Quebec Street Median Landscape Transformation
Denver, Colorado
10-acre turfgrass conversion • native prairie planting • 8M+ gallons annual water savings
Confluent Design served as design lead for the design-build team under NRSI for a landscape transformation project along the Quebec Street medians in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood. The project converted approximately 10 acres of water-intensive, nonfunctional turfgrass into a landscape of regionally adapted native grasses and wildflowers better suited to Colorado’s semi-arid climate.
The medians were reimagined as a resilient urban prairie landscape that supports pollinators while reducing irrigation demand, eliminating routine mowing, and lowering long-term maintenance costs.
The planting design used four complementary seed mixes tailored to site conditions: a shortgrass perimeter mix along street edges, highly visible native wildflower accent areas designed to be legible to motorists traveling at arterial speeds, a diverse interior prairie mix adapted to a wide range of conditions, and a shade-tolerant mix beneath existing trees. Seed mixes were developed by Kenton Seth of Paintbrush Gardens.
The landscape is expected to reduce irrigation demand by more than 8 million gallons of water annually and contributes to Denver’s broader effort to transition nonfunctional turf areas to climate-appropriate landscapes.
10-acre turfgrass conversion • native prairie planting • 8M+ gallons annual water savings
Confluent Design served as design lead for the design-build team under NRSI for a landscape transformation project along the Quebec Street medians in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood. The project converted approximately 10 acres of water-intensive, nonfunctional turfgrass into a landscape of regionally adapted native grasses and wildflowers better suited to Colorado’s semi-arid climate.
The medians were reimagined as a resilient urban prairie landscape that supports pollinators while reducing irrigation demand, eliminating routine mowing, and lowering long-term maintenance costs.
The planting design used four complementary seed mixes tailored to site conditions: a shortgrass perimeter mix along street edges, highly visible native wildflower accent areas designed to be legible to motorists traveling at arterial speeds, a diverse interior prairie mix adapted to a wide range of conditions, and a shade-tolerant mix beneath existing trees. Seed mixes were developed by Kenton Seth of Paintbrush Gardens.
The landscape is expected to reduce irrigation demand by more than 8 million gallons of water annually and contributes to Denver’s broader effort to transition nonfunctional turf areas to climate-appropriate landscapes.
Key Project Partners
Natural Resource Services, Inc. - Project Lead, Prime Contractor
Western States Reclamation - Subcontractor
Paintbrush Gardens - Seed Mix Design
Western States Reclamation - Subcontractor
Paintbrush Gardens - Seed Mix Design