-Populus is considered a unique hotel that offers luxury and sustainability.
The hotel will be the first carbon-positive hotel in the United States. With authentic roots in nature, it will feature 265 modern guest rooms. The hotel is being built by Urban Villages. With sustainability as its first imperative, this facility will be the first to plant one tree per night of its guests.
As the first hotel in the country with a positive carbon footprint, Populus’ built-in and operational carbon footprint is offset through forestry and agricultural partnerships, which capture more carbon than the building emits over its life cycle. Already, over 70,000 trees were planted in Gunnison County, Colorado in partnership with One Tree Planted versus the United States Forest Service to reintroduce Engelmann spruce, a primary tree species that continues to decline from beetle kill.
Populus was built by Urban Villages and managed by Aparium Hotel Group.
“As the signature private development in Civic Center Park, Urban Villages felt a responsibility to create a community asset that will contribute to the architectural heritage of the Mountain West and provide activation to this underutilized area,” said Jon Buerge, chief development officer for Urban Villages.
In addition to its 265 rooms, Populus features a ground floor restaurant, flexible event spaces, a café-bar, a signature rooftop bar and restaurant offering unobstructed views of the mountains, city skyline and Civic Center Park, and an iconic Aspen tree-inspired design by AD100 architecture firm Studio Gang. All renderings of Populus are provided courtesy of Studio Gang.
The windows in Populus are detailed to work effectively in the Denver climate. On the exterior, the “lids” stretch outward according to solar orientation to shade the interior, improving the energy efficiency of the building. They also neatly channel rainwater to keep the appearance fresh over time.
Perhaps the most enticing feature is the rooftop bar and garden terrace, which is sure to become the city’s hot spot with great views of the Rocky Mountains, the city skyline and Civic Center Park.
