CSU Spur is a three-building campus at Colorado State University – the first vertical construction to be completed on the new National Western Center in Denver, Colorado. This project is strongly aligned with JE Dunn’s vision: We exist to enrich lives through inspired people and places.
“Out of all the projects I’ve worked on in my career, I’ve not seen one that has been so beneficially impactful to the community,” says JE Dunn Group Manager Andrew Gilstrap. “Spur supports education and research in animal/human bond and food and water resources, as well as provides assistance to those within the community with disabilities and creates opportunities for local small business to work with CSU and others to grow and improve.”
The three buildings are Vida Animal Health, Terra, and Hydro.
Vida Animal Health is a 130,000-square-foot facility focused on animal health, accommodating affordable veterinary health services for household pets and highly specialized equine services including physical therapy for horses and therapy for those whose mental health benefits from therapeutic contact with horses.
Terra is a 59,000-square-foot facility that concentrates on food production research and education. Five levels of laboratory, research, and classroom space are animated by ever-changing exhibits and the ability for the public to interact directly with professors, instructors, students, and many forms of agricultural processes.
Hydro is a four-story 125,000-square-foot building that is all about water research and water rights legislation. Fully interactive spaces include laboratories and classrooms, theater space, and exhibits on Colorado’s watersheds, dams, reservoirs, and the distribution thereof.
The Hydro and Terra buildings are connected to each other via a sky bridge between buildings over National Western Drive. Early in design, JE Dunn helped the design teams and owner with a design solution that has the Terra building fed from the Hydro building central utility plant located on the Hydro roof. This was a significant design enhancement that allowed for energy efficiency savings and up-front cost savings on the project.
All buildings also connect to the National Western Center central utility plant, which is the nation’s largest wastewater heat recovery system, providing heat to all three of the buildings. This required additional coordination with another contractor working on campus.
The Vida building is unique in that it contains the southern extension of the Temple Grandin Equine Center and a state-of-the-art equine sports medicine center (ESMC). The ESMC includes above ground and underwater equine treadmills, a vibration plate, multiple solariums, and an above ground equine spa.
