Pickard Chilton, an acclaimed architecture studio renowned for innovative corporate headquarters designs, proudly announces that T3 RiNo has secured a prestigious 2025 Wood in Architecture award from WoodWorks – Wood Products Council. This groundbreaking six-story mixed-use office building, located at 3500 Blake Street in Denver’s vibrant RiNo neighborhood, was celebrated at a reception during the 2025 AIA Conference on Architecture & Design in Boston on June 5.
WoodWorks, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting pioneering wood design, plays a crucial role in helping developers and design teams successfully utilize wood in commercial and multifamily construction. The Wood in Architecture awards specifically recognize excellence in mass timber, light-frame wood, and hybrid building design, highlighting innovative uses of wood that positively affect the environment and community. Entries are evaluated by a jury of industry peers based on design excellence, innovative wood use, sustainability, resilience, and market impact.
T3 RiNo stands as a collation of efforts from Hines, McCaffery, and Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of CDPQ, offering a benchmark in environmentally conscious workplace design. The designation “T3” signifies Timber, Transit, and Technology—three pivotal elements harmonized in the building’s design, which showcases thoughtful timber integration, convenient transit access, and modern digital building systems tailored to contemporary tenant demands.
Michael Hensley AIA, a principal at Pickard Chilton, expressed excitement about T3 RiNo’s recognition, stating, “We are thrilled for T3 RiNo to be recognized with a 2025 Wood in Architecture award from WoodWorks. An overarching team goal was to maximize and express the exposed wood. As such, the building’s high-performance, transparent façade was designed to maximize exposure of the full timber structure from both the interior and exterior.”
Utilizing Type IV-HT construction, T3 RiNo’s iconic timber structural system showcases a glulam post-and-beam frame that supports concrete-topped cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. This design reduces vibration and enhances acoustic performance, while the timber grid optimizes structural spans, demonstrating efficient use of wood fibers and providing tenant layout flexibility. Careful coordination between the optimized structure and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems allows for the wood design to remain a prominent feature. All timber components were sourced from Nordic Structures and manufactured by Chantiers Chibougamau in Québec, Canada.
The building encompasses 239,000 square feet of high-quality office space, paired with 19,000 square feet of retail space fostering creativity, collaboration, and a supportive work-life balance. The progressive design includes numerous open terraces and various amenities that cater to modern workplace needs, like hospitality-based social areas and a fully-equipped fitness and bicycle facility.
The notable design features of T3 RiNo have drawn significant tenant interest, as evidenced by Xcel Energy Colorado pre-leasing over 220,000 square feet of office space, making it the largest office tenant in the RiNo submarket. Xcel Energy is drawn to the building’s polished, heavy-timber structure, which boasts exposed wood, spacious layouts, and 12-foot ceilings. The expansive floor-to-ceiling windows provide stunning panoramas of Denver’s natural landscape, while outdoor terraces break down the building’s scale and deliver multiple private outdoor experiences for tenants.
T3 RiNo has established itself as a leader in contemporary sustainable architecture with its carbon-negative mass timber construction, utilizing 100% renewable, recyclable, and non-toxic materials. The building’s fabric includes 188,000 cubic feet of mass timber, sequestering 4,155 metric tons of CO2 and saving an additional 1,608 metric tons while achieving 38% less embodied carbon compared to conventional construction. These efforts reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to removing 1,218 cars from the road for one year. T3 RiNo is certified as LEED-CS Gold, WELL Silver v2-Pilot Core Office, and Energy Star, with WELL Health-Safety certification pending.
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