Featured image: “Bloom” at the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus features cold-formed steel (CFS) framing. Images courtesy of the Children’s Museum and South Valley.
In October 2024, the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus opened a groundbreaking exhibit for children newborn to 36 months and their caregivers.
The whimsical, nature-inspired space nurtures the imagination with tangible and playful details. It features experiences like an imaginative fairy garden with elements of light and sound, grassy moguls, a creative climber just for littles, peek-a-boo with smart glass, and plenty of amenities for families of newborns and toddlers, says a Children’s Museum news release.
“When we set out to design this experience, we took a hard look at the latest research on the different types of play and their role in the cognitive, emotional and physical development for early learners,” said Museum president and CEO, Mike Yankovich, “Based on what we learned, we designed Bloom to promote adult-child interaction as well as the curiosity, exploration and empowerment of the Museum’s youngest visitors.”
The peekaboo garden lets little ones crawl, hide and climb through flower pots.
South Valley Drywall is the SFIA 2024 Industry Project Awards winner in the “Low Rise” category for “Bloom,” which features radiused walls and ceilings framed with cold-formed steel (CFS). The 2024 SFIA Awards entry was submitted by Travis Vap, CEO of South Valley.
South Valley Drywall’s win was announced at the 2024 SFIA Awards ceremony recently held live and posted online. The SFIA 2024 Industry Project Awards focus on CFS manufacturing and construction. Architects, engineers, manufacturers, distributors and contractors entered a variety of projects in the competition.
Design Quality
Did this project make efficient use of metal framing products?
The Museum’s design team had a vision of a whimsical “garden,” an immersive space for little ones and newborns. In order to take the vision from rendering to reality, South Valley Drywall’s team leveraged the BIM model and used a robotic total station to layout the multi-dimensional space, followed by prefabricating the framing members, to successfully build a multi-axis and whimsical design.
The fairy gazebo encourages toddlers to use their imagination.
Installation Complexity
What difficulties existed on the project?
The project was not a standard installation. It included the construction of a multi-axis radius ceilings and wall framing.
Newborns, accompanied by their caregivers, can crawl, roll and cuddle on soft materials.
South Valley Drywall framed the walls and archways with cold-formed steel (CFS).
Manufacturing Complexity
Were special materials involved?
While the framing made use of standard available steel studs, tracks and angles, along with furring grid, the framing system was prefabricated, making use of jigs to create the multi-axis walls and ceilings.
CFS framed radius ceilings were installed in the Fairy Garden.
Overall Job Quality
How did the completed system turn out?
The 2025 SFIA Awards judges praised the work of South Valley Drywall, noting that it is “a very beautiful project that was well executed.” The judges liked the use of BIM and technology to aid the project.
“We were able successfully achieve the museum’s whimsical design and be a part of creating a whimsical space using the wall and ceiling industry’s best products and technologies, so that little ones could be in such an immersive and imaginative world,” Vap wrote in his awards competition entry.
The project involved three SFIA member companies, including ClarkDietrich and Frontier Drywall Supply, besides South Valley Drywall.
Bloom
The Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus
2121 Children’s Museum Drive Denver, CO 80211Details:
4,166 sq.ft., 7.5 tons of cold-formed steel (CFS) used on the projectPEOPLE
Owner:
Children’s Museum of DenverArchitect:
Oz ArchitectureGeneral Contractor:
Fransen Pittman ConstructionFraming Contractor:
South Valley DrywallOther Partners
ClarkDietrich
Armstrong for drywall furring grid
SFIA Industry Project Awards
The SFIA 2024 Industry Project Awards focus on cold-formed steel (CFS) manufacturing and construction. A panel of industry representatives judged all 2024 SFIA Awards entries based on the following criteria:
- Design Quality, such as the efficient and sustainable use of cold-formed steel (CFS) products
- Installation Complexity, focusing on conflict resolution, timeframe challenges, etc.
- Manufacturing Complexity, including custom orders, panelization, special material sourcing and more
- Overall Job Quality, including the quality of alignments, finishes and other attention to detail
- Conversion from Alternative Framing Material, reflecting how steel framing lowered a structure’s weight, or added stories, or helped lower the project’s builders’ risk insurance, etc.
About SFIA
The Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA), a unique organization representing steel mills, coil coaters, stud and connector manufacturers, component fabricators, Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) members, suppliers/distributors, contractors and others, provides members with exclusive access to technical cold-formed steel (CFS) framing services, including CFS certification, environmental product declarations, market data and analysis, technical design guides, specification review services, architectural services, the Steel Framing Learning Portal , the SFIA Awards and more. SFIA is an accredited ANSI Standards Development Organization. Follow SFIA on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Additional Resources
- SFIA Unveils 9 Winners of the 2024 Industry Project Awards
- SFIA Reveals 7 Winners of the 2023 Industry Project Awards in Online Ceremony
- Designers: Update to SFIA’s 2024 Tech Guide for the Latest CFS Load and Span Tables