Zeppelin Development is planning a 100,000 square foot mixed-use development to be constructed at 35th and Wazee in Denver’s River North neighborhood (RiNo). The project will include both office and retail space. The retail portion will comprise approximately 25 percent of the space. Tenant common space and a shared meeting room will be included. Outdoor areas with vegetation will also be featured.

The title of this structure is Gauge, and is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2016. Dynia Architects designed this project and founder Stephen Dynia explained why the name Gauge was selected.

“It has to do with the prominence of the rail lines. It is a very individual site. It is on the edge of freight lines and a new line also going to the airport and one of the bridges(pedestrian) is going to land at the door to the building. RiNo is unique in this area as the rail line is going to pour out here, and there will be a new kind of energy,” said Dynia.

Dynia Architects and Zeppelin development have collaborated on several other projects including the buildings at the TAXI campus, The Source marketplace and The Source Hotel.

“It is completely independent from our other projects. It is an entirely new idea. We have new ideas for every building and this building is about having a garden on the upper levels,” states Dynia. “We are not in a temperate place, but there are things that grow and stay green in the winter.”

Denver’s RiNo is an eclectic mix of old industrial buildings, unique retail, and several new developments are currently under construction in the neighborhood. Dynia expresses his take on RiNo.

“The great thing about RiNo is it has this mix of stuff that will probably stay there for quite a while– a combination that makes it interesting. It is not a homogenous fabric. There will be new things developed that will coexist with things that have been there for a long time.

Dynia founded his eponymous firm in 1993 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Before that, he began his career working for the well known architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill after receiving his architecture degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.