Commercial

Our team delivers engineering solutions for commercial developments, with a strong focus on mid- to high-rise office buildings.

Our work spans urban and non-urban markets across the country, with many projects centered on steel and concrete construction integrated with structured parking to support efficient commercial environments. We bring decades of experience delivering office and commercial developments in a wide range of contexts, applying practical knowledge of local conditions, codes, and construction practices while adapting solutions to fit each project’s setting.

Today’s commercial developments are increasingly complex and rarely exist as standalone uses, often integrated with multifamily housing or office components as part of broader mixed-use environments. These projects frequently maximize available lot space, particularly in urban areas, which creates challenges in coordinating finished floor elevations with adjacent rights-of-way while maintaining accessibility and a strong storefront presence. In denser settings where open space is limited, underground stormwater detention and water quality systems are often required, demanding careful coordination between civil and structural design. At the same time, commercial sites introduce unique utility demands, including higher water usage and sanitary flows, which must be evaluated and incorporated early in the design process regardless of project location.

Our approach is grounded in flexibility and collaboration. Rather than applying standardized solutions, we work closely with architects, developers, and consultants to align structural and civil systems with each project’s specific vision, constraints, and market conditions. Early coordination across disciplines allows us to identify opportunities, resolve grading and infrastructure challenges, and address potential conflicts before they impact later phases of design and construction.

We are also highly experienced in delivering tenant improvements, recognizing that many commercial developments begin without a committed tenant. Whether adapting a former restaurant into a modern café or converting office space for a new use, we design systems that support change over time. By anticipating future needs and balancing immediate design goals with long-term adaptability, we help create commercial environments that are efficient, accessible, and resilient to support both current tenants and future growth.

Ent Credit Union Headquarters
LOCATION: Colorado Springs, CO

COMPLETED: 2021

ARCHITECT: Davis Partnership Architects

OWNER: Shea Properties

SIZE: 333,000 Square Feet (SF)

Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Ent Credit Union Headquarters is a six-story, 330,000 SF office facility completed in 2021 as the first phase of Ent’s 27-acre, master-planned campus.

The project was developed to consolidate operations previously distributed across multiple facilities into a single, centralized headquarters. The full campus plan includes five buildings totaling more than one million square feet of Class A office space to support future growth for Colorado’s largest credit union.

The headquarters is designed to accommodate more than 1,100 employees and incorporates a broad range of programmatic and operational functions. The lower levels include a secured and amenitized main entry, reception areas, cafés, a two-level cafeteria, conference and training spaces, and a fully equipped fitness center.

The cafeteria is a signature architectural and structural feature, rising approximately 28 feet and spanning two floors, with long-span structural systems and extensive glazing to maximize daylight and panoramic views of Pikes Peak and the Front Range. Upper floors are dedicated to flexible office layouts designed to support departmental adjacencies, collaboration, and future reconfiguration.

The building massing is organized in a T-shaped plan that optimizes site circulation, structural efficiency, and view corridors. This configuration allows public and employee-focused functions on the lower floors to connect directly to exterior gathering spaces, including a landscaped amphitheater to the south and smaller active and training areas to the north.

The tower orientation was carefully engineered to preserve unobstructed views of the Front Range while also providing sightlines toward aviation activity at the United States Air Force Academy.

Building systems were designed to meet Class A performance standards, with an emphasis on durability, efficiency, and occupant comfort. Collectively, the design and engineering of the headquarters establish a scalable framework for future campus expansion while reinforcing Ent Credit Union’s operational efficiency and long-term presence in the Colorado Springs community.
Vectra Bank Corporate Center
LOCATION: Denver, CO

COMPLETED: 2022

ARCHITECT: Open Studio Architecture

OWNER: Vectra Bank

SIZE: 130,000 Square Feet (SF)

The approximately 130,000 SF Vectra Bank Corporate Center is a nine-story, mixed-use office building located at Belleview Station directly adjacent to RTD’s Light Rail Station and Interstate 25.

Completed in 2022, the project occupies a highly constrained and prominent transit-oriented site within the Denver Tech Center and was designed to maximize density, visibility, and long-term operational performance.

The nine-story building is configured with five levels of stacked podium parking supporting a ground-level retail base, with office occupancies beginning above the podium. The elevated office floor plate responds to site limitations and adjacent infrastructure by rotating relative to the surrounding urban grid and angling toward I-25.

This non-orthogonal massing strategy optimizes structural efficiency while preserving unobstructed views to the west, north, and south and minimizing view obstruction from neighboring development. The building’s proximity to the light rail station required careful coordination of structural systems, vibration considerations, and pedestrian circulation at grade.

The project was designed to achieve LEED Silver certification and exceeds baseline energy performance requirements by more than 12 percent through integrated architectural and engineering strategies. These include high-performance building envelope systems, enhanced daylight penetration, energy-efficient mechanical systems, automated building entry systems, and advanced air filtration.

Multiple outdoor terraces and occupant-accessible exterior spaces are integrated into the building design to support wellness objectives while maintaining envelope continuity and thermal performance.
Steel House
LOCATION: Denver, CO

COMPLETED: 2025

ARCHITECT: Open Studio Architecture + Morris Adjmi Architects

OWNER: Beacon Capital Partners

SIZE: 549,000 Square Feet (SF)

Our team provided structural engineering services for Steel House, a LEED Gold and WELL Certified 12-story, 549,000 SF office building in Denver’s RiNo District.

The architecturally exposed steel tower includes 321,500 SF of rentable office and retail space, a 7,500 SF two-story gym, an elevated park, a commons area with a barista bar and conference center, a five-level parking structure with 600 spaces, and a 42,300 SF loading and back-of-house area.

Steel House features clerestories on the first and sixth floors, with level six also providing a large terrace overlooking the city. Additional terraces on levels seven through twelve total approximately 38,500 SF, offering extensive outdoor amenity space.

A variety of structural systems and materials were employed, including drilled pier foundations, rammed aggregate piers, mild and post-tensioned two-way slabs, concrete columns and shear walls, steel columns and beams (composite and non-composite), architectural exposed structural steel, and structural thermal break connections, supporting both the building’s functionality and its iconic architectural design.

Ent Credit Union Headquarters

Vectra Bank Corporate Center

Steel House