The Hyatt Denver Convention Center Hotel, which consists of 1.25 million square feet of overall building area, officially broke ground for construction in July 2003.  It is slated to be 38-stories high, with a 50-foot vertical beacon, a 27-story lower tower, a 66-foot tall base building (podium), and 600 spaces of below-grade parking.  Located at 650 Fifteenth Street in downtown Denver, adjacent to the new Colorado Convention Center, the hotel is scheduled to open in late 2005. 

The 66-foot tall base of the tower includes the main lobby, restaurant, health club, pool area, and guest services as the foundation. These common spaces are organized along a three-story glass atrium, which runs the full length of the building.  The restaurant, guestroom elevators, lobbies and convention bar are located within this space on the ground elevation. Conferencing facilities are located on levels three and four.  Escalators connect the pre-function areas and the 30,000 square-foot grand ballroom on the third level, and the 15,000 square-foot junior ballroom, pre-function areas and meeting rooms on the fourth level.  Level five contains a health club with an indoor lap pool, steam room and hospitality suites with outdoor terraces.  There are also two lounges located in the towers, the Rocky Mountain Lounge on the twenty-seventh level, and the Regency Lounge on the thirty-fifth level.  The 1,106 guest rooms begin on level five and extend all the way up to the thirty-seventh level.  The thirty-eighth level is for the mechanical equipment.

A major portion of the work on this project is electrical, which is being executed by Ludvik Electric Co. as a Design Assist Subcontractor.  Ludvik’s scope of work includes an electrical power distribution including 2-4000 Amp 277/480 Volt and 1-3000 Amp 277/480 Volt Main Distribution Switchboards, and 2-3000 Amp 277/480 Volt Life Safety Distribution Switchboards.

In order that Life Safety Operations and Emergency Egress Lighting are available, two 1250kw Generators were incorporated into the electrical design.  Power from these Emergency Generators will be distributed to the required Life Safety Components with the use of three Transfer Switches.  These Transfer Switches (sized at 1-400 Amps, and 2-3000 Amps) sense that normal power has gone out and automatically switch to the generator power in less than ten seconds.  Emergency power can remain on for hours with the fuel supply incorporated into the design.

An attractive lighting package, consisting of a wide variety of fixtures to accommodate the many different uses and environments, has been incorporated into the electrical scope.  A Lighting Control System is also included in the design to provide safety and security for all guests and visitors.  The Ballrooms, Meeting Rooms, Pre-function Areas, Restaurants, and other public spaces will be controlled using an integrated Lighting and Dimming Control System.

The website address for the Hyatt Denver Convention Center Hotel is: 

http://www.denverconventionhotel.com/