Sky Lobby Ceiling Denver International Airport

Salas O’Brien’s cold-formed steel (CFS) and BIM expertise was critical for the design of the Westin Hotel Sky Lobby ceiling at DIA. The suspended ceiling is made out of glass fiber reinforced gypsum that mimics the shape of the exterior steel diagrid which overhangs the north and south ends of the building, giving visitors sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains and of the terminal. The barrel-vault ceiling geometry associated with the design exemplifies the level of coordination that was needed to design what is truly a work of art.

The ceiling on the hotel’s sixth floor is just inches away from a 60-foot cantilevered steel structure. It is constructed with a combination of slotted channel framing, traditional wire-hung tee framing, and framing supporting glassfiber-reinforced gypsum shapes, gypsum board, and custom-fabricated aluminum extrusions and fittings. Our solution also accounted for deflective movement up to six inches in winds while achieving the architect’s stunning design vision.