August 29th

:::FotoCap 1: View looking at the Third Floor west facade








:::FotoCap 2: View from River Street looking west








:::FotoCap 3: View from the corner of Clay and 23rd.








:::FotoCap 4: View looking east along south facade at Downtown Denver




Observations:::
This week's progress has the Third Floor units framed and exterior sheathing started. The TJI joists are being placed at two of the middle units. The ground floor has concrete masonry block infill being laid along the west facade.

Flai Notes:::
I'm off to Yosemite National Park. Avoiding any bear attacks, look for the next posting in two weeks.

:::Weekly Slice of RiverClay PAN

August 22nd

:::FotoCap 1: View from the Third Floor looking southwest across Jefferson Park at Zocalo Lofts.







:::FotoCap 2: View from the Third Floor looking north at the wood stud wall framing (Unit 306?)








:::FotoCap 3: View from the Third Floor looking northwest at the corner of Clay and 23rd.







:::FotoCap 4: View from the Third Floor looking east at 301 (my unit) and beautiful Downtown Denver.




Intro:::
It was great meeting all of the future neighbors at the Saddleback Design interior finish kickoff earlier this week. As it turns out, I managed to coordinate a last minute construction tour today with Chris Achenbach, the RiverClay architect.

Observations:::
This week's progress is the start of the wood stud wall framing on the Third Floor units. The majority of the framing is tilt-up panels of 2x6's with the demising walls between units consisting of (2) walls of 2x4's, not touching, with (1) layer of gyp on both sides and filled with batt insulation. The ceiling will be constructed of wood TJI framing with resilient channels and (2) layers of gyp. board. The two north corner units, 300 and 301, have been slowed mainly because they are laying the concrete masonry block for the stair and elevator towers and using those areas for staging the materials. Most of the framing is taking place in the middle units, 302 thru 306. The parking lights are in place at the Lower Level parking and they are pouring the raised slabs for the storage units. The north metal pan stair is installed between the two parking levels only. Currently the only access to the Third Floor is up a single extension ladder--not for the faint of heart.

:::Sorry, No Weekly Slice of RiverClay PAN this week.

August 15th

:::FotoCap: [Bonus foto from 8.1.07] View from the third floor looking northwest. Note the level of the power lines to the west.

Not much activity to report this week as the on-site construction walk did not get coordinated. From the street, it looks like the third floor slab has been prepped but the concrete pour has not occurred yet.

:::Weekly Slice of RiverClay PAN

August 1st

:::FotoCap 1: View from the third floor as workers assemble the framework for the column caps prior to the concrete pour.






:::FotoCap 2: [Bonus Foto] View from Unit 301 (my unit), looking east at Downtown Denver.




Intro:::
This is the first week that I will be posting following a guided on-site construction tour, given by David Zucker, or other RiverClay personnel. I will be providing the expanded format roughly every two weeks. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to report more in-depth observations about the construction progress and hopefully this will give anyone reading the blog better insight into how a building comes together and views that you can not get from street level.

Observations:::
This week's progress on RiverClay is very exciting. The scaffolding and formwork from the lower two floors are being transferred up to the third, and last, level of concrete floor slab. The remaining upper floor construction will be wood framed. The northern half of the third floor is plywood formed and they are working on framing the column caps on the southern half of the building. They will be pouring the entire third floor slab in a continuous pour later this week.

Flai notes:::
Walking through the first two cured concrete floor slabs, you can already visualize the finished plan with the two retail spaces on the first floor, the fitness room, and the parking decks. Plumbing sleeves, trash chute, and other penetrations are evident in the first two floor slabs. The main stairs are due to arrive in the coming weeks and will be metal pan with concrete treads. They will be installed acoustically isolated from the rest of the building.

The demising walls between units will be above the required standards for STC or sound transmission coefficient. What this means is that you will be more isolated from your neighbors acoustically. I'm pretty excited about this as the walls will be made of two layers of gypsum on both sides with staggered studs and staggered wall penetrations. Most of the places I have lived around Denver tend to have paper thin walls and your sense of privacy is greatly compromised. This is just another characteristic that I hope will help distinguish RiverClay from other buildings.

Also, contrary to my previous assumptions, the wires visible on the west side of the building span the entire height of the third floor. However, the poles and wires will have to be replaced when the building is complete and the hope is to be able to consolidate these wires into fewer wires as well as at a height so it does not obstruct anyone's great views of Jefferson Park.

:::Weekly Slice of RiverClay PAN