Denver
About Us
ACE Mentor Program of Colorado serves high school young people who want to explore careers in architecture, construction and engineering. Throughout the year, the ACE program, which meets two hours per week for 17 weeks, introduces participants to building industry professions by having them plan and design mock projects on real sites.
A unique component of our program involves graduate students from the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD). These students earn credit hours toward their degrees by participating in the program as additional mentors. In our 2006-2007 program, eight UCD graduate students took advantage of this opportunity.
Our Team Projects
Downtown revitalization
Our objective was to create an innovative, attractive and sustainable temporary use for a vacant block in downtown Denver in time for the start of the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Approximately 16 teams of students from 8 schools within Denver and Jefferson County, guided by more than 50 professionals from leading area architectural, construction and engineering firms participated in this project.
By visiting the 1.5-acre site, team members learned how to perform detailed analyses of the challenges and opportunities presented by a project’s location, particularly those found in a high-density, urban environment. They also learned how to work within stringent design criteria, such as those governing the site-to-building ratio, structure heights, and LEED green design principles, including the use of renewable, recyclable and/or reusable materials.
The budget for this project was limited to $150,000 with a close, immovable completion deadline. As a result, students developed ways to meet tight financial and time constraints, while improving their scheduling and estimating skills. In addition, they learned to work as a team to integrate architectural, landscape and utility design concepts into a functional, aesthetically pleasing plan.
Participate in ACE!
If you’d like to experience ACE’s challenges, opportunities and rewards for yourself, just contact the ACE leader listed in the upper right-hand corner of this page.
Mentors and Sponsors
