2016 Directory

18 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .16 | www.aia-wyoming.org A bout the Building: Housing development in Denver is booming, especially in the newly revitalized River North (RiNo) neighborhood of Den- ver. Unlike the majority of apartment buildings in the area, Dynia Architects’ Freight Residences rejects the typical models of develop- ment. The building has a sense of intimacy and privacy, reduces the homogony of multifamily development, and targets the underserved urban family market. Freight Residences is the newest addition to the mixed-use TAXI development, situated between the train tracks and the South Platte River in RiNo. This 48-unit, four-story urban housing develop- ment was designed for professionals and young families with urban sensibilities. The one-, three-, and four-bedroom units are config- ured as a stacked, repeating module of 18-foot sections. All but the one-bedroom units offer two floors of living space with through-unit ventilation and light infiltration. Each unit has an operable glass garage door that opens the living spaces to the gardens on the first floor, generous private balconies on the fourth floor, or to incredible mountain views to the west from the third floor one-bedroom units. This urban residential block is unconventional, having a single corri- dor located on the third floor providing access to the one-bedroom and three-bedroom top floor units. Generous windows at each end of the hallway offer a street-like experience. The four-bedroom units are accessed through private entrances on the first floor of the building, either from the car-port parking area in the back or through the garden terraces on the front of the build- ing. This configuration of the first and second floors offers privacy and creates a row house sensibility rather than the feel of a double loaded apartment block. These two-story units allow light and air to flow from east to west on each floor. MERIT Award Winner, 2016 WMR Awards: Freight Residences, Denver, CO