Planes, Trains, and Urbanism for Denver

The new front door for the Jeppesen Terminal at Denver International Airport. Image © Gensler

The problem with the buzz these days about airport cities is that for many people an airport city can be nothing more than an office park built out near the terminal. But without a physical and emotional connection to the city center, the airport remains remote, and the development that sprang up at its door is isolated. That brand of airport city doesn’t have the wings to spur the kind of progressive growth and development that can change a metropolis and in the case of Denver, give a city its rightful urbanism.

A robust airport city is in the works here in Denver, and when the critical infrastructure is completed (The hotel and plaza open November 19, 2015, coinciding with Denver International Airport’s 20th anniversary), this new airport development has the potential of invigorating the region and downtown Denver, making the city a more walkable, people-friendly urban center. As I see it, it is the exclamation point at the end of a decades-long vision to connect DEN to the city and region of Denver. And I mean connect in a real, non-virtual sense.

Specifically: Jeppesen Terminal is getting (not more runways or gates but) a new front door.

Image © Gensler

Visitors will soon enter the terminal through an open-air, partially covered plaza that will be activated not just by air travelers moving through it, but by special events. Among the possibilities are farmers markets, concerts, and even 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, all designed to draw people, including the people who live in the city and region, out to the airport. Surrounding and rising above the plaza is a 519- key Westin Hotel and Conference Center with spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains, an eleventh-floor pool, al fresco dining, a coffee shop and bar, all of which will have a Denver feel. And beneath the plaza via a four-story escalator is the nerve center of the whole development: the terminus of the Regional Transportation District’s A Line connecting DEN to downtown Denver. That commuter rail line will open in April 2016. A soaring glass-and-steel train canopy establishes a sense of place and engages the hotel conference center. Adjacent to the train hall is a pick-up and drop-off for regional and local buses.

Image © Gensler

While any one of those elements is impressive, the sum total and bigger picture is more potent: Denver is now bringing its airport into the urban fold. The vision and concept for the new DEN Hotel and Transit Center has always been one: to melt those 20 miles between city center and airport and create a terminal that is a springboard to downtown Denver and a travel destination unto itself, albeit one that is very much “of Denver.”

None of this happened in a vacuum. The airport development is part of a larger, longer effort by the city and region to strengthen their relationship.

The ongoing construction of our light rail and commuter rail lines was a first step in the process, spurred in the 1980s by Denver’s unpleasant distinction of being one of the most polluted cities in America. The rail lines stitched the suburbs to the city center. And our soon-to-be East Rail Line to/from the airport will finally give city dwellers a reason to use the trains.

The second step is a newly renovated Union Station in Denver’s city center. It is the crown jewel and hub of our mass transit system and is giving rise to the new downtown Commons Neighborhood around it. It has sparked tremendous growth and has jumpstarted the downtown economy.

The third step is the new Hotel and Transit Center at DEN. It punctuates, with a lot of enthusiasm, Denver’s vision to get connected as an urban center and region, with the potential economic ramifications being staggering.

Image © Gensler

Currently, more than 53 million travelers pass through the DEN every year, and far too many of them climb right aboard their next flight or head straight for the mountains. They don’t bother spending 45 minutes in a car or cab ride downtown, and therefore miss the city entirely. The city misses, too, on all that lost consumerism. The new East Rail Line will take travelers from the airport to Denver’s Union Station or vice versa in 37 minutes. Downtown Denver suddenly becomes accessible even in a huge snowstorm. A baggage drop is among the future plans for both the airport train station and Union Station as another boon for urbanism. Day travelers will then be free to explore the city and/or the new terminal as unencumbered pedestrians.

This is great for airport employees—some 33,000 locals work there—and Denver’s overall “quality of life.” Airport employees who use the new rail connection are getting a linear commute to work on a train. The people of Denver are getting a new “town square” at the airport and an opportunity to address their city’s lingering smog problem by leaving their cars at home for the trip out there. And, no doubt, the City of Denver will be getting relevant economic development clustered around that A Line commuter rail.

All of us involved in the project never viewed this as a one-off airport project. Rather, we see it as an urban and regional development initiative. An airport can, indeed, change the dynamics of a city. I’m hoping the “new” DEN will be a trailblazer for other big, car-cultured Western cities whose airports have existed as distant relatives far too long. There’s too much “city” being left unclaimed when these two powerhouses—downtowns and major airports—don’t fundamentally connect and promote one another.

Ongoing construction at DIA's Jeppesen Terminal. Image © Gensler

Brent Mather loves to consider possibilities. His passion is searching for the inherent harmony that exists between architecture, site, and the people who experience it. As Design Director for Gensler's Denver office, Brent inspires people to pursue design excellence in everything they do while exceeding clients' expectations. Contact Brent at brent_mather@gensler.com.