Hangars and Metal Buildings in Centennial, Colorado

Hangar doors and apron slabs are where steel work starts around Centennial Airport. A February 24, 2025 economic impact study credits the airport with 9,236 jobs, $2.4 billion in total business revenue for 2023 and $769.5 million in payroll, and it recorded 360,725 aircraft operations in 2023. Behind those numbers sit hangars, maintenance shops, avionics bays, fuel and ground-support buildings, and offices. We erect pre-engineered metal buildings for that kind of owner.

A hangar is a simple building with unforgiving details. The clear span has to be wide enough for the wingspan, the door has to be tall and wide enough for the tail, and the slab must be flat and strong enough for tugs and jacks. Steel suits this well: long clear spans, big openings and fast erection. We state the load package and the lead time up front, and we price the door as its own line, because it often decides the building.

Centennial buyers are not all pilots. I-25 roughly divides the city in half, and the city's top employers include Comcast, UnitedHealth Group, Arrow Electronics, United Launch Alliance and CommonSpirit Health, per its 2023 financial report. Those names point to offices, technology and aerospace, and they all create demand for storage, shops and flex space nearby.

An airport next door, not inside the city

Centennial Airport hosts more than 125 businesses, spans Arapahoe and Douglas counties, and is located in unincorporated Arapahoe County adjacent to the city. That detail matters at permit time. A hangar on the airport grounds may be reviewed by a different office than a flex building on the city side of the line, and the airport itself has its own rules for leases, heights and tenant improvements.

We ask who your landlord and your reviewer are before we draw. A leaseholder on airport land may have construction standards, a design review and insurance requirements that come before a building permit. If you own land off the field, the city's rules apply. Either way, a clear picture of who signs off avoids weeks of rework. For south-side sites, compare Lone Tree.

Hangar steel, door and slab

A typical hangar package includes the clear-span frame, wall and roof panels, a large bifold, hydraulic or sliding door, personnel doors, lighting, and an insulated envelope if the space is heated. Add a mezzanine for an office or parts room, and you have a working base for an operator. Our aircraft hangar page covers the layouts, and the overhead hangar doors page walks through door types and their effect on the frame.

Doors drive the header and the end-wall design. A wide opening needs a heavy header that carries roof loads around it, and that raises the steel weight. Door choice also sets how far the building must sit from other hangars, so we sketch the apron before we choose. Some owners want a single large hangar. Others want a row of T-hangar-style bays. We price both. A row of bays shares walls and a roof, which lowers the cost per aircraft, while a single big hangar gives flexibility for a larger plane or a future partner.

Code check for the city side

As of January 20, 2026, the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver tracker lists Centennial on the 2021 IBC, IRC and IFC with the 2018 IEC and no plans to adopt the 2024 I-codes. That tracker is not an official source, so confirm with the city, and ask the airport's own office what it requires on leased land.

Fire protection is where hangars differ most. Aircraft contain fuel, and fire suppression for storage can mean foam, sprinkler or detection systems that go well beyond an ordinary warehouse. We involve the fire reviewer and the insurer early so the design includes what they will require, not what we guessed.

Beyond hangars

Flex space for tech and aerospace suppliers, equipment and parts warehouses, contractor shops and storage for the offices along the I-25 corridor. The aircraft hangar building type page shows our typical plan, and the flex and light industrial page covers the non-aviation work.

Aviation owners also ask about fleet and ground support buildings for tugs and carts. Those need wide doors and good drainage, not special aviation details. Our work for aviation clients combines both kinds under one schedule when a site needs it.

Schedule around an operating airport

Construction near an active airfield has limits: height restrictions for cranes, notice for lifts, controlled access and safety areas. We coordinate crane permits and lift windows with the airport. Short lead items such as doors and panels are ordered first, and the pad is poured while steel is fabricated.

Weather affects flying and building alike. High wind stops picks, and cold slows concrete. We hold float in the winter schedule and communicate changes as they happen. An aircraft owner waiting to move in wants a firm date, so we commit to ranges early and a date once steel ships.

Neighbors and next steps

If you are weighing sites on other sides of the metro, see the airport-side work in the Denver International Airport area and the south-suburban work in Castle Rock. Each has different land, rules and tenants.

Price a Centennial hangar

Send your aircraft list, the site and the lease status. We will name the load package and lead time, and return a price per square foot with the door priced as its own line.