Text and images are courtesy in situ DESIGN. Click on images at left for larger color views. [Google Earth link] When [Denver] residents learned of a plan to build an apartment complex on a small lot [in the Curtis Park neighborhood], they pooled resources and expertise to form an investor group...of more than twenty residents [that] set out to design and construct a project they felt to be more congruent with the scale and character of their neighborhood. The first development effort, Champa Terrace, was completed in 2004 and sold out in just over one month. The group decided to roll over its profits from this first effort to a second project called Merchants Row Brownstones. Modeled after the New York Brownstone prototype, each unit’s main entry will face the street. Unit sizes range form 1,700 s.f. to 2,200 s.f. and include three-bedrooms and 3-1/2 baths. Each residence can function as a live/work unit. They include a streetfronting walk-out basement perfect for a home offi ce or “granny flat” and a two-car garage. Also, large terraces and balconies will provide downtown and mountain views. On the exterior the primary feature of the contemporary design is a modern interpretation of a historic bay. Located in a historic district, guidelines require that all facades have “punched” window openings, however, the Design Review Board approved a three-story mullionless curtain wall because the pattern of both frosted and clear glass matches the proportions of historic homes in the district. Stepped out from the facade, side windows will frame views down the Champa Street corridor to the heart of downtown. At night, the translucent bay glow activating the street with vitality. Contemporary interiors feature a three-story light shaft topped by a skylight. Glass bridges span the atrium in the 26th Street units. Finishes include bamboo flooring, Richlite countertops, stainless steel appliances, Wet sinks and tubs, solid core doors, Berber wool-blend carpet, Trex decking, and smoothfinish drywall throughout.   Merchants Row Brownstones in Denver, Colorado by in situ DESIGN 2006.06.05     Click on images below for larger color views.