M.A. Mortenson Construction completed the Health Sciences Library, a three-story home to teaching labs, meeting and study spaces and the drug information center on the UCDHSC Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

Mortenson Completes Health Sciences Library on Anschutz Medical Campus
M.A. Mortenson Construction of Denver completed the new 113,000-sq-ft Health Sciences Library on the University of Colorado Denver and Health Sciences Center Anschutz Medical Campus in October.

The library is home to teaching labs, meeting spaces, study spaces and the drug information center. The three-story building also includes a café, a print journal collection and study labs, in addition to special collections, books, monographs, a large reading room and gallery space.

Unique features of the library include a grand staircase made of hardwood and granite balustrades; large support columns covered with a wood veneer to look like the spine of a book; a curved, glassed-in atrium lobby open to the roof; a hexagonal tower; and specially protected space for the library’s special collections in indigenous medicine and the history of medicine.

Shaw Construction of Denver completed the new high-end hangar and club facilities for private jet club operator XJet at Centennial Airport in early October.

Covering 18 acres on the south side of the airport, the project consists of a 50,000-sq-ft facility that can accommodate 22 planes and features a luxurious lounge and other amenities, as well as XJet’s corporate offices. In addition, a 7,000-sq-ft garage contains eight car lifts to house club members’ non-flight vehicles.

Shaw was selected as the construction manager/general contractor for the project in late 2005. The project, which was completed in 11 months, was designed by Denver’s klipp.

The Aspen School District opened a new 111,500-sq-ft, $22-million middle school to students in September. The school was designed by Denver’s Hutton Architecture Studio with Studio B Architects of Aspen. Guided by an asset committee composed of administrators, teachers, parents and community members, the project consists of a classroom expansion to the existing elementary school, improvements to the school district theater, a replacement middle school with playground and site alterations to improve pedestrian and traffic flow.

The school is a combination of traditional building materials and LEED-certified materials such as bamboo panels and recycled content flooring. Selected high-efficiency mechanical, lighting and plumbing systems, including solar air heating, tubular skylights and waterless urinals make this the most energy-efficient building on the campus. LEED certification is being pursued.

Energy modeling indicates that the Aspen Middle School is designed to save approximately 890,000 lb of carbon dioxide over a comparable building built to code today.

GE Johnson Construction Co. of Colorado Springs was the general contractor.

JE Dunn Construction’s Denver office, in a joint venture with Jaynes Corp. of New Mexico, recently completed the new construction portion of the University of New Mexico Children's Hospital in Albuquerque.

The new Barbara and Bill Richardson pavilion is a six-story, 490,270-sq-ft hospital that houses the neonatal intensive care unit, children's emergency department, adult emergency department, urgent care and trauma, adult critical care, women's birthing center, postpartum service and well baby nursery. Support services include a pharmacy, gift shop, medication room, food court and respiratory therapy.

GE Johnson Construction Co. of Colorado Springs recently began construction on the seven-story Starwood Vacation Ownership Building West in Avon.

Starwood Vacation Ownership broke ground on the project in July and selected GE Johnson as the GC/CM shortly after that. This new building is precast concrete and structural steel with an exterior skin of stucco and wood siding. It is primarily comprised of 34 time-share residential units, with a two-level, below-grade parking garage and a plaza-level floor that will consist of shell space for a sales center and future retail. Obermeier/Sheykhet Architecture Inc. is the architect.

GE Johnson also  broke ground for Davey Jackson Elementary School, located on the south edge of the National Elk Preserve in Jackson, Wyo. The 81,000-sq-ft school will serve students from kindergarten through second grade of Teton County School District 1. The building will consist of 30 classrooms spread throughout two wings, with a second level over one wing, a gymnasium and a cafeteria.

The Ice Ranch, a privately owned 54,000-sq-ft ice arena located one mi northwest of C-470 and Broadway in Littleton, opened on Oct. 1.

DSP Builders Inc. of Commerce City completed the ice center, which consists of two sheets of ice, one NHL regulation-size and one two-thirds NHL size, that support adult and youth ice hockey, curling and specialty skills camps.The facility also contains a dedicated dry-land training area, Pro Shop, business center, snack bar and bar/grill area.