, courtesy of Urban Ventures LLC