Updated design adds a touch of glass to convention hotel

Some of the new details include more glass and a more pedestrian-friendly porte-cochere.The 38-story hotel will be constructed at 14th, 15th, California and Welton streets, across the street from the $268 million expansion of the Colorado Convention Center.The hotel is being built on the site of the former Denver Post building, and will take architectural cues from it, said partner Al Klipp."We're playing off the history of the old Denver Post building, which was one of the early modern buildings in downtown Denver," Klipp said.

It also is designed to fit with the Colorado Convention Center, he said.

"The hotel and the convention center are both contemporary-styled buildings," he said.

The main criticism he has heard about the new hotel was that it didn't have enough glass, which is addressed with the "evolving" design.

There will be more glass on the lower 70 feet of the 420-foot-tall building, he said.

"That will bring a lot more transparency into the building," he said.

Along California Street there will be a 300-foot glass atrium. There's also a lot more glass in the lobby area, he said.

A smaller, "secondary" entrance has been added along Welton Street, he said.

"(The original plans for the hotel) were going to be a much more traditional, more Chicago- style architecture," Klipp said. "We talked to the city hotel committee, and the city was looking for a representation of the future of Denver and Colorado. They really liked the notion of going forward."