Those who study landscape architecture have undoubtedly heard the name Frederick Law Olmsted. For those unfamiliar, Olmsted is considered to be the father of landscape architecture and was the landscape architect responsible for the design of Central Park. He was also the gentleman who handled the original design of the landscape for The Broadmoor Hotel, a world famous, 5 start resort in Colorado Springs built in 1918. When Timberline was chosen to renovate the West Entrance to The Broadmoor we knew we had some large shoes to fill! Our recent Merit Award in Installation for the project from the National Association of Landscape Professionals gave us some reassurance that we would have made Frederick Law Olmsted proud.
The Broadmoor sought to renovate the West Hotel in order to mimic and blend with the historic main hotel entrance. There was no formal plan for the landscape so this project required working closely with the hotel grounds staff to achieve a detailed and very formal look. We coordinated with them on plant variety, placement of plants, and placement of irrigation daily. Large trees were installed in order to match with existing trees on the property.
There was a very minimal amount of space to work and store materials. Each day of construction began the night before, planning of which area to work within, what time to schedule deliveries, types of equipment needed, and amount of manpower. With many other contractors onsite at the same time to complete concrete work and electrical (among many others), it was a dance that had to be choreographed. We helped one another and worked together to make sure that each piece of the project was done within the right timing to not “step on each other’s toes.”
Weather days provided some additional challenges as time did not permit for delays. The project absolutely had to be completed within one month so that the hotel could re-open for one of their largest conferences of the year. There were times that we covered delicate areas from the elements so that we could continue as planned.
In the end the renovation came out amazing. We are happy to continue our relationship with The Broadmoor through trail construction at Cloud Camp and 7 Falls. If you have the opportunity to visit the historic Broadmoor Hotel, don’t forget to hop over to the West Hotel. The Broadmoor West Hotel houses Ristorante Bar del Lago and Play at the Broadmoor, which provides a chance to bowl and play shuffleboard with the family!
Check out our other award-winning commercial projects such as the Olympic Training Center and Manitou Incline.
