Denver Union Station

Denver’s historic Union Station is a Beaux Arts masterpiece located on the edge of the city’s central business district. SOM was commissioned to expand and transform this station into a major regional transportation hub. To do so, the firm converted 20 acres of former rail yards into an urban transit district that orchestrates light rail, commuter and intercity rail, bicycle and bus routes, and pedestrian pathways into an intuitive intermodal hub.

  • Location: Denver, Colorado
  • Project Completion: 2014
  • Site Area: 19.50 acres
  • Project Area: 1,623,000 ft2
  • Building Height: 70 ft
  • Market: Transportation
  • Architecture + Civil Engineering: SOM

The focal point is the open-air Train Hall, which was conceived as an efficient and formally expressive means of sheltering multiple railway tracks. Its primary structural system comprises 11 steel “arch trusses” spanning nearly 180 feet, clad in tensioned PTFE fabric. In profile, the canopy rises 70 feet at either end and descends in a dynamic sweep to 22 feet at the center, a gesture that allows the structure to protect the passenger platforms below while providing views of the historic station.

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