Hyatt Hotel at the Convention Center

Hyatt Hotel at the Denver Convention Center

Elevating the City of Denver to New Heights

What can one say about a project that is one of the few construction projects in recent history that is certain to elevate the City of Denver to new heights? With the recent expansion of the Denver Convention Center, Denver needed a hotel to compliment this expansion to appoint Denver as one of the premier Convention cities in the US. Thanks to the Denver Convention Center Hotel Authority Board and Hyatt Hotels, the Hyatt Regency at 631 15th street was born. With limited storage and a fast paced schedule to construct the first high rise addition to the city skyline in over 20 years, this project would require teamwork and innovative planning to be successful.

Located across the street from the Denver Convention Center, the Hyatt Regency was designed to provide the City of Denver with the room capacity to lure major conventions to Denver. The 1.2 million square foot, 37 story hotel consists of 1,106 guest rooms; 270,000 square feet of underground parking for over 600 vehicles; 60,600 square feet of meeting and event space; a 30,000 square foot Ballroom; a 15,000 square foot Junior Ballroom; 17,000 square feet of meeting rooms and executive boardrooms, a four-story atrium; a 6,650 square foot health club with lap pool, steam room, changing rooms and sun deck. There is also 10,260 square feet of bar and restaurant space consisting of a three meal restaurant with outside sidewalk dining area (Altitude), a coffee bar (Perks), the lobby bar (Strata) all located on level 1, and a rooftop lounge (Peaks) located on the 27th floor that was immediately voted into 5280 magazines “Top of the Town” list as Editor’s choice for the most breathtaking view in Denver. A building with all of these amenities at a prime location in downtown Denver was surely going to be a success that would offer patrons the ability to attend a convention at either the Convention Center, hold their own convention right in the Hyatt Regency, or just relax and enjoy a night out on the town.

This project officially broke ground in July 2003.  A thirty-five foot hole that covered an entire city block was excavated for the three underground levels consisting of parking, a two story mechanical equipment room, a two story laundry facility, the main electric room, and generator room.

An attractive lighting package, containing a combination of light sources suited for the many uses and environments, was incorporated into the electrical scope. A Lighting Control System was included in the design to provide safety, security, and aesthetically pleasing atmospheres throughout the different spaces using an integrated lighting and dimming control system. This would allow for all types of functions and automatic light level adjustments at different times of the day and night.

The Hyatt is protected by the latest in Fire Detection and Smoke Control Technology and designed to meet National Fire Protection Codes and the rigid standards dictated by the City of Denver Fire Department and other City Agencies. The system consists of everything, from Manual Pull Stations the occupants can trigger, to Automatic Detectors protecting the building and occupants while they sleep. Notification of an emergency is accomplished through speakers and strobes throughout the building at Code required locations. An automatic Smoke Control System is also part of the Life Safety System. Should a fire occur, the smoke control system will automatically turn fans on or off, operate dampers in air shafts, and literally exhaust the smoke out, while pressurized stairwells and corridors create a smoke free path for the occupants to safety escape.

As always with these types of projects, the construction schedule was tight.  In order to maintain the timetable, Ludvik Electric used various materials and methods to mitigate short periods of time allowed in the schedule for installation of electrical systems. Several construction elements including a four story atrium, two story ballroom, acoustical walls and ceilings, extensive duct work along with mechanical and plumbing piping, all in limited ceiling space made trade coordination a necessity. Months prior to installation, three dimensional CAD drawings were produced by the respective trades in order to determine routes for the numerous electrical and mechanical systems. This detailed coordination saved time and money during the construction process.

Guest room walls had to be carefully coordinated to avoid back to back boxes which could allow sound transmission between rooms. Ludvik Electric coordinated the locations of all wall boxes and prepared elevation drawings for each guest room to insure proper layout and installation by the work force.

Ludvik’s 25,000 Square Foot Prefab Facility, located on the outskirts of Denver, was utilized to prefabricate the power and lighting systems. Through pre-planning, the prefab department was able to set up all rough-in items required for the guest rooms. The entire rough-in for each room was assembled, labeled with the room number, given a copy of the detailed layout and shipped to the jobsite. This substantially reduced the rough-in time required for electrical systems and decreased on-site manpower requirements, while allowing Ludvik crews to complete rough-in at record speed. The amount of debris generated from rough-in was reduced and safety in the work area improved. Careful planning and layout allowed Ludvik to complete this project with no lost time accidents.

Safety of the workers and the people around the site was a primary concern. This was addressed through a review of the construction activities during weekly job walks. Supervisors held weekly safety talks with all on-site employees, where they would communicate daily reminders of possible hazards.

A Quality Control Plan was put into place. On-site supervision and a Ludvik Electric Quality Control Inspector constantly checked the installation against current documents to minimize errors. Drawings were updated with changes on a daily basis to assure installation was in concurrence with the current construction design.

Ludvik Electric partnered with SBE material suppliers and subcontractors.  The goal was to achieve 20% SBE participation on the electrical work.  Ludvik was successful in exceeding this objective.

Through careful coordination with other trades, extensive use of pre-fabrication, adherence to safety, and the dedication of our SBE partners, Ludvik Electric Co. was able to meet the demands of the project schedule.  Denver now has an attractive high rise hotel which compliments the Convention Center and illuminates the Denver skyline.  This project will be a Focal Point in Ludvik’s vast project resume for the Next Dimension.