Colorado State Capitol renovation progresses into fourth phase

Life-safety upgrades and renovations to the Colorado State Capitol continue this spring with the start of Phase 4 of the $32 million project.


This spring marks the opening of Mr. Brown’s Attic, a new public gallery, and the beginning of Phase 4 in the Colorado State Capitol Life Safety Project. The multi-phase, $32-million project, slated for completion in 2008, has been under way since October 2000.

The life-safety upgrades will make the Capitol a safer place for the more than 50,000 tenants and visitors who use the building each year. It improves areas where the building falls short of current safety requirements and significantly reduces or eliminates those problems.

Vulnerabilities

When construction of the Capitol began in the 1890s, it was a cutting-edge example of post-Chicago-Fire fireproof design and construction technology. Although the Capitol’s masonry walls and hollow clay floor structure were designed to withstand a fire, the late 19th-century’s reliance on wood and exposed cast-iron primary structure left the building vulnerable.

“Our design for the Colorado State Capitol Life Safety Project provides a cost-effective balance of performance and preservation to protect occupants in a manner sympathetic to the historic character of this national landmark,” says Curt Fentress, principal-in-charge of Denver’s Fentress Bradburn, the project architect. The general contractor is Gerald H. Phipps Inc., also of Denver.

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Finishing Phase 3 

“Phase 3 of the State Capitol Life Safety Upgrade project went well, but we did have some challenges,” says Rod Woehl, Gerald H. Phipps superintendent. “We had 100 ft of tough stone wall in the basement to cut for the sprinklers and the electrical. We needed a pocket 11 in. tall by 4.5 in. deep. This was double the amount of channeling required in Phase 2, but we coordinated the subs in a way that allowed them to complete their work on time.”

Next, Phipps channeled the walls one floor at a time through the rest of the building so Simplex Grinnell could solder and test the sprinkler piping before Intermountain Electric completed its work in the channel. 

“When it came to closing channels, we found there was a shortage of plasterers available,” says Woehl. “But Antique Plastering worked overtime to complete all the work.”

Also completed during Phase 3 were two stairways, one up from the third >> floor to attic on the southwest quadrant and one down to the first floor from the northeast second floor.

“The stairs turned out great—good quality workmanship by all—and we were able to turn them over to the owner on Jan. 3 of this year,” Woehl says.

Phase 4, the third quadrant, which begins this May, will bring online the third of four new pressurized exit stairs and life-safety improvements for additional office and public areas.

Attic & Upgrades 

Mr. Brown’s Attic is a 2,000-sq-ft public gallery dedicated to the historical significance of Colorado’s statehouse. The attic has been named after Henry Cordes Brown, a Colorado visionary who donated the land for the original Capitol Building in 1868.    

Photo © FBA

To date, life-safety improvements sensitive to the historic fabric of the building have been completed in two of the four quadrants—the attic, the third floor and sub-basement. Improvements include a new Fire Command Center, a fast-acting fire sprinkler system, addressable smoke detection, fire alarm and annunciation, fan controls, emergency lighting and exit signage. 

The new stairs are extensions of existing historic stairs that connected the second and third floors.  These stairs now extend from the third floor up to the attic to serve the newly created Mr. Brown’s Attic and the existing Dome observation level. 

The design and materials for the new stairs are similar to the existing stair. New newel posts, stair risers and pickets were custom cast from bronze alloy and finished with a patina to approximate the existing stair. Tennessee marble stair treads, Verona marble wainscot and Vermont Danby white marble stair landings were also used. These finishes closely match the existing stair, and the glass doors have been added to the stair openings to provide a seal for pressurization purposes. 

The glass sidelights for the doors were water-jet cut to fit around the existing marble wainscot to eliminate the possibility of damaging the irreplaceable historic stone. Additionally, the stairs will extend down from the second floor to the sub-basement, where a new below-grade exit and air-well provide a safe exit from the Capitol.

Design and construction of the full Colorado State Capitol Life Safety Project is occurring in five phases to allow incremental financing, continual operation and minimal disruption of the legislative functions in the Chambers. Phases 3 through 5 are repetitions of Phase 2 for the remaining quadrants of the building. 

Upon final completion in December 2008, the Colorado State Capitol will have improved significantly in safety measures for occupants and visitors. The improvements will also reduce the risk of damage to this historic Colorado building.

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