Exhibits, donuts, and views... oh my! The long-awaited opening of the new Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center is almost here and will open June 24th with a grand opening ribbon-cutting June 30th. Read more here.
2021 High School Architecture Class
The 2021 High School Architecture Class is in the books, and we want to thank and congratulate all the students who participated in this unique hybrid experience. We also want to give a big shout out to Architect Mitchell Starrs who was this year’s Class Champion and to Emerging Professional Tyler Wurr and Intern Alli Geradot who volunteered to make the 2021 class possible.
We hope this quote sums up the program for future students, “I wanted to thank you and the other group leaders for providing such a dope program for free!! I have wanted to specialize in Architecture ever since I was 12, so I am really thankful for this cool experience! There is no other way to describe how cool I think this whole profession is.”
We can’t wait to see what the High School Architecture class of 2022 will bring!
It was a beautiful blue-sky day to celebrate with Parker Adventist Hospital and local officials for the ribbon-cutting of the new Peak Medical Office Building. Each floor of the four-story MOB specifically designed for various practitioners such as Oncology, OBGYN, Neurosurgery, Ear Nose and Throat, and Gastroenterology specialists among others. Nurse workstations and staff break rooms are strategically located throughout the building to take advantage of daylighting and to provide respite and spaces for collaboration.
Building design at 14,000 feet comes with many challenges, not the least of which are those involving materials and geotechnical conditions. In a recent article by The American Society of Civil Engineers' Civil Engineering Source, RTA Principal Stuart Coppedge, GWWO Architects Principal Alan Reed, HCDA Principal Steve Horner (structural engineering), and William Hoffmann Jr., senior engineering consultant for CTL Thompson, Inc. (geotechnical engineering), discuss how the Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center design team handled everything from the effect of the extreme altitude on the concrete placement to protecting the summit’s fragile tundra ecosystem during design and construction.
RTA Architects’ Senior Marketing Manager Valerie Jackson, MBA was recognized by SMPS Colorado as its Marketer of the Year, one of the chapter’s highest honors, at the annual Marketing Excellence Awards. SMPS is the only organization dedicated to creating business opportunities in the A/E/C industry. SMPS Colorado was founded in 1983 and is one of the Top 5 Chapters nationwide. Marketer of the Year is awarded to the chapter member who stands out in the craft of marketing and communications in the A/E/C industry and has made significant contributions toward promotion professionalism. Valerie has served on the chapter’s Southern Colorado Committee since 2015 in multiple leadership roles including Committee Co-Chair and Committee Sponsorship Champion.
Valerie joined RTA Architects in 2015 after receiving her Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and a 25-year career that previously spanned the consumer services and technology sectors. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Marketing from Pennsylvania State University. More information about the SMPS Colorado Marketing Excellence Awards can be found on the chapter’s website, https://www.smpscolorado.org/marketing-excellence-awards. Our congratulations to Valerie on the well-deserved recognition!
Five Weeks to Meet a COVID-19 Challenge: High-Performing Design-Build Team Delivers Alternate Care Facility at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center
In the latest issue of The Colorado Real Estate Journal's Health Care and Senior Living Quarterly, RTA Principal Paul Reu discusses how the high-performing design-build team of M. A. Mortenson Company and RTA Architects met an unprecedented COVID pandemic challenge and delivered an Alternate Care Facility in just five weeks at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center in Pueblo, Colorado.
A recent article by Chinook Trail Middle School Principal Tom Andrew and RTA Principal Brian Calhoun for EdMarket Essentials discusses how the school’s design – top to bottom, inside and outside – supports an open, holistic, positive approach to learning in healthful and empowering ways for students and staff. The three Design Priorities of positive spaces, building and site optimization for learning, and a connection to nature work with the educational program to develop curious design-thinking learners for life.
It’s that topping-out time of year! We were so happy to celebrate with Pueblo Community Health Center during the topping-out of the East Side Clinic. This new clinic will serve patients on Pueblo’s east side with a full range of healthcare services and is the first Emerging Zero Energy outpatient healthcare clinic in Colorado according to the New Buildings Institute (NBI). Video courtesy of Pueblo Community Health Center and JSB Cinema.
St. Francis Medical Center ICU-CCU Med Surg Expansion Tops Out
It was a beautiful day to celebrate the topping-out of the ICU-CCU Med Surg Expansion at St. Francis Medical Center. The fifth and sixth floor expansion will provide the hospital with 30 medical-surgical rooms, 30 intensive care unit rooms, and a Flight for Life helipad. We’re proud of our continuing partnership with SFMC to help the hospital support our growing Colorado Springs community.
RTA Projects Featured in Colorado Construction & Design Magazine SoCo Roundup
We were thrilled to see so many of our projects featured in the latest issue of Colorado Construction and Design Magazine including the St. Francis Medical Center Expansion, the new Pikes Peak Visitor Center, the new East Side Clinic for Pueblo Community Health Center, and the UCCS William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center. See page 52 of the SoCo report here… https://ccdmag.com/WS2021/index.html