Colorado Springs City Council has voted to support the Springs Rescue Mission with $2.5 million in federal grant money. To learn more about this project, please visit the Springs Rescue Campus Expansion website.
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April 5th was a night of celebration as the Denver Health Southwest Family Health Center held its grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony. RTA is honored to have been part of such an amazing project and we look forward to the future of this amazing clinic.
To find out more about the Southwest Family Health Center, visit Denver Health's website here.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – RTA Architects announced today the conclusion of the design and construction of the Denver Health Southwest Community Health Center and Urgent Care. Nearly 30 months after the planning of the clinic began, the 45,000-square-foot facility is nearing its opening.
When Denver Health determined the need to offer comprehensive health services to the diverse and economically challenging Southwest neighborhood, they chose RTA Architects for facility planning and design. Paul López, Denver City Councilman, District 3, comments, “The hard-working people living in this community are the ones who are building this city with their hands. These are the people for whom the American Dream just isn’t paying off. In fact, 2010 data showed that residents in our area were expected to prematurely die 8 years earlier, in comparison to other districts. So the need for medical service is overwhelming.” Pete Gutierrez, Associate COO, Denver Health Ambulatory Services, said, “Together with RTA, we are aiming for more than just a building. You have to spur the community to help them rise up. You have to give them hope by surrounding them with people who truly care about their well-being and provide facilities to support that. The Southwest Family Health Center will absolutely turn this community around.”
Collaborative Partnerships Key to Effective Design
RTA began the design process with an immersion phase and spent several days at an existing Denver Health community health center to document the current state of patient, staff, and procedure flows. Kevin Gould, AIA, RTA Principal-in-Charge, explains, “We went in with our eyes and ears wide open and really looked at Denver Health’s needs, desires, processes, and mission. The ultimate goal was to optimize flow and value for the patients and staff of the new Southwest Community Health Center and to create a space that will be embraced as a centerpiece of the community.”
Following the immersion phase, RTA and a multi-disciplinary Denver Health team held a 3P (Production, Preparation, Process) Event to rapidly create and test potential designs. According to Tina Quintana, Denver Health Clinic Administrator, “The 3P event was great. Each department had an opportunity to really spend time with the architects, and people walked away feeling like they had truly been heard.”
Denver Health’s intention to serve and empower community members is embodied throughout the entire building from expansive atriums and lobbies, to a large interactive children’s play zone. There is also a large multipurpose community conference room, which can be used for activities such as cooking classes and local meetings. Universal signage and intuitive wayfinding allow multilingual patients to easily make their way around the facility. Departments that need to be most accessible to the community – like urgent care, pharmacy, and dental services – are all located near the entrance of the building.
The facility features high-quality finishes and design elements. With warm wood, slate tiles, expansive skylights, and vaulted ceilings, the Southwest Community Health Center embodies Denver Health’s mission of “Level One Care for ALL” aesthetically as well as in its delivery of medical services. The Southwest Community Health Center offers 40 exam rooms and will be the first in the Denver Health system to provide on-site Urgent Care. The opening of the new clinic in April of 2016 coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first Denver Health community health center in the Five Points neighborhood.
Dr. Michael Russum, Medical Director of the Southwest Community Health Center and primary care physician, states, “I am incredibly excited for the opening of this clinic. It feels great to be there, and the space is absolutely joyful. It’s going to be an amazing new opportunity for Denver Health to serve the South Denver community.”
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About Denver Health
Denver Health is the Rocky Mountain Region’s Level I academic trauma center, and the safety net hospital for the Denver area. The Denver Health system, which integrates acute and emergency care with public and community health, includes the Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center, Denver’s 911 emergency medical response system, Denver Health Paramedic Division, eight family health centers, 18 school-based health centers, the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, NurseLine, Denver CARES, Denver Public Health, the Denver Health Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Center for Medical Response to Terrorism, Mass Casualties and Epidemics. Denver Health’s website is located at www.denverhealth.org.
About RTA Architects
Since 1975, RTA Architects has created award-winning architectural and interior designs for the Colorado built environment. RTA specializes in healthcare, education, retail, and commercial properties, and delivers beautiful purposeful buildings through deep collaboration with owners and occupants to serve their unique needs. RTA’s website is located at www.rtaarchitects.com.
After 51 months and 22 phases, Craig Hospital is nearly complete! To read more about the $90 million dollar expansion and RTA's engagement in it, click here.
The preferred design concept for the new Pikes Peak Summit Complex was revealed at a standing-room-only public meeting by the design team – led by RTA Architects and including GWWO, Inc. Architects – the City of Colorado Springs, and Pikes Peak - America's Mountain. Stuart Coppedge, AIA, RTA Principal-in-Charge commented, “We and our design partner GWWO have heard, listened, and incorporated a lot of public feedback within the parameters of designing a building to withstand the harsh high-altitude environment. The desire of the team is to design buildings and site improvements that are functional, maintainable, energy efficient, educational, inspirational, and timeless, but that also fit within and reflect the natural environment.”
Learn more about the Pikes Peak Summit Complex project here, or follow RTA's Facebook and Linkedin pages.
Stuart Coppedge, AIA, has been elected 2016 - 2017 Treasurer of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The announcement was made at the 2015 AIA National Convention held in Atlanta, Georgia.
Stuart’s long history of AIA leadership began in 2005 when he served as AIA Colorado South President, then AIA Colorado Treasurer, AIA Colorado President, and AIA Western Mountain Region (WMR) Secretary. He then represented the six-state WMR from 2012-2014 as an influential member of the AIA National Board of Directors during a time of significant change, serving on the Finance and Audit Committee as well as leading a select nation-wide group focused on cultural transformation within the AIA.
"We, as the AIA, must embrace our critical role in the future of our profession, balancing bold vision with fiscal responsibility," he stated to the convention delegates. "I believe I can bring great value by working closely with other elected leadership, CACE, and our great staff to devise and implement strategies that address our organization’s current and future needs, and align our monetary policies with our members’ priorities."
Coppedge is a principal at RTA Architects, which is celebrating 40 years of exemplary client service and innovative design in 2015. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Atlas Preparatory Academy, serves as an Advisory Board member of the Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs, and was appointed in 2014 by City Council to a three-year term on the Downtown Review Board.
Our own Stuart Coppedge, AIA describes the four design concepts for the new Pikes Peak Summit Complex in a Public Service Announcement.
Click here to watch and go to www.PikesPeakColorado.com to find out more!
The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind in Colorado Springs is a school intentionally designed with the unique needs of the students and staff in mind. With the collaborative effort of community members, staff, students, and board members, the renovation of the 58-year-old Gottlieb Building was completed in 2011 and has been serving the children of Colorado ever since. Click here to find out more!
In 2013, Boulder’s iconic Mapleton School was repurposed into an early childhood education center. The project was featured in the CEFPI Educational Facility Planner magazine Volume 49 Issue 1. To learn about how this historic school was preserved and transformed, click here.
Ignacio Elementary School was recently certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a point-based benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED Gold status illustrates a very high level of sustainability.
Ignacio’s PK-5 Elementary School is the second building in district-wide Master Plan led by RTA. This Master Plan included the renovation of three existing school buildings and the design of a brand new middle school. In the second phase of the Master Plan, the existing intermediate (grades 4-6) building was renovated into what is now Ignacio Elementary. Existing and new classrooms were designed as flexible learning spaces with enhanced acoustics, daylighting through tubular daylighting devices and expansive exterior windows, and the ability to accommodate current and future technology upgrades. The high-performing, sustainable facility also uses a Geo Exchange System, a roof-mounted 50kW Photovoltaic Array, LED lighting throughout, and low-water native plants for landscaping.
The implementation of LEED sustainability standards is important to reduce the building’s impact on the environment, to improve operating costs, and, most importantly, to create an environment that produces happier, healthier, and more productive students. High-performing facilities can improve comfort, promote learning, and advance productivity, while saving energy and doing what is right for our community. RTA chooses to live by these principles because they help create exceptional architecture.
Ignacio School District 11-JT is proud of their new elementary school because it reflects their values and aspirations.
