The University of Colorado at Denver's Board of Regents and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center chose Fentress Bradburn, which previously designed the terminal at Denver International Airport and the Colorado Convention Center.

''This is an opportunity of a lifetime for the University of Colorado,'' Curt Fentress, principal of the firm told GlobeSt.com ''No other university or college in the country has been able to start from scratch and build a new research campus from the ground up.''

The facility completes the first phase of the university's biomedical research complex, which eventually will total 1.8 million sf and carry a completed value of more than $1 billion. The health science center currently is located in a predominately residential neighborhood at Colorado Blvd. and E. 9th Ave., about three miles east of Denver's CBD. The center will be moved to the 220-acre Fitzsimmons Campus over the next 10 to 12 years although the complex is slated to open in fall 2003. At full build out, it will have about 3.5 million sf new and renovated space, integrating basic research health-care and health sciences education.