In the Union Station neighborhood of Denver, a new development is almost finished and Shaker Painting played a significant part in it!
The X Denver apartments are an affordable co-living space and membership club for young professionals in the area. Shaker Painting’s work began in April of 2020 and is currently wrapping up. We’re proud to share that we’ve started work next door – on a project we’re calling X Den 2 – and expect to finish this phase by the end of this year.
Taking On the Challenge
As co-living spaces become more popular, the requests have become more diverse. While Shaker Painting continues to win and complete co-living or mixed-use new construction projects, we’ve found a significant uptick in the use of mixed materials for walls. From murals to wallcoverings to paint treatments, we have specially-trained crews that can do the precise installations that these new construction buildings require.
The general scope for X Denver was to prime and paint 12 levels of interior units, amenity structures, lobby areas and stairs. Our crew installed all of the wallcoverings and painted all exterior masonry and canopies. And when it comes to wallcoverings, you need to ensure you have an expert: there is no middle ground when it comes to this installation. It not only requires extensive training and experience to ensure the wallcovering is durable, but you also need someone capable of choosing the right aesthetic style.
Another standout element at the X Denver apartments was the Epicore Decking used for the in-unit ceilings and corridors. Epicore is a shaped galvanized metal panel. It is more of an architectural feature meant to give the ceilings a unique look and texture. This part of the project also posed an obstacle, which our team was quick to solve. The architect planned for us to leave the Epicore decking unpainted, but during early production, the panels were damaged by the chemical in the concrete mixture and had to be painted. Our team did some testing, initially thinking we’d paint the panels with an acrylic dryfall, but ultimately determined the best product was DTM Primer and Finish from Sherwin Williams.
While the pandemic posted the largest challenge for our team, we prioritized coordinating with the other contractors to make sure we had the time and space to complete our work while adhering to COVID-19 guidelines.
Our Values at Work
Shaker Painting values communication, which sets us apart from other commercial paint companies. The same applied right from the start with X Denver.
With a project this huge comes a lot of moving parts and obstacles. We made it a point early in production to stay in constant communication with the Arco Murray project management team, which helped our team proactively solve problems and overcome obstacles as efficiently as possible. This approach ultimately strengthened our relationship with the general contractor, and in turn, led to us being awarded X Den 2.
Our team enjoyed working alongside the general contractor and other affiliated contractors on this groundbreaking project for the Denver area. We look forward to the completion of phase two and seeing new residents enjoy the space.
Interested in the X Denver apartments and co-living trend? Learn more here.
