Playhouse tour lands at DIA

Arlo's Mercantile & Dry Goods Playhouse was created by Rowland & Broughton and was built by Mendel and Co.

A small, very small, one-of-a-kind community that takes its cues from historic Colorado structures has opened at DIA.

Not near the Denver International Airport, but inside it – level 5 of the Jeppesen Terminal, to be precise.

But this four-structure community will not be at the airport for much longer. The playhouses will be on display at DIA until March 31. On April 16, they will be auctioned at the Denver Botanic Gardens, along with eight other playhouses. They are part of the Rocky Mountain Communities’ Playhouse Project, a fund-raiser for the non-profit Rocky Mountain Communities, whose mission is to develop, own and manage affordable housing and provide support services for clients in need of their housing.

RMC helps working families

Larry Christensen, CFO of Rocky Mountain Communities, said the playhouses at DIA, “provides wider exposure to issues surrounding affordable housing and the role that RMC, our featured architects, contractors and others play in meeting the needs of Colorado’s working families.”

Funds raised from the auction and sponsorship of the event will support the Rocky Mountain Communities’ and Denver Botanic Gardens’ effort to deliver additional programs in health and nutrition for children and families living in RMC properties.

“The beauty of the Playhouse Project – and the reason we wanted to participate – is its power to bring home important facts to a wider audience that affordable housing can be attractive; it can increase property values; it can ease traffic; it can strengthen our communities,” said architect Ron Faleide, principal of Faleide Architecture Studio PC. , who has designed one of the homes on display at DIA. “Most importantly, seeing children learning through playing with these playhouses is a reminder that fro a good home, all things are possible.”

Faleide’s creation is titled Milky Way Saloon and was built by Palace Construction. Others on display:

Conestoga Wagon, created by Odell Architects and Shaw Construction.
Red Rocks, by Humphries Poli Architects and Alliance Construction Solution.
Arlos’s Mercantile & Dry Goods by Rowland + Broughton and Mendel and Co. Construction.

Each playhouse must reflect some aspect of Colorado’s history. They can be no larger than 6 feet-by-eight-feet-by-10 feet. The playhouses include props to provide hands-on activities for children and many of them include sustainable and re-usable materials. The participating architects, contractors and subcontractors donated the design costs, materials and labor.

Not all of the structures are buildings. The one by Odell Architects and Shaw Construction, for example, is a Conestoga wagon, a type of covered wagon favored by many who hoped to strike it rich as they headed West during pioneer days.

Journeys to brighter future

“In keeping with the “uniquely Colorado” theme, we have decided that there is nothing more symbolic of the opportunities that brought people out West,” than the Conestoga wagon, said Diane Miller of Shaw Construction. “It is a great symbol of the opportunities that that brought people out West. Many families and individual who were looking for brighter futures piled into the Conestoga wagon and headed to Colorado. The wagons became their homes as they took off on their adventurous journeys.” This is the second year that Odell Architects and Shaw Construction have participated in the program, and Miller said they are pleased to work with RMC “as they provide support to individuals and families on their journeys to a brighter future.”

Design/Build teams creating playhouses that will be auctioned, in addition to those displayed at DIA include: