Centura Health's Wellness Center is located in Aurora Colorado. The Aurora Reservoir, one of the major recreational facilities in the area, is located just below the proposed site. Centura has always seen the Wellness Center as an essential part of the community. Therefore the connection to the Reservoir became an important way to extend the public space of the community to include this facility. Water played an important part in this idea by symbolically representing the connection to the Reservoir and providing an appropriate environment for the Wellness Center. The site, which drops over sixty feet over its length, provides a suitable opportunity to express the powerful forces of water and to establish a connection to the reservoir below. The two main buildings on the site, the Health Care Center [HCC] and the Physician Practice Center [PPC] are both organized and divided by the water feature. Natural materials relating to the region were chosen for the exterior of the buildings. Red sandstone forms the chapel and the base of the buildings. It also supports bridges, and holds back the earth that forms the walls of the water feature. Precast concrete, as a neutral backdrop, forms heavy grounding elements that rise to house the mechanical penthouses for each building. Horizontally ribbed metal panel wraps the buildings as a sleek material that also has depth, texture, and scale.

> to next PROJECT. . .