243: Building Meow Wolf Denver

Ryan Meeks, Architect at Shears Adkins Rockmore (SAR+), Aaron Laird, Project Executive at Turner Construction, and Scott Hicken, AOC Executive Producer, join us for episode 243 of Art of Construction. 

Meow Wolf is an arts production company that creates immersive, multimedia experiences that transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms. Their latest permanent exhibit, titled Convergence Station, opened in Denver earlier this year. Ryan Meeks was the lead architect on the project representing SAR+, and Aaron led things as the general contractor representing Turner Construction.

Meow Wolf Denver is in a 90,000-square-foot building with 60,000 square feet of exhibition space, as well as a theater, dining area, retail space, lobby, kitchen, loading dock and storage. Tucked between the viaducts of Interstate 25 and Colfax Avenue in Downtown Denver, the building is certainly one of the most high-profile to be built in Denver in recent years, and with its position right in the middle of two busy freeway overpasses, caught the attention of the town.

When a building like this is built in Art of Construction’s backyard, we had to hear the backstory. Join Devon, Scott, Ryan and Aaron as they discuss the journey of being on a once-in-a-life-time project, everything that went in to designing and building this complex and mysterious building, how they stayed true to the art collective’s grand visions while still meeting Denver’s safety requirements, the open-minded and collaborative attitude such a job requires, and the magic that can happen when artists and builders are brought together with one common vision to create something for the betterment of society.