Unique zoning requirements had to be taken into consideration during all phases of the 260 North Josephine project in the heart of Denver’s Cherry Creek North Shopping District. The exterior finish is comprised of glass, wood and metal, including IW Series metal rainscreen panels from CENTRIA.

260 North Josephine is a mixed-use building with restaurant, retail and fitness spaces on the ground floor, office spaces with adjoining outdoor patios on levels 2 - 6 and three levels of below-grade parking.

“The primary composition of the architecture is a series of multistory elements, interlocked in a way to step the mass down towards East 3rd Avenue and create outdoor patios for the office levels,” said Taylor Hillyard, Studio Director at Open Studio Architecture of Denver. “The architecture was seeking to provide visual movement, depth and excitement that contributes to the urban fabric within the Cherry Creek North retail neighborhood.”

CENTRIA’s IW Series metal rainscreen panels eliminate exposed fasteners for a clean aesthetic. The single-skin metal panels are a preferred option for both new construction and retrofit projects. IW Series panels can be installed vertically or horizontally and feature a common lock-joint design that makes them interchangeable on a project and minimizes moisture intrusion. For 260 North Josephine, the color specified was Midnight Bronze.

“CENTRIA’s IW Series rainscreen panels were the perfect selection to help provide the project with more visual depth,” Hillyard said. “Using the profiled panel with reveals and running them either horizontally or vertically gave us the ability to give each element directionality. This drastically increased the perceived depth within the façade.

“One of the elements that stand out in this project is the uniqueness of the terraced building mass creating outdoor patios on levels 3 - 6. These patios face north towards the Denver skyline and with lower density zoning to the north, these views will be preserved. This also led to the opportunity for the architectural elements to stack as they are.”

Erecting a six-story building on top of three underground levels of parking in a busy shopping district demands attention to detail by all parties involved, from the design to finish. The architectural surfaces division of MG McGrath of Maplewood, Minn., installed 10,160 square feet of 20-gauge IW Series metal rainscreen panels. McGrath also installed 1,000 square feet of 4mm PE core metal composite panels and 1,000 square feet of fire-treated Western Red Cedar wood planks. McGrath also has a glass & glazing division, which fabricated and installed 1,300 square feet of glazed storefront, 9,563 square feet of glazed curtain wall and 5,370 square feet of glazed window wall on the exterior façade.

“There were two challenges on this project,” said Allison Gladkowski, marketing specialist at MG McGrath. “First of all, we didn’t have a lot of room to work with in a very busy shopping district. We had to navigate through and work in some tight quarters and make sure we were doing it safely. Secondly, we also had to make sure the different products, the glazing, the wood, the metal, all fit together to provide watertight exterior.”

Gladkowski said McGrath frequently works on projects involving CENTRIA products.

“Usually, CENTRIA is specified before we get involved,” Gladkowski said. “If we’re asked for suggestions, if someone is looking for a durable product or requires a wide range of colors, we recommend CENTRIA. Some companies have durable products and others have a good color selection, but CENTRIA is the entire package.”

All who worked on the project are pleased with the outcome.

“The project turned out to be very successful from an architectural, development, sustainability and neighborhood context point of view,” Hillyard says. “The architecture created an exciting addition to Cherry Creek North, is fully leased and incorporated energy-reducing measures throughout the design.”

The general contractor was GE Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo. The project was completed in September 2019.