Project description
The Halcyon Hotel is a boutique, 155-room property that offers restaurants, nightlife, and rooftop amenities in Denver’s Cherry Creek North neighborhood. The hotel includes two ground-level restaurants with full bar service, a rooftop pool deck with food and beverage service, and a below-grade speakeasy-style bar. The speakeasy route leads guests through the building’s boiler room and past windows overlooking the chiller room, turning usually hidden equipment into a purposeful industrial design feature. Two levels of subgrade valet parking support the building.
Cator, Ruma, and Associates provided the mechanical and electrical design along with contract administration for the project. The rooftop pool and kitchen design posed significant coordination challenges, particularly regarding equipment routing, space constraints, and maintaining a clean architectural aesthetic. Equipment commonly installed on rooftops had to be concealed, and the design team collaborated to integrate systems without compromising the guest experience.
Sound and vibration control also required careful planning, since piping and ductwork serving the rooftop amenities had to run directly above guest rooms. CRA addressed these challenges through coordinated architectural walls that shielded equipment from view, oversized ductwork wrapped with sound lagging to reduce noise, and a stepped-back upper-floor layout that created pathways for equipment routing.
The result is a polished boutique hotel where complex systems support a rooftop pool, multiple dining spaces, and a unique speakeasy experience without disrupting comfort or design intent.
Guiding Principles for the Design
- Guest Experience Above All
- Creative Use of Building Systems
- Integrated Aesthetic and Engineering
- Complex Coordination in Tight Spaces