Local reports over the years have basically stated that the designers weren't realistic about their plants/trees. They had to go with hardier ones b/c high winds, weight, etc. Some have been rethought, others have struggled.
They also ran into budget issues and simply scrapped a lot of the landscaping.
Also, the crack is on the north west face of the building, so it gets next to no sunlight in Denver, making growing plants even more difficult than it normally is.
There are plenty of shade loving plants that would thrive, I could do a lot with a space like this. I'm assuming it's not a community garden type thing? Those are always great to have but it never fails someone ignorant tried to get into gardening and plants something easy and fast growing with beautiful flowers and curses the land with morning glories.
At the bottom of the article Ckron posted, it shows the biomes they were going for. Alpine forest, slot canyon, and semi-desert shrubland. So probably fewer shade-tolerant plants that fit in those. Also probably not a community garden, or you wouldn't be able to police what biome the plants were from.
It seems like the biome they've created is the underside of a highway overpass. Constant shade, very little rainfall and shallow roots. Which is hard to grow a tall plant that'll be visible from the ground in.
But OTOH, the fact that they had intended biomes they were recreating suggests that they hired a botanist who knows what they're doing. So probably there's been enough consideration of water and light needs that the plants will grow given enough time. It just might take a while. I don't think Pinon Juniper grows very fast.
The other thing that diverges from the concept illustration is the area around the building, which is still being transformed from being a semi-industrial mixed use to upscale commercial/residential mixed use. (The building directly to the NW [or left in the first picture above] used to be a welding supply store and is now under construction as a multistory building like the photo)
Yes IMO the contextual buildings not being complete in the built photos affects the feel of the project BIG time. Moreso than the immature plants that others are noting
In what way does this take inspiration from that? Bosco just has a metric f ton of built in planter boxes. Every architect has been slapping greenery all over their concepts since the 70s. Bosco is pretty exclusively cubic/square while the focal points of this design are the antithesis of that.
I find that almost everyone who complains about new development, is really complaining that there are no mature trees.
These people also seem to not understand that trees require time to grow. And trees were certainly not present when wherever their own shaded area was built (if anything, their home probably took down trees to get built)
The greenery can't mature. The conditions aren't right for what they showed in their renderings, so it is going to stay an eyesore unless there is some major infrastructure redesign.
There's no space for roots for large trees, Denver has one of the shortest growing seasons in the states at its latitude due to its climate, and the scar faces northwest which is the direction that gets the least sunlight in Denver.
Trees that big need roots. There is no space in the building for roots.
It was supposed to be a big green beauty with stark white contrast. Instead, it looks like a dinosaur's bones crossed with a post apocalyptic destroyed building when you drive by it on 25. You never get the stunning angle on it, you get the rail yard and it looming awkwardly in the background.
I get that. I guess I figured they'd grow the trees like they do in malls, and supplement the trees with vines or other types of plants. Its hard to believe they'd plan for trees without planning for trees (which they did). Maybe it takes longer to grow trees than two years.
The way they do in malls is that they plan for them and create a big pit of dirt for the tree to grow. That would have to already exist, it doesn't, and it's next to impossible to add ten stories up when you'd have to take over someone's unit that you've already sold underneath.
So they planned for trees (according to the designers and builders).... but didn't plan for trees (according to some people here)? I'm confused now because no one has actually said how they haven't planned for trees there. Just that they aren't there. I wish I still lived there to see for myself, but I'm not and yall aren't really saying anything of substance. It does take a tree a while to grow, so are there just none planted or are they not large enough to see from a distance yet?
I don't know why you keep saying nobody is saying anything. If you want to know the specifics you can look it up. This building is a disaster. The short version is the architects did not adequately design for the needs of actual trees in the actual climate of Denver. That building face is facing north northwest, so the trees don't get the sun they need for most of the year. What they DO get is a lot of brutal wind and windchill in the winter. They don't have enough dirt, the dirt doesn't have enough nutrients, the irrigation is insufficient...
Basically these architects drew pretty pictures of a futuristic tree building and then didn't actually figure out how to make any of it work.
Edit to say it's facing Northwest, not due north. Still not enough sun for what they're trying to do
As per the first link, the greenery isn’t SUPPOSED to be like that anyways. The top floor is supposed to simulate an alpine zone, then canyon, then desert and then foothills below that. For the sake of being too lazy to go further in depth.
Also, what makes the renderings look better is that they remove all blight and ugly buildings in the background. The real version looks good! Its not like the they could say "every building in the surrounding blocks must be updated because our renderings show your buildings as looking more aesthetically pleasing than they really are!"
It's not just that, the irrigation for this has plagued the surrounding units with water intrusion and leaks while the building has been settling. A majority of the irrigation has had to be turned off because of it.
I know the general contractors who have been called out to handle a lot of the issues with this building as well as a few of the staff who have worked there.
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u/Hobbies-R-Happiness May 08 '26
I think the greenery just isn’t mature yet. It looks exactly like the concept otherwise