To accommodate its growth in Colorado, the global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP moved to a new 41,000-square foot, two-floor office suite at 1144 Fifteenth Street in downtown Denver. The city’s first Class A office tower in more than 30 years and one of its tallest, the 40-story property serves as a hub of innovation and collaboration. This 670,000-square-foot next-generation workplace also stands as a statement of sustainability and efficiency demonstrated by its LEED Gold pre-certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.
Photo credit: © Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty, courtesy of Rockfon
Inspired by the surrounding Rocky Mountains, 1144 Fifteenth’s environmentally responsible and distinctively modern tower rises into faceted gem crowned in two mountain-like peaks, sculpted with a palette of natural materials and colors. Its exterior façade, designed by Pickard Chilton, is composed of bedrock, glass, metal and stone. Gensler designed Greenberg Traurig’s office interior to showcase complementary finishes including glass, metal, wood and Rockfon stone wool ceiling panels.
“As we expand our presence in Colorado, we were looking for a location that could evolve to meet our clients’ needs,” Greenberg Traurig’s Denver co-managing shareholders David G. Palmer and Michael R. McGinnis said in a joint statement. “From a strategic standpoint, our new office is designed to enable flexibility, improve efficiency, and provide collaborative space to facilitate teamwork. The design reflects the changing needs of the global law firm, which requires a sustainable, technologically advanced workplace that facilitates interaction and enhances client service.”
Supporting Greenberg Traurig’s goals, Gensler specified Rockfon Sonar® to enhance the office’s contemporary look and effective acoustics for its 10-foot-high ceilings.
Photo credit: © Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty, courtesy of Rockfon
With an excellent Noise Reduction Coefficient of 0.95 NRC, Rockfon Sonar stone wool panels deliver very high sound absorption in the offices, conference rooms and shared spaces. Combined with full-height walls, this approach to Optimized Acoustics helps Greenberg Traurig’s legal team to maintain privacy, communicate clearly and focus on detail-oriented tasks.
Creating the ceiling’s neat, clean appearance, Heartland Acoustics & Interiors, Inc. installed the Sonar panels using Chicago Metallic® 4000 Tempra™ 9/16-inch ceiling suspension system. The metal grid was finished in white to match the lightly textured panels’ modern aesthetic.
Photo credit: © Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty, courtesy of Rockfon
Rockfon’s white light-reflective ceiling panels also help carry natural light from the exterior floor-to-ceiling glass façade permeating up to 42-feet-deep into the interior office floor plan. Up to 85% of all light that hits the ceiling panels is reflected and diffused by the ceiling panels, maximizing daylight and comfort for staff. Minimizing the need for electric lighting, this helps 1144 Fifteenth operate at a 10% higher energy efficiency rate than similar structures.
Along with the significant LEED credits for Optimizing Energy Performance, low-emitting materials also contributed to the project’s point total. Rockfon’s stone wool products are GREENGUARD Gold certified as low-emitting products, recognized as supporting healthy indoor air quality.
Photo credit: © Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty, courtesy of Rockfon
Other amenities inside the LEED Gold certified building include a state-of-the-art filtration system, a 5,000 square-foot fitness center, dining facilities, charging stations for electric vehicles, a bicycle storage facility with a maintenance station, and a spacious tenant lounge café that can support client and community events.
Additional design considerations for Greenberg Traurig’s efficiency and productivity include interactive technology enabling lawyers to move throughout the office, while seamlessly linked to the firm’s global network; adjustable workspaces offering flexibility to work sitting or standing; and expandable, multipurpose space that can be used as conference rooms, training rooms, and to host events for clients, charitable organizations, and other community partners.
Photo credit: © Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty, courtesy of Rockfon
Promoting its community connections, the building is located on public transit routes and near important cultural and historic sites such as the Denver Performing Arts Complex, Larimer Square and the Colorado Convention Center. The building’s prime location among the cultural and culinary riches of LoDo (Lower Denver) offers convenient access to the city’s main thoroughfares and Denver International Airport.
Photo credit: © Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty, courtesy of Rockfon
Built by Houston-based developer, Hines, construction of 1144 Fifteenth started in June 2015 and was completed in March 2018. Turner Construction served as the general contractor for Greenberg Traurig’s interior build-out. The law firm moved into its new location in August 2019. Other notable companies that the prestigious address has attracted include Gates Corporation, Faegre Baker Daniels, Petrie Partners, The Boston Consulting Group, Unicom Capital and Optiv Security.
“We’ve heard time and time again from every tenant who’s signed up for this building that they value their employees, their wellness. It’s a great recruiting and retention tool because it’s phenomenal looking building outside, but we designed it from the inside out,” Hines senior managing director, Jay Despard, told Colorado Real Estate Journal.
Despard added, “Office space used to be a means to an end for companies to provide space to do their business, but now it’s focused on more of the people actually using the space rather than the companies themselves. That is a big change.”
Photo credit: © Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty, courtesy of Rockfon
“We are grateful to the Denver community for supporting our success here for the past two decades,” Greenberg Traurig Palmer and McGinnis said. “We are excited to continue to demonstrate our loyalty to our clients and the community by investing in office space that will help enable our vision to transition to the law office of the future.”
Founded in 2000, Greenberg Traurig’s Denver team offers clients a business-minded perspective into legal issues, as well as a strategic gateway for Denver businesses to operate in today’s global marketplace. The Denver team’s core practice areas include American Indian Law, appellate litigation, commercial litigation, compensation and benefits, corporate transactions, employment litigation, energy and natural resources, environmental compliance and litigation, federal regulatory and administrative law, financial services litigation, healthcare and FDA law, intellectual property and technology, land use and zoning, mergers and acquisitions, public finance, real estate, securities law, and tax.
Greenberg Traurig, LLP has approximately 2,100 attorneys in 41 locations in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The company has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, diversity and innovation, and is consistently among the largest firms in the U.S. on the Law360 400 and among the Top 20 on the Am Law Global 100.
Greenberg Traurig law offices; 1144 Fifteenth Street, Denver, CO 80202; http://1144fifteenth.com
• 1144 Fifteenth – developer: Hines; Houston; https://www.hines.com
• 1144 Fifteenth – design architect: Pickard Chilton Architects, Inc.; New Haven, Connecticut; https://www.pickardchilton.com
• 1144 Fifteenth – architect of record: Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc.; Houston; http://www.kendall-heaton.com
• 1144 Fifteenth – general contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction Company; Greeley, Colorado; https://www.henselphelps.com
• Greenberg Traurig office – architect/interior designer: Gensler; Denver; https://www.gensler.com
• Greenberg Traurig office – general contractor: Turner Construction Company; Denver; https://www.turnerconstruction.com
• Greenberg Traurig office – ceiling systems, installing contractor: Heartland Acoustics & Interiors, Inc.; Englewood, Colorado; https://www.heartland-acoustics.com
• Greenberg Traurig office – ceiling systems, distributor: E&K Companies of Denver, Inc.; Denver; https://e-kco.com
• Greenberg Traurig office – ceiling systems, manufacturer: Rockfon; Chicago; https://www.rockfon.com
• Greenberg Traurig office – photographer: ©Gensler 2019, photo by Ryan Gobuty
About Rockfon
Rockfon is part of ROCKWOOL Group and is offering advanced acoustic ceilings and wall solutions to create beautiful, comfortable spaces.
At ROCKWOOL Group, we are committed to enriching the lives of everyone who experiences our product solutions. Our expertise is perfectly suited to tackle many of today’s biggest sustainability and development challenges, from energy consumption and noise pollution to fire resilience, water scarcity and flooding. Our range of products reflects the diversity of the world’s needs, while supporting our stakeholders in reducing their own carbon footprint.
Stone wool is a versatile material and forms the basis of all our businesses. With 11,700 passionate colleagues in 39 countries, we are the world leader in stone wool solutions, from building insulation to acoustic ceilings, external cladding systems to horticultural solutions, engineered fibers for industrial use to insulation for the process industry, and marine and offshore.
For more information, visit www.rockfon.com.
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