Aerospace & Engineering Sciences Building

Leveraging public/private partnerships and state-of-the-art spaces to maximize aerospace and advanced manufacturing job training opportunities for underserved communities.

Size
115,000 SF

Year
2017

Location
Denver, CO

LEED
Gold

Awards
2020 AIA Colorado Award of Distinction, Sustainability Category

2020 AIA Colorado Honorable Mention, Sustainability Category

2018 Laboratory of the Year Special Mention Award

R&D Magazine and Laboratory Design
2018 Downtown Denver Award

Client
Metropolitan State University of Denver

The Aerospace & Engineering Sciences (AES) Building is comprised of industrial, engineering, computer science, robotics, and space operations lab and learning spaces. The only public, four-year, access institution of higher education in Colorado, MSU Denver’s AES Building connects the Colorado community, particularly underserved populations, to the regional aerospace and advanced manufacturing economy by providing students with industry partnerships and hands-on professional experience.

AMD worked with MSU and industry partners to create a program and financing model that balances institutional and private-sector spaces. The lower levels of the building house labs and classrooms dedicated to technical skill development and collaborative spaces facilitating teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving. A series of spaces on Level 1 are orchestrated to form an Advanced Manufacturing Hub, allowing students to work in the iterative processes of the industry; objects are modeled digitally, then prototyped, then manufactured. The focal point of this suite is a student gallery space showcasing student projects to the broader campus community. The building’s upper-level houses tenant-leased office space, providing welcome access for industry partners to the building’s resources and student talent pool.

Similar to mediating public and private programs internally, the building’s exterior reconciles two distinct edges: an arterial road to Downtown Denver to the West and the primary pedestrian spine of campus to the East. The city side is characterized by a wall of glass, displaying evening lab activities to patrons of a nearby event center and to the city beyond. The campus side of the building features a pedestrian-scaled sheltering porch and a showcase lab featuring donated equipment from an industry partner, demonstrating one of many ways the public and private sector can work together to provide meaningful learning opportunities while cultivating Colorado’s future workforce.

"This building is an amazing part of our ethos at MSU Denver. [It] was designed in partnership with the aerospace industry. It is truly unique."

Dr. Janine Davidson
President, MSU Denver

"This is a designer’s dream come true. Every corner you walk around there are students working together."

Ted Shin
Chair, Industrial Design Department

"Presenting our lab equipment to our students and visitors is an extremely important element of our recruitment and community outreach, and the design dramatically achieves that vision."

Robert Park, former Director, Adv. Manufacturing Institute

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