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Greenwood Plaza

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1970, John Madden Company. West of I-25 between Belleview Ave. and Arapahoe Rd.

Greenwood Plaza is a 1970s office park that incorporates fine art as well as architecture and landscaping. The Museum of Outdoor Art (1982), 7600 East Orchard Road, exhibits the work of Henry Moore and Red Grooms, as well as paintings, collages, tapestries, and an exhibit of street lamps from designs by Michelangelo. Set amid fountains and lush lawns, this artsy 400-acre complex includes the 20,000-seat Fiddler's Green Outdoor Amphitheater ( AH26.1; 1988). Harlequin Plaza ( AH26.2; 1981, Gensler and Associates), 7600 East Orchard Road, is based on the visual theme of Picasso's portrait of clowns, Les Harlequins. This 18-acre plaza consists of office buildings with glass curtain walls and ceramic tile bases. It is set in a 5,000-square-foot plaza of black and white terrazzo diamonds with seven life-size sculptures of harlequins by American sculptor Harry Marinsky.

Nearby Carrara Place ( AH26.3; 1982, Murata Outland Associates), 6200 South Syracuse Street, is a six-story office and parking structure with an exterior skin of Carrara marble. A large atrium and interior courts invite sunlight into the building. Greenwood Plaza's Tuscan theme is continued in MCI Plaza ( AH26.4; 1984, Kirkham, Michael and Associates), 6312 South Fiddlers Green Circle, where two six-story office towers are placed at right angles and connected by a glass-domed atrium. Tuscan travertine marble and copper roofing enhance the building, which has terraced bridges connecting the two wings. The Gulf Mineral Resources Company Headquarters ( AH26.5; 1983, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill), 6200 South Quebec Street, is an energy-conservative complex of precast concrete and glass. Two-and three-story buildings are stepped to exploit the sloping terrain and mountain views. Skylights and exterior courtyards leave no part of the interior more than 20 feet from natural light. A computer senses natural light levels and adjusts supplemental artificial light. In dramatic contrast to this sophisticated office park is the adjacent William McKinley Carson Park, maintained by Greenwood Village, at 6000 South Quebec Street, with a 1940s Farm-house surrounded by old apple trees and rusting farm machinery.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel

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