Landmark Preservation Design Guidelines

The Design Guidelines for Denver Landmark Structures and Districts apply to all individually designated Denver landmark structures and historic districts except the Lower Downtown Historic District, which has its own design guidelines and a separate design review process. Additional design guidelines may also apply to:

• Specific individually designated Denver landmark structures, such as Union Station
• Certain types of projects such as new construction, or 
• Projects in specific historic districts

Use the Chapter Application Chart(PDF, 108KB) to help determine which chapter applies to your project.

Landmark Preservation is currently updating the Design Guidelines for Denver Landmark Structures and Districts. The design guidelines update will be divided into four phases and each phase will include community meetings and input, public review of draft updates, and a public hearing and vote by Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission. Learn more about this project.

Character Defining Features 

Appendix A(PDF, 4MB) of the design guidelines contains summaries of the neighborhood-specific character defining features of Denver’s historic districts, which are intended to serve as a reference for new construction.

Character defining features are available for the following districts:

Guidelines for Specific Areas

In certain neighborhoods and historic districts, additional customized design guidelines may apply.

• Country Club Gardens Historic District Design Guidelines(PDF, 653KB)
• Country Club Historic District Design Guidelines(PDF, 1MB)
• Denver's Civic Center Design Guidelines(PDF, 15MB)
• Denver Union Station - Urban Design Standards and Guidelines(PDF, 14MB)
• Emily Griffith Opportunity School Design Standards & Guidelines(PDF, 4MB)
• Five Points Historic Cultural District Design Standards & Guidelines(PDF, 13MB)
• La Alma Lincoln Park Historic Cultural District Design Guidelines (English)(PDF, 1MB)
• La Alma Lincoln Park Historic Cultural District Design Guidelines (Spanish)(PDF, 1MB)
• Lower Downtown Historic District Design Guidelines(PDF, 15MB)
• Lower Downtown Historic Urban Edge District 4 Design Guidelines(PDF, 14MB)
• Lower Downtown Streetscape Design Guidelines(PDF, 1MB)

If you use assistive technology and need help accessing the content in these documents, please contact landmark@denvergov.org.