Competition to Seek Golden Triangle Jail Architect

Competition to Seek Golden Triangle Jail Architect
For ordinary public projects, r�sum�s and past performance determine the choice of architects.

But a proposed $364 million justice center at 400 W. Colfax Ave. in the Golden Triangle is no ordinary project.

And that's why the city and county of Denver has decided to use a national design competition to choose a team of architects for it, project manager James Mejia said.

If this latest project consisted solely of an overhaul of the county jail on Smith Road, he said, officials would pick an architect using the conventional bid process. Design would be less important than timing and cost in making a choice.

"Here," he said, "we're concerned with all those things: timing, cost and design, because we're in the heart of Denver's downtown, and we're in the heart of our civic governance. And we need to ensure that buildings in which we operate are permanent and dignified in this important core.

"And so, in collaboration with entities downtown and stakeholders downtown, it was agreed that this was the right way to do things."

The project hinges on a May ballot measure. If voters approve it, officials would launch the competition a few weeks later.

Mejia estimates the city would receive initial proposals from 25-50 architectural teams after notices are placed in leading trade journals.

"Not hordes (of architect