"If you can do it on Pikes Peak, you can do it anywhere."
The new Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center goes to unprecedented lengths to conserve and create its own energy. Learn more about some of the techniques used to power this incredible building and the fourth petal of the Living Building Challenge… Energy.
What better than a beautiful Friday evening for the ribbon cutting and grand-opening ceremony for the new middle school facility for Littleton Public Schools. The 160,000-sf replacement for Newton Middle School was part of the 2018 Bond program. Designed with student centric learning in mind, this school features classroom pods with flex breakout spaces, a learning stair, maker spaces, a cafetorium, outdoor learning spaces, and professional development spaces for LPS teachers. The design also includes space for the District’s NOVA and BEST programs which serve K-12 students with special social and emotional needs and students with autism. Read more about this great project here.
"Water is life, especially here in Colorado."
The new Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center is only the second location in Colorado to incorporate a wastewater recycling system. Learn more about how the new Summit Visitor Center is pioneering this technique to conserve and reuse this precious resource and the third petal of the Living Building Challenge… Water.
“The mountain was not to be conquered. The environment was not an adversary. It was something to try and respond to.”
In part 2 of the video series “Our Road to Sustainability,” RTA Principal Stuart Coppedge and RTA Associate Principal Mike Riggs discuss how the strategic placement of the new Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center was crucial to maintaining and working with the natural environment at the 14,000-foot summit of Pikes Peak. Learn more about the first element, or petal, of the Living Building Challenge… Place.
We were very excited to support Harrison School District 2 and sponsor their annual golf tournament. Great day at Arrowhead Golf Club!
The new Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center is the most sustainable high-altitude structure in the country, if not the world. It is designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, a globally recognized symbol of sustainable design and is also striving to achieve Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification, a two-year certification process for highly sustainable net positive buildings. Currently, no other buildings in the state of Colorado are fully LBC certified.
Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain has launched a multipart video series called, “Our Road to Sustainability” that explains the seven performance areas, or petals, of the LBC; elements of which are integrated into the design and operation of the Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center. The series includes commentary from USDA Forest Service representatives; Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain project managers; designers from RTA Architects; project leaders from GE Johnson; Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers; and other stakeholders.
Join us for the LBC video series that answers the question, “What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?” and to learn more the sustainable elements of this incredible project!
Arizona-based healthy living grocery Sprouts Farmers Market will be adding a fourth location in Colorado Springs adjacent to the new Creekwalk shopping center, also designed by RTA, on South Nevada Avenue. This 23,646 square foot Sprouts is part of a bigger effort to transform the area into a prosperous retail and tourist destination and we’re thrilled to be involved in both of these exciting projects.
The newest Sprouts location is expected to open in the fall of 2022. Learn more about Creekwalk here.
What a great start to the week! We were excited to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Peak Vista Health Center Downtown with Peak Vista leadership, Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, and the Springs Rescue Mission.
With expected completion in Q1 2022, the new health center will serve residents experiencing homelessness in the Downtown Colorado Springs area. It will also be an expansion of Peak Vista’s whole-person, family health center model, providing medical, dental, social support, and behavioral health services in a patient-centered accessible design. Read more about Peak Vista Health Center Downtown here.
RTA cheered our own Mike Riggs as he took on the Pikes Peak Marathon & Ascent, one of the oldest continually held half-marathons in the US. Beginning in Manitou Springs, more than 1400 runners made their way up to the summit of Pikes Peak in this year’s Ascent. The 13.3-mile race climbs about 7,800 vertical feet, making it a grueling uphill battle.
This was Mike’s first Ascent, and his time placed him in the top 26% of all runners in this year’s race! Way to go Mike!!
Follow our page for a full interview with Mike and how his work as Project Architect and Construction Administrator for the new Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center provided him with years of “on-the-job-training” for this challenging event.
Construction for Pueblo Community Health Center’s East Side Clinic continues! As the triple pane fiberglass windows and solar panels on the building and parking canopies are installed, crews continue to work toward fall completion. Read more here about this great addition to Pueblo’s east side, also the first emerging Zero Energy outpatient health care clinic in Colorado according to the New Buildings Institute.
