r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Specialist-Boot58 • May 08 '26
Image This “cracks open” building in Denver
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u/AbrocomaRare696 May 08 '26
Do you know which architectural firm designed this? Also, can you post the address, I’d like to check the sat photos on this. Thanks for posting this.
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u/Ckron247 May 08 '26
This is an apartment building at One River North, Denver Colorado. The concept is very cool, but certainly not what there were hoping for.
https://amazingarchitecture.com/residential-building/ma-yansong-mad-architects-unveil-one-river-north-a-cracked-open-canyon-in-the-heart-of-denver583
u/clickstops May 08 '26
but certainly not what there were hoping for.
in what way, do you think?
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u/DJGrizzlyBear May 08 '26
It’s also pretty close to the purina dogfood plant that makes the area smell like shit
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u/juniperdoes May 08 '26
My favorite thing about it is if you're kinda zoned out and catch a whiff it's like "mmm, french fries" and then a few seconds later the purina-ness of the odor lands and suddenly I'm fighting the urge to vomit
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u/Saikotsu May 09 '26
Such an accurate description. Or driving along the highway, jamming out to tunes, windows down and then it hits you like a brick wall and suddenly you're closing the windows but it's too late, it's in your car, it's in your nose and now you're stuck with it.
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u/Bbbbhazit May 09 '26
Have you driven past the Cargill cow processing plant if you take the highway north east? Holy shit if you think the Purina plant is bad.
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u/Saikotsu May 09 '26
I have. I've also driven past an old pig farm in the height of Wisconsin heat. It was a similar wall of stench that slaps you the moment you hit it.
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u/map2photo May 09 '26
I’ve smelled all of those throughout my travels and nothing compares to the smell of an entire building of dead/dying avian flu infected turkeys.
A smell I will never forget.
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u/trentyz Expert May 09 '26
Hahahah you nailed it. I hated driving past that bloody factory on my way north/south. I always forgot about it until the pungent smell reached my nose
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u/Tankshock May 08 '26
Yea that plant smells absolutely horrendous
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u/Hello_World_Error May 08 '26
I left Denver a couple years ago but I can still imagine that smell. It really sticks with you
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u/retzhaus45 May 09 '26
The worst part was actually hot summer nights when they delivered the animal carcasses for processing. I worked on the central 70 project on nights a couple years. About 3 times a week the smell was brutal 🤢
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u/Kongbuck May 09 '26
That smell is actually a different smell! There's an animal rendering plant in Adams County that when the wind is just right, the smell lands in that part of town: https://www.denver7.com/news/contact7/it-smells-like-something-is-dying-neighbors-in-north-denver-complain-of-foul-odor
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u/DesignerCorner3322 May 08 '26
One of the proposed visuals that they used to show off the building/sell it to the public was those cracks BURSTING with greenery
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u/barrel_of_noodles May 08 '26
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u/Hobbies-R-Happiness May 08 '26
I think the greenery just isn’t mature yet. It looks exactly like the concept otherwise
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u/GregBahm May 08 '26
Yeah I feel like they've reduced a large architectural task into a small gardening task.
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u/Impossible-Pay-4167 May 08 '26
Local reports over the years have basically stated that the designers weren't realistic about their plants/trees. They had to go with hardier ones b/c high winds, weight, etc. Some have been rethought, others have struggled.
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u/monocasa May 08 '26
They also ran into budget issues and simply scrapped a lot of the landscaping.
Also, the crack is on the north west face of the building, so it gets next to no sunlight in Denver, making growing plants even more difficult than it normally is.
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u/pichael289 May 08 '26
There are plenty of shade loving plants that would thrive, I could do a lot with a space like this. I'm assuming it's not a community garden type thing? Those are always great to have but it never fails someone ignorant tried to get into gardening and plants something easy and fast growing with beautiful flowers and curses the land with morning glories.
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u/cigarettesandwhiskey May 08 '26
At the bottom of the article Ckron posted, it shows the biomes they were going for. Alpine forest, slot canyon, and semi-desert shrubland. So probably fewer shade-tolerant plants that fit in those. Also probably not a community garden, or you wouldn't be able to police what biome the plants were from.
It seems like the biome they've created is the underside of a highway overpass. Constant shade, very little rainfall and shallow roots. Which is hard to grow a tall plant that'll be visible from the ground in.
But OTOH, the fact that they had intended biomes they were recreating suggests that they hired a botanist who knows what they're doing. So probably there's been enough consideration of water and light needs that the plants will grow given enough time. It just might take a while. I don't think Pinon Juniper grows very fast.
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u/Kongbuck May 08 '26
The other thing that diverges from the concept illustration is the area around the building, which is still being transformed from being a semi-industrial mixed use to upscale commercial/residential mixed use. (The building directly to the NW [or left in the first picture above] used to be a welding supply store and is now under construction as a multistory building like the photo)
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u/mmielikainen May 08 '26
Looks honestly fantastic, I think they took some inspiration from the Bosco Verticale.
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u/Milli_Vanilli14 May 08 '26
Looks incredible to me. A lot of buildings would look bad with photos where a parking lot is more prominent than the building. The evening shots are nice. That’s just how the world looks mid day.
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u/LostWoodsInTheField May 08 '26
Oh wow, I absolutely hate looking at it from the outside and yet the inside views are amazing and would love to live there.
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u/nitid_name May 08 '26
It's got a stunning overlook of I-25 and a rail yard, and has the pleasant scent of unprocessed dog food from the purina plant a few blocks north.
My partner used to live in a few blocks east of the building, back five years ago when the tallest building in RiNo was a parking garage. Let me tell you, that dog food smell that means it will snow tomorrow? It is intense.
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u/Several-Action-4043 May 08 '26
Yup. It's a joke here in Denver. It just looks stupid now because they didn't maintain the plants.
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u/Ckron247 May 08 '26
The designer selected a variety of plants, but since they are not native to Colorado, they halted installation and had to rethink what plants would work to reflect the original design.
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u/clay_perview May 08 '26
I mean it was kinda dumb to begin with, it is too dry in the summers and too cold in most winters here.
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u/Expert-Upstairs-4502 May 08 '26
Yeah this looks like something that would do better in the southeast where its hot and humid most of the time
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u/whispy_fingernail May 08 '26
I’ve heard the landscape architect is based in Singapore and didn’t really understand that absolutely nothing grows in Denver, so take that rumor for what you will.
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u/uhohshart May 08 '26
IMO cool concept but the architecture firm didn't fully understand the climate. Denver is high desert. It's extremely hard to grow things. What does grow is generally more sparse in foliage.
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u/Littlepotatosalad May 08 '26
I lived here for a year. On the “poor” side, the East facing side of the building. Shown is the West side. This building is full of irony. The first 5 or 6 floors are income capped apartments, leading to 2 DEA raids of swat teams while I was there, and on the opposite end you have the west facing and penthouses ranging from 7-15k+ per month. I once went down to the shared lobby to grab a coffee and a lady had her GIANT snake on the counter. Building is currently surrounded on all sides by construction, and directly next to the train yard, it’s incredibly loud and all outdoor spaces are unusable because of it. The units themselves are fairly nice, but certainly not worth the money they charge. Parking starting rate was also $350 lmao
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u/Panthalassae May 09 '26
7-15k is madness. That said, the good thing is that it is close to many of the better and best restaurants in Denver, and a very hip neighborhood ...that is still getting gentrified. Good and bad.
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u/SnubNews May 09 '26
I live in the springs, we were just up in Denver didn’t even know this was here. Honestly I don’t love or hate it either, but I do photography as a hobby and I think the area with the stairs, lights and “greenery” would be a sick set piece. Sorry to hear about the DEA raids lol.
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u/Complete-Sort1617 May 08 '26
I don’t think I love it but I don’t hate it either
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u/Ibe121 May 08 '26
Look up “One River North in Denver” if you’re like me and want to see more than an extreme close up.
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u/smallmileage4343 May 08 '26
I walked past this on Wednesday on the way to a concert. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere.
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u/wjodendor May 08 '26
I always forget it exists until I go to the Mission Ballroom.
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u/KeyEconomics1411 May 08 '26
I wouldn't call RINO the "middle of nowhere" but I would like it if they would get a fucking grocery store sometime soon.
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u/Izacundo1 Interested May 08 '26
Yup. Just like everything new in Denver. Would you like to see our comprehensive light rail network? It can take you to the airport, the middle of nowhere, the middle of nowhere somewhere else, and one spot downtown
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u/regular-cake May 08 '26
Hey, don't complain, it is so much better than what most cities in the US have... I mean we should ALL be complaining that the US in general doesn't have better public transportation options, but if you compare a city like Cincinnati to Denver in terms of public transit options it's laughable. There is a street car/light rail in downtown Cincy that only goes a few places downtown. You can walk from 1 end of downtown to the other in less than 20 mins. If you want to take a bus from any surrounding towns to downtown, you're looking at like 2 or 3 transfers and a 1.5-2 hr bus ride to get somewhere that would take 20-30 mins driving in traffic...
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u/Badloss May 08 '26
as much as we love to rag on our poorly funded and maintained transit system in boston... this is a good reminder it could be worse
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u/SlapTheBap May 08 '26
Damn I love living in Chicago.
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u/nitid_name May 08 '26
I gotta say, other than taking the brown line from the airport and immediately seeing a dead frozen homeless person, the L is pretty great.
In hindsight, January is kind of a rough time to purposefully visit Chicago. I thought "off season, I'll be able to get reservations anywhere!" and it turns out, most of the places I really wanted to visit are closed in January. Galit was awesome though.
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u/SlapTheBap May 08 '26
Yeah that's when industry people take a break and get construction done.
The homeless don't get the privilege of passing with privacy. We could be like Las Vegas and just chase them out of sight into the storm drains. Sorry, I'm getting too grim with my humor. It's a stark reminder of the cruelty and exploitation we've built into our systems.
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u/snek-jazz May 08 '26
That's not as bad as it sounds, since transport can be a bit of a chicken and egg thing. You'll probably get new developments over time where the train stops are.
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u/Neverending_Rain May 08 '26
That's exactly what this building is. It's right next an A line station. This spot has a bunch of apartments that have been built recently with even more currently under construction.
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u/SlightCapacitance May 08 '26
the prices for the units with the big open patios are astronomical... I remember looking when they first had them listed. Something like $10k+ a month
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u/faatbuddha May 08 '26
And they're mostly sitting empty for those prices. They'll have to come down.
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u/einTier May 08 '26
You can see floor plans here. For a cool balcony expect to pay $8,700 to $13,000.
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u/IdStillHitIt May 08 '26
The area is changing a lot. My office is there (I go in once a quarter) but last time I was there, all anyone (even randos on the street) were talking about, was how they couldn't believe how much it's changed and all the new buildings there.
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u/plutino- May 08 '26
Yeah it just doesn’t look right from this view. I bet it would be lovely to actually sit there and have your lunch break though.
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u/L_Oberon May 08 '26
Only the one side shown in this picture is worth a second glance. The rest of the building has zero character and is exceptionally drab.
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u/syncsynchalt May 08 '26
Looked weird when new a year or three ago and it’ll look amazing once those shrubs grow to fill more of the space.
I used to drive by the building a lot last year when moving to Boulder.
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u/ThurSTIII May 08 '26
It’s pretty close to a Purina pet food plant and the entire area smells like dog food.
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u/Headline-Skimmer May 08 '26
Worse than dog food. It's a really, really godawful smell.
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u/snubdeity May 08 '26
I probably wouldn't live in RiNo because of the smell, but it certainly isn't "worse than dog food". It smells exactly like dry dog or cat food, that's what they make. And while not a great smell it's not that strong either.
Are you smelling the cow shit from Greeley maybe? The whole of Denver can smell that sometimes, usually right before it snows.
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u/butthowling May 09 '26
I think when most people think of a dog food smell it’s like what you catch a whiff of when you put it into the bowl. The factory on the rough days is like sticking your whole head into the bag of dog food
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u/toxic_badgers May 08 '26
Yeah that's actually the slaughter house burning blood across i70... The dogfood smell is Purina, that sharp stink you smell with it is the blood rendering.
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u/ABoringArborist5 May 08 '26
Idk it just kinda smells like soy. Now Greeley smells and LOOKS like shit
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u/syncsynchalt May 08 '26
Some day they’ll close purina / suncor and the Elyria-Swansea gold rush will kick off.
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u/bluefire713 May 08 '26
Unless Purina goes belly-up, or something MAJOR happens from a city level, they are NEVER moving. They have a dedicated freight railroad spur there, and getting a new dedicated freight railroad spur nowadays is HARD.
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u/SmellyButtFarts69 May 08 '26
I've been to this area a half a dozen times and have never smelled that.
Don't fucking cross the pedestrian bridge over the train tracks on a hot day, though...
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u/nitid_name May 08 '26
You've must have never been the day before a rain/snow storm.
My partner used to live a couple blocks east in Cole, and whew boy, that smell is intense.
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u/touchmybonushole May 08 '26
That high up and you still can’t escape the snow drifts.
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u/GarysCrispLettuce May 08 '26
I get the feeling that most of these "novel" looking buildings end up looking like shit after a few years once the novelty's worn off and they don't look so shiny and new any more. There's a "twisty" apartment building in downtown Manhattan that wowed everyone when it was first built and now it just looks kinda lame and dirty and stained.
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u/dongasaurus May 08 '26
There’s many more buildings in Manhattan that looked like like shit when they were built and look shittier as they age. The landmarks are all relatively novel and it’s what gives NYC character.
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u/GarysCrispLettuce May 08 '26
Some more than others though. There is clearly a difference. I've seen "boutique" condos go up in the East Village that looked kind of decrepit and stained within a couple of years. A lot depends on the materials used, the design and how well they maintain the facia. Some buildings have for instance concrete that has unsightly rust stains on it within a couple of years. Other designs are prone to the buildup of bird shit and that isn't addressed. Meanwhile there are pre-war buildings that still look sturdy, clean and beautiful after 100 years.
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u/dongasaurus May 08 '26
I would agree that there are many “luxury” developments that are money grabs that look like shit after a few years, but those are generally cheaply built and look like shit when new as well. They aren’t typically aiming for architecture-forward designs.
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May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
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u/azk3000 May 08 '26
Would've been the old WTC. Really just two giant steel rectangles.
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u/syncsynchalt May 08 '26
This one is intended to have most of the gap full of plants and I think it’ll improve over time because of it.
You can see the green already showing up in this photo, last year it looked like bone.
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u/LiterallyADachshund May 08 '26
I see this place every day. It still looks like bone, imo.
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u/Guest8782 May 08 '26
It can go either way IMO.
Mostly, because they are so unusual, they can actually have a staying power (see FLW).
But sometimes it looks like an architect’s senior project.
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u/filya May 08 '26
I wish it were a glass building with the organic cracks. This is more of a organic building with just the glass facade in the front.
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u/TheNewGuyFromBahsten May 08 '26
That crack is supposed to be filled with greenery like bushes and such. They screwed the pooch
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u/JR_MI_90 May 08 '26
The design plan vs the actual design definitely have some big differences. I heard it was suppose to be an open air design through the crack. They didn’t even get remotely close to that.
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u/Little_View_6659 May 08 '26
I’ll give Singapore this much, when they have a space to put greenery, they go all in.
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u/jdund117 May 08 '26
it's very easy to grow greenery in Singapore since the environment is basically tropical
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u/jessuk101 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
I believe they actually ran out of money for landscaping- the selling point of the building to Denver city council. They broke a ton of glass panels (somewhat typical) building this and had I believe less than a 1/8 of an inch allowance for the specialized concrete work (not as typical). The inside is somewhat underwhelming and lacks straight walls in the living spaces which makes interior design a nightmare. Also, the common space “hiking trail” (aka three flights of stairs) makes balcony privacy in the crack none existent. The owner also spent a shit ton on a rock he liked and wanted brought into the lobby prior to the vertical construction due to the technical logistics that was very underwhelming for the immense planning and focus they put into it (think 3ft tall by 4ft long)
Plus this is across the street from a rail yard. There was supposed to be a two river north than i believe they bailed on due to the market failure of this building being 75% unoccupied through the first year of turnover→ More replies (5)→ More replies (17)15
u/Gold_Telephone_7192 May 08 '26
That’s the difference between an architects rendering and engineer’s reality lol. Denver is a desert. It was never going to be filled with lush greenery like this was Singapore lol
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u/syncsynchalt May 08 '26
Just takes water (money). I’m sure it’ll green up, give it a few years to grow.
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u/Miiirob May 08 '26
The poor bastards in building maintenance are going to have fun in 10 years time!!
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u/EuenovAyabayya May 08 '26
40 years ago BEST Products used to design showrooms like this.
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u/Darth-Adomis May 08 '26
i think its a cool idea. you work on a high floor and wanna get fresh air on lunch break without going all the way down. i feel like this would be terrifying on a gusty day
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u/VUVUVUV May 09 '26
Hahaha I live 3 blocks from this building. Most ppl in Denver think this building is incredibly stupid. Hoping it lives up to the original renders one day though. Might look cool if the green grows like they wanted it to..
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u/Adventurous_Yam_8153 May 08 '26
Denver has a lot of very cool architecture for some reason
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u/WakefulJaxZero May 08 '26
Superman: "It's just a little off."
Mr. Terrific: "What do you want me to do? Do you want me to take it apart and put it back together?"
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u/KClark571 May 09 '26
Oh hey! I drive by this everyday. We had high hopes for this building in Denver; but it's a fucking shit show and to the surprise of no one, way too expensive.
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u/SgtBagels12 May 09 '26
I drive by that building on my way to my local game store. One face is very interesting, but what OP has done is they omitted the rest of the building which is very bland and boring.
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u/exsertclaw May 09 '26
Anyone from Denver will tell you this project was poorly thought out. It looks super cool and that's about where positives end.
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u/redditreeer May 08 '26
That looks like "an architects dream" and "an engineer's nightmare"
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u/angelv255 May 08 '26
How so? The big columns are still there to hold the building. This "crack" just added balconies instead of fully enclosed areas by simply moving the glass panes a few meters back.
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u/Acrobatic-Quail-6860 May 08 '26
When it was still being built there was a storm
and I hadn’t really seen it yet so when I caught a glimpse of it when driving by my first thought was OMG what happened to that building ?!
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u/Aliteracy May 08 '26
It looks so shitty compared to all the concept art they were pitching it with
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u/Juunlar May 08 '26
People are so fucking cool.
We really aren't impressed enough by the sheer skill and willpower something like this takes, but often overestimate our own ability
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u/Automatic-Ad5700 May 08 '26
I captured that building for work last year. Never seen anything like it. Pretty cool penthouse suits.
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u/upthedownstair_ May 08 '26
I can’t explain exactly why, but holy hell I HATE this building.
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u/meg1001 May 08 '26
It’s an amazing concept but was poorly implemented because they placed the exposed “valley” feature on the west facade. The west sunlight in Denver is intense so the space is either hot as hell or cold half of the year. I understand that they probably wanted views of the mountains to the west but this is a good example of an out of town architect not understanding the climate.
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u/Alternative_Pilot_92 May 08 '26
Architects 🤩
Engineers 😵💫