Great West Financial Plaza

Leakage below a 30-year-old plaza provides an opportunity to rebuild with a pedestrian focus.

The plaza and drive aisle at the Great West Financial campus in the Denver Tech Center was showing its age. Original custom fountains were non-operational, concrete was cracking and spalling, and a waterproofing system was failing, creating numerous leaks to the parking structure below and providing an opportunity to rebuild the declining plaza.

Wenk Associates developed a more pedestrian focused plan for the new plaza that provided improved access from the parking structure to the building entrances while maintaining thru traffic, and offered plenty of social gathering spaces for employees. Sustainability and budget were primary drivers for the plaza design, with a goal to reuse as many materials as possible from the existing plaza.  We incorporated existing granite pavers throughout the plaza and sandstone pavers in smaller social garden and gathering spaces, placed existing stone sculptures into planters, and repurposed custom-carved granite slabs from the existing fountain for seatwall cladding. 

Demonstration xeric gardens showcasing a variety of low-water-use plants extenuate the front entry of each of the three buildings on the campus and provide an abundance of color and texture through all the seasons.