Best Projects
Rocky Mountain Buell Public Media Center: Best Project Cultural/Worship
Photo courtesy MKM Build Photography
Rocky Mountain Buell Public Media Center
Denver
Best Project Cultural/Worship
OWNER: Rocky Mountain Public Media
LEAD DESIGN FIRM | ARCHITECT: Tryba Architects
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Mortenson
CIVIL ENGINEER: Martin/Martin Inc.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Thornton Tomasetti
MEP ENGINEER: ME Engineers
OWNERS REPRESENTATIVE: The Wells Partnership
The Buell Media Center is the new 93,000-sq-ft headquarters for Rocky Mountain Public Media. It is part of an effort to create a place where everyone can be seen and heard, strengthening the civic and cultural fabric of the state while building a new journalism paradigm focused on collaboration and community-centered storytelling. RMPM is the parent company of Rocky Mountain PBS, KUVO JAZZ and THE DROP, and it is Colorado’s largest statewide, member-supported multimedia organization, with 90,000 members and stations across the Front Range and Western Slope.
Related link: ENR Mountain States Best Projects 2021
Related link: ENR Colorado Best Projects 2021
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This project, completed in June 2020, is the culmination of a years-long effort to build an innovative new hub for public-facing media services in Denver’s Arapahoe Square. The building further contributes to the fabric of downtown through a thoughtful, contextual design that invites community engagement.
The $34-million development includes the Metzler Family Learning Center, which focuses on teaching social and emotional skills to children, and the Community Media Center, which hosts production classes for students at Emily Griffith Technical College.
Photo courtesy MKM Build Photography
The third floor includes a collaborative space for nonprofit media. The Bonfils-Stanton Performance Studio hosts live music performances, and the Tim Gill & Scott Miller Green Screen Studio produces local content used by the Public Broadcasting Service on a national level.
Photo courtesy MKM Build Photography
Additionally, through a new partnership with Denver 8 TV, the building provides media production services to elected branches of Denver’s city government and city departments and agencies, including fully scheduled video programming services on cable TV and online. The space also includes Masterpiece Studio, a flexible venue for community events.
