Drawing a straight line sounds like a piece of cake. But what if it is being done with eight-inch concrete blocks nearly 60 feet up in the air.

According to Heather Blaschke, project engineer of DPR, coordinating three different trades - colored masonry, curtainwall and pre-cast concrete panels - to create evenly spaced horizontal bands around a structure presented an interesting construction challenge, not to mention added an unique architectural feature to downtown Denver’s latest project.

DPR’s Denver office rang in the New Year with the completion of a new six-story, 270,000-sq.-ft. parking structure, developed as part of a joint venture project by The Children’s Hospital and Exempla Saint Joseph’s Hospital. The cast-in-place structure provides close to 900 spaces to be shared equally among the employees of the two hospitals.

“Parking downtown is always an issue, and as we have continued to grow with the development of new buildings such as the Ronald McDonald House, we are at a constant shortfall in the area,” said Jerry Collins of The Children’s Hospital. “Joining Exempla in building an employee parking structure between the two hospitals offered the perfect solution to free up additional parking for patients and hospital visitors. However, working with two owners at the same time I’m sure must have been a project challenge.“To accommodate the requests of both owners and ensure equal access between the two hospitals, DPR worked closely with Carl Walker & Associates, which specializes in parking structure design, to generate an innovative traffic pattern in the garage that allows street entrance from each hospital. Located on a hill, the garage required a split-level design with one entrance on the first floor and the other on the second. Two separate employee card access systems also had to be coordinated and installed. Stairways and elevator shafts were built on opposite ends of the building with sheer curtain wall glass for added security.

In addition, DPR incorporated post-tension concrete into the design, which is unusual for Colorado, to meet the project’s fast-track, eight-month deadline desired by the hospitals. DPR Project Manager Dan McIntosh said that pre-cast concrete was not an option due to the high demand for concrete in the area, creating a long procurement lead time that would have prevented completion by January 2000.

As it was, DPR had to maintain its aggressive construction schedule despite time constraints that were set by nearby neighborhood associations. For example, concrete placement could not begin until 7 a.m. - a late start in the construction industry - forcing crews to work into the heat of the day.

“We were pouring 480 to 500 cubic yards a day. We were pouring fast and furiously to try to place the concrete before the temperature started rising, which makes it more difficult to obtain a good finish,” said McIntosh.

DPR also coordinated with Denver public utility companies to secure and relocate electrical power, telephone and a 16-inch natural gas line that ran through the site. Crews were also sensitive to building around two operating hospitals, taking extra precautions not to disturb the patients and visitors during construction, which also included landscaping around the structure and the addition of street and pedestrian lights.

“Both hospitals were impressed with how DPR accelerated the process to meet the completion date, while taking time to ensure a safe jobsite. It was a true team effort,” said Al Davis of Exempla. “I’ve worked with a lot of contractors, and DPR deserves credit for a job well done. They were very responsive to our needs, and despite a rough start during the preconstruction phase, they met the demands of the job to complete the project on time.”