Hotel interior inspired by aspen trees to celebrate the West

Nature and environmental sustainability focus of designers working on Populus hotel

A hotel under construction in downtown Denver and whose exterior is inspired by Colorado’s quaking aspen trees will feature interior designs and furnishings that pay homage to the outdoors and the West.

The 13- story Populus hotel by Urban Villages is scheduled to open in the summer of 2024. The Denver-based developer said it intends to build the country’s first “carbon- positive” hotel, which can mean going beyond cutting greenhousegas emissions to producing such environmental benefits as generating a surplus of renewable energy.

Heather Wildman, principal and design director of Wildman Chalmers Design in Pittsburgh, said the architectural and interior design firm has worked with Urban Villages before.

“The good thing about that is we have trust there, which is huge. But we also understood their mission statement and their values, which is highly related to (environmental) sustainability and reverence to nature,” Wildman said.

A challenge of the project is the “iconic” nature of the building’s exterior, Wildman said.

Chicago-based Studio Gang, which has projects around the world, is the hotel’s architect. The hotel’s name, Populus, comes from the scientific name for quaking aspen: Populus tremuloides. The outside of the triangular building evokes the bark of an aspen tree, with the inset windows mimicking the dark, eye-shaped marks left on the tree’s bark when branches break off.

The eye-like windows at the base of the building are 30 feet high, serving as entrances to the lobby, restaurant and other areas.

“We wanted to complement, enhance and celebrate the architecture. We didn’t want to copy it in any way,” Wildman said. “We wanted to make our own statement, something that was bold enough to stand alone, but yet be cohesive.”

From the ground floor and moving up through the hotel, the interior design will use warm, earthy colors and natural materials.

Wildman Chalmers Design is working with Fowler + Fowler Architecture on the interior.

Jon Buerge, president and partner at Urban Village, said in a statement that it was crucial that the hotel’s “stunning architectural design” be paired with a design that could meld the building’s form with welcoming interiors while extending the nature-inspired ethos.

Wildman said the team built on the tree metaphor by staining the concrete floor of the ground level exposing aggregate to mimic the floor of a forest. “When you’re walking on a forest floor, there are these sorts of patches, needles covering things. It’s not a uniform texture.”

The ceiling will be lined with distressed wood slats that came from wood snow fencing in Wyoming. A sculpture made from leather-like material grown from mushroom roots will hang over the restaurant

and entryway. The biotechnology and design company Mycoworks will supply the materials.

The check-in desk will be a kind of nook, almost as if carved out of a large tree trunk, Wildman said. The wall will be shingles fashioned from stained beetlekill wood.

Wildman’s team is partnering with Colorado artist and environmental activist Katherine Homes on the artwork, which will include work by local artists and a painting by Cheyenne Arapaho artist Brent Learned.

An elevator ride will feature bird songs recorded in Rocky Mountain National Park by Jacob Job, a

Colorado-based conservationist and natural sound recording artist.

The rooftop will have a restaurant, outdoor bar, garden terrace, a private dining room and hospitality suites.

“I have been up there on multiple site visits,” Wildman said. “Of course the mountains are stunning.”

Wildman thinks the great views of downtown Denver’s architecture are also spectacular. Populus will be next to Civic Center park, with views of the gold-domed Colorado Capitol, which Wildman called awe- inspiring; the Denver City and County Building; and the Denver Art Museum.