The Summit’s Innovation In Action Tours illustrated in person and up-close how innovation will drive our industry and who next will be behind the wheel.
Sometimes it helps to close your laptop (but not quite yet!), step away and get outside for fresh air.
In that spirit, we were thrilled to offer Summit attendees the Innovation In Action Tour, four inspirational projects and sites that provided a backstage pass into the best-of projects across the Denver Metro.
As one attendee said, “the tour was so valuable because of the opportunity to see how innovation is actually happening.”
The tour showcased innovation, new solutions and provided connections and inspiration to attendees.
Urban Cottages
At Urban Cottages, we visited an infill lot where the team has proposed to build. There, we engaged in a robust Q&A, learned about the path they’re on to provide missing middle housing and engaged in meaningful conversations with a neighbor that was passing by.
Urban Cottages are modestly sized detached homes that are attainable and efficient, set in cottage courts on existing city lots. They add the most new housing with the least visible impact on neighborhoods and with the most dispersed impact on existing infrastructure. But without zoning reform, Denver’s historic attainable small homes will continue to be demolished for larger, more expensive homes – the only redevelopment solution allowed by the City.
“What an inspiration meeting the team from Urban Cottages! Our nation sorely needs solutions for missing middle housing. The team at Urban Cottages has identified a great solution and our industry, Denver and nation will benefit from their groundbreaking efforts. I commend the Alliance for bringing light to this important issue and for the team at Urban Cottages for daring to innovate AND caring to step into the breach of such an important issue for our nation! We are the better as an Alliance and as an industry for their efforts!”
Brett Malky, EQA Landmark Communities
Cherry Creek Innovation Campus (CCIC)
Attendees got a close-up look at the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus, a stand-alone college and career preparedness facility accessible for high school students in the Cherry Creek School District (with goals to expand). This dedicated facility provides students with trade specific experience in electives of their choosing. Said one attendee: “When I was in high school, we had Shop and Home Ec. And many schools are dropping these from their curriculum. It was inspiring to see high schoolers learning so many cool things in such an inspiring atmosphere.” With small-group tours of each of their 7 pathways, attendees heard first-hand from students as they toured the building. Pathways include: Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services, Health & Wellness, Hospitality & Tourism, Infrastructure Engineering (Building Trades), IT & STEAM, and Transportation (Automotive & Aviation).
CCIC is helping to build the next generation of trade talent. During our visit, we witnessed students putting the finishing touches on their tiny homes that they delivered to Colorado Village Collaborative the following day. The tiny homes are intended to help people transition out of homelessness.
D.R. Horton and Deako Lighting
Next, D.R. Horton and Deako lighting helped illuminate how to make lighting safer, easier to install, more user-friendly and seamless to upgrade with a plug-n-play light switch and outlet provider they’ve invested in with the goal of simplifying design and the installation processes.
Sterling Ranch and Lumiere
And, at Sterling Ranch, attendees got an up-close look at how the developer is delivering a smart, sustainable community with Lumiere and partners. This stop included a personal bus tour through the community with stories from co-founder Harold Smethills, tech demos from Siemens, and a presentation of their overall mission and strategy – over a delicious lunch from their very own, Atlas Cafe. Some of the innovations on display and discussed were next-generation solutions for land, water, and energy, as well as a strategy to take connectivity to new heights.
“The tours perfectly illustrated how innovation will drive how our homes will be built, how smart and sustainable communities will lead the way, and what training opportunities the next generation of builders will have to take the torch from the legacy builders and run with it,”
adds Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki, Principal + Storyteller, tst ink llc, and one of our own Alliance Champions.
Shout out to our co-hosts of the tours: University of Denver’s Eric Holt, and our own Michael Dickens and Natalie Grandinetti!
Continue the conversation on LinkedIn…
And join us for our next “road trip” in Salt Lake City.
If you attended the Housing Innovation Summit and missed any of the presentations or pitches from Pitchfest they are available for download. Reach out to Natalie if you haven’t received an email on how to access the files.
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