NEWS

We are proud that the Kiva at True Nature Healing Arts Center received an Honorable Mention Award from the Colorado American Institute of Architects this fall.  

True Nature Healing Arts garden was a peaceful sanctuary, free and open to the public from dawn to dusk. The therapeutic environment incorporated several healing modalities, including a labyrinth, reflexology path, outdoor yoga space, and contemplative gardens. The movement between gardens and buildings was fully integrated, allowing activity to flow seamlessly from one area to the next. Designed to inspire, each element was carefully conceived and shaped to support the healing work undertaken at the yoga studio and spa. Each detail of the garden was thoughtfully and artfully crafted. The drain tiles, set in clover lawn and created from vertically aligned sandstone slabs, lined the edge of the tea patio to collect rainwater.

A new Kiva was completed in the spring of 2018. The landscape continued to unfold as the peace garden expanded to surround the Kiva. Features included a rooftop zen garden, a wishing tree, a moongate, and the Ganesha sculpture. There were additional opportunities to stroll, rest, and visit within the beautiful grounds of True Nature Healing Arts.

The Adams County Veterans Memorial at Riverdale Park received a 2024 Merit Award from ASLA Colorado. Recognized at the annual Colorado and Wyoming Landscape Architecture Awards, this memorial, dedicated on Memorial Day 2023, serves as a poignant tribute to veterans, featuring a battleship design inspired by the USS Colorado. 

DHM worked closely with Adams County to create a multi-generational memorial to reflect on our veterans’ service to country, family, and the liberties we have today. The goal was to develop a place where families could gather to tell their story of serving through their own eyes or through the eyes of watching their loved ones serve in the military. DHM provided conceptual work on the location and design and continued efforts for final designs and construction documentation of the Adams County Veterans Memorial/Garden located at Riverdale Regional Park. The plan included an amphitheater, interpretive site features and exhibits, seating, benches, and picnic tables. It took advantage of the natural setting, close to the water with a view of the mountains, to create areas for reflection. Accessibility was a critical factor in the design, ensuring it accommodated all abilities and provided easy access to the trail system, parking, and connectivity to other park amenities. All branches of the military were represented, including POW/MIA, Wounded Warriors, and service animals.

The design honored the USS Colorado Battleship with seating, railing, decking, shelters, and interpretive elements to reflect the character of the battleship. A grotto wall with interpretive imagery and text celebrated veterans and their contributions to our nation.

In addition to providing flood protection and 100 year storm water conveyance within an urban context, the design for this $80 million project creates a much needed recreational amenity, enhances multimodal connectivity and improves water quality from an ecological perspective. The team was heavily engaged with the community in an inclusive process to improve the aesthetic and visual character of the corridor while respecting its historic industrial context. Designed for year-round use, amenities include: Denver’s first shared street, bridges, low-flow crossings, natural play areas, urban plazas, shade structures, wayfinding, water quality features and specialty areas for events and gatherings. The project restores a historically underserved community in an urban corridor, connecting neighborhoods to recreation, nature and each other. Through creative placemaking, it preserves the built legacy of one of Denver’s most diverse communities, making a universally accessible public space that current and future residents will enjoy for generations to come.⁠
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#ecology #landscapearchitecture #designingthewest #CityofDenverParksandRec #greenway #recreation #urbandesign #creativeplacemaking #diversity

At 14,115’ the summit’s harsh and high-altitude conditions deteriorated the facilities to the point where the team was tasked with re-envisioning the entire summit complex to be a sustainable, well-functioning campus that hosts more than half a million annual visitors, scientific research facilities, and large events throughout the summer. The final design strives to meet the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard, the Living Building Challenge, that mimics nature’s model: cleanly, beautifully and efficiently – the first of its kind at this elevation. The subalpine-alpine region provides critical habitat for wildlife and birds and necessitated delicate solutions to protect and restore the ecosystem that takes decades to establish and thrive. Ultimately, the planning and site design balanced these many goals to guide and disperse crowds of multimodal arrivals and provide singular visitation experiences that honor the historical and tribal stories of its grandeur.⁠
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#landmark #AmericatheBeautiful #sustainable #LivingBuildingChallenge #elevateddesign #subalpine #alpine #habitat #ecosystem

We are proud to have been notified that our work at the West Meadows Residence was elevated to receive the 2022 Honor Award from the Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The project aims to not only understand, but respect the larger scale environmental factors such as elevation, weather and wildlife that contribute to the ecosystem of the landscape. The design mirrored natural riparian systems to restore two ponds, distill the palette of formal and native plantings around the residence, and create authentic amenity spaces that complement the experience of a luxurious residence in the west. A true collaboration between client, design team and contractor, the landscape and ecological specialists maintained an adaptable process over the course of several years to bring the property back to its ecological integrity.⁠
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#DHMDesign #environmentallyconscious #naturalsystems #landscape #ecology #westernlandscapedesign #mountainviews #honoraward

In late July of 2021, a debris flow originating from the Grizzly Creek Fire burn scar significantly damaged the Deadhorse Creek drainage, including the hiking trail to Hanging Lake. The debris flow covered major trail sections, swept away bridges, downed trees, and buried the recreation area in mud, boulders, and logs. The US Forest Service completed critical repairs to two bridges and specific sections of the trail to allow visitor access. DHM Design and our team were hired to provide planning services to further assess trail conditions, and complete designs for possible trail realignments, ecological restoration at key locations, and new stream channel crossings. Design goals include improvements to flood resiliency, interpretation and the overall visitor experience. DHM and our consulting team are excited to bring the best of our trail design and planning expertise to this iconic and historic tourist destination in the White River National Forest. ⁠

Our approach to the master plan entails working with WRNF, NFF and other stakeholders to prepare a visionary, inspiring and implementable plan that identifies and prioritizes improvements to the Hanging Lake Trail. Our final product will grow out of our collaborative effort to create a high quality, sustainable trail that protects and enhances the natural environment while serving a broad range of users for this and future generations.

Key objectives will include:
• Improving the visitor experience while maintaining the unique character and challenge of the existing trail (visitor interaction with trail, water, shade, bridge crossings, rest areas & waterfalls)
• Preserving the rich historic, cultural and natural features of the site while avoiding geohazards
• Providing sustainable improvements with an understanding of ongoing maintenance
• Enhance flood resiliency, aesthetics, interpretation and overall visitor experience.
• Balancing development with protection of exceptional natural and cultural resources.
Design Objectives utilized throughout planning process include:
• Providing sustainable solutions in alignment with Forest Service maintenance capabilities
• Construction in remote, steep and narrow corridor
• Integration of facilities into surrounding natural environment
• Public safety
• Utilize Universal Design Principles
• Adhere to appropriate regulatory requirements (laws, regulations, codes, etc.)
• Involvement of stakeholders in collaborative planning process

Outside of Aspen, we are helping to restore a 6,700 year old wetland fen. The site is part of the North Star Preserve, managed for the benefit of wildlife and ecological integrity. This unique wetland was losing water due to agricultural ditches dug in the 1950’s. By installing interventions that lessen the flow of water, we are slowing water and increasing inundation. Though native plantings and seeding we are encouraging the natural ecology to take hold again. Our goal with @pitkinost is to restore the functionality of the fen by returning the historic flow regimes and habitat.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We are thrilled to be working in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania with the National Park Service to provide enhanced pedestrian circulation that protects the natural environment at Little Round Top. The battle on July 2nd, 1863 has been hailed as a turning point in the Civil War. With its rocky terrain and rolling fields, Little Round Top persists today as a symbol of valor and bloodshed, perseverance and sacrifice. The project goals are to eliminate safety concerns and resource damage, use existing features to control pedestrian traffic, stabilize foundations of markers and monuments, realign pedestrian walkways to commemorative era road alignments, and protect the fragile natural environment.

Two civic projects have earned special recognition by Downtown Colorado Inc. as winners of the Governor’s Award for Best Use of Public Space in the small community category.

“It is amazing to work in these small mountain communities and see the immense impact of these kinds of projects on their sense of pride and place,” said Walker Christensen, DHM Design Principal on both projects. “Through sheer will and a vision toward the future, these two towns are making their communities a better place to live and attract visitors from around the region.”

Ridgway Streetscape:

With its population steadily increasing through the years, a need developed to improve town infrastructure without sacrificing its strong historic western flavor. The downtown corridor has always been a place of gathering, connecting, parading and eating. Through a robust community process, the endeavor to improve Ridgway’s streetscape needed to protect its character as a safe, creative, energetic driver of activity.

 “The Town of Ridgway is an excellent example of a small town accomplishing big projects. The community has long been known for the creative industry and creative people that drive their initiatives. The latest efforts to redevelop the streetscape to allow for greater mobility show some great cross functional partnerships. The streetscape redevelopment is a huge undertaking and the community was involved every step of the way. This public space overhaul will further efforts to create a vibrant downtown and enable Ridgway to thrive in the future.“ – Juror

 Victor Pinnacle Plaza

Over the past six years, The City of Victor, the DREAM Commission (Victor’s Main Street Board), with funding assistance from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company have teamed up to create a functional and very beautiful public space. The revamped plaza hosts several community events including the Victor Christmas Bonfire. DREAM/Mainstreet utilized several years of mini grants to construct fencing around the area, repair the historic rock retaining wall, and construct a staircase which utilized the timbers from a historic mining operation, creating walking access to downtown.

DHM is thankful to Downtown Colorado Inc., an organization that provides a strategic methodology for revitalizing the local economy in Colorado’s communities, focusing on education, economic and design strategies to improve the downtown core.

Photography by Kathryn Lair.

TNHA owners Deva and Eaden Shantay continue to bring inspired vision and world-class amenities to life in Carbondale. DHM Design was a partner in the design of the Healing Arts Center facility, working with Terralink Structures, Land + Shelter Architects, Basalt Mountain Gardens, Lea Sisson Architect, Robert Schultz Consulting and many other talented individuals to bring this unique vision to life.

The Kiva was constructed over the course of two years and features spa facilities and a circular gathering space for trainings and workshops throughout the year. The Kiva is integrally tied to the surrounding gardens.

The landscape will continue to unfold over 2018 as the peace garden expands. New garden features will include a wishing tree, the Ganesha sculpture and the rooftop Zen garden. With the expansion, there will be more opportunities to stroll, rest and visit within the beautiful grounds.

<Read the Aspen Sojourner’s July 2018 article for more information.>

The Basalt River Restoration has been given an award by the Colorado Chapter of the American Society for Landscape Architects as a model project that enhances human interaction and connection to a riparian corridor. The Roaring Fork River bisects the mountain town of Basalt, creating both opportunities and challenges for this Western Slope community. Working closely with in-house ecologists and an engineering consultant, DHM collaborated to bring stability to the river, allow for natural flood processes, repair the riparian habitat, and restore water systems.

Situated in the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado and referred to as the “Switzerland of American,” Ouray, Colorado is a true gem of the Rocky Mountain Region. The Ouray Hot Springs Pool, originally built in the 1920’s as a summer facility, was in dire need of updating. The new layout of the pool offers 360-degree views of the mountains, with special focus on Mount Abrams to the south. Pools were successfully opened on Memorial Day 2017 and during the busy July 4th holiday, the facility saw 1,400 people through the gates – roughly 50% more than the entire town’s official population!

DHM was excited to be a part of the team to assist the City of Denver, The Greenway Foundation, and The Trust for Public Land in winning a $4.6 million GOCO/ Lottery Grant to help remake three Denver parks along the South Platte River into wilderness-in-the-city spaces. This GOCO grant will be leveraged with partner contributions including the EPA and UDFCD for more than $13 million in river improvements. These projects as identified in Denver’s South Platte River Vision Implementation Plan will create an environmental education hub for urban children, families and outdoor enthusiasts. Urban children will have the opportunity to learn about and explore nature through camping, fishing, boating, and playing outdoors in a safe way.