Cherry Creek North Design Guidelines - City and County of Denver

URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES
GUIDELINES
◗ ◗
◗ Plazas and courtyards should connect to other activities such as
outdoor cafes, restaurants and shop entrances.
◗ Open spaces should be oriented to take advantage of views and
sunshine.
◗ Seating should be designed so that it does not hold water and debris.
Planter walls can be used for seating. Seating should, if possible, be
shaded in the summer and receive sunshine in the winter.
◗ Plazas on a street corner often feel too exposed and are not
comfortable places in which to sit and enjoy the passing scenery.
Plazas and courtyards should be made comfortable by using
architectural and landscape elements to create a slight sense of
enclosure and security. Sometimes all it takes is creating a slightly
◗ Planters, including hanging planters, or planting beds with seasonal
flowers, shrubs or ivy, or other plants, should occupy an area not
less than 150 square feet for each 1,000 square feet of plaza space.
The area occupied by a single permanent planter or planting bed
shall be at least 30 square feet with a depth of soil of at least 18
inches to guard against uprooting. Hanging planters are exempt
from these minimum size and placement guidelines.
◗ When grass or other ground cover is provided as an additional
amenity, it should cover an area of at least 15 percent of the plaza
area.
◗ Nonskid surface materials (such as concrete pavers, brick and quarry
tile) of varied dyes, aggregates, and textures are suggested as
decorative paving for all plazas. The materials used for paving may
be extended. The materials used for paving may be extended into
the sidewalk area and perhaps the curb line to render visual
continuity along the sidewalk and to serve as a unifying element
Treatment of plaza walls which are the side walls of adjacent
buildings is recommended. The walls of a building adjoining a plaza
should be covered with ivy, greenery, art work (bas-relief or mosaic
reviewed by the Cherry Creek North Design Advisory Board and the
out-of-way niche where one can sit and enjoy a piece of art or a
fountain and still feel a part of the street activity.
◗ Steps in plazas should have treads at least 12 inches deep and risers
no higher than 6.5 inches. Steps should always be accompanied by
ramps placed nearby.
◗ All plaza spaces shall be provided with a minimum of one tree per
1,000 square feet of space. The tree shall be at least 3 ? to 4 inches in
diameter. Each tree shall be planted in at least 100 cubic feet of soil
with a depth of soil not less than 3 feet 6 inches to insure that it
survives the urban environment. Trees may also be planted to flush
to grade, in a planting bed with a minimum continuous area of 75
square feet.
binding the plaza area to the street. This can have the effect of
making a plaza more inviting for the pedestrian to use. On Fillmore,
between 1st Avenue and 3rd Avenue, plaza pavement should be buff
colored concrete to match the sidewalk on Fillmore Street.
Cherry Creek North Foundation), or otherwise decoratively treated.
The wall surface should be treated up to a height of 20 feet, or the
entire first floor, whichever is less.
19