Daniels and Fisher Tower (David Shankbone)
Downtown Denver was the center of the American West department store world in the early 20th Century. Numerous stores lined 16th Street, creating a shopping district that drove each store owner to try to set themselves apart from the crowd.
The Daniels and Fisher department store at 16th Street and Arapahoe Street was anchored by the clock tower that remains as an icon in the Denver skyline. The department store itself was torn down in the 1970′s and the current Tabor Center stands in its place. The line of the original department store’s roof can be seen on the west facade of the tower, a reminder of the past that stirs the curiosity of visitors unfamiliar with its history.
The D&F Tower is modeled after St. Mark’s Campanile in Venice. The 325-foot tall Renaissance Revival tower was designed by architects George Williamson and Frederick Sterner in 1910 and, at the time of its construction, it was believed to be the 3rd tallest building in America. The building’s facade consists primarily of brick and includes terra cotta features and highlights. The clock still keeps the time, but occasionally needs to be helped along to stay accurate.
The Daniels and Fisher Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places, 40 years ago today, December 3, 1969.
Denver’s architectural treasures are often overlooked, but the city posses some wonderful old buildings worth remembering.
In the late 19th Century, Denver was among the handful of cities that used cable cars and a means of public transportation. After growing to nearly thirty miles of cable rail routes, the last cable car ran in 1900. The Denver City Cable Railway Building at 18th Street and Lawrence Street in Denver, Colorado opened in 1889 and it was originally built to house power and maintenance facilities.
Denver City Cable Rail (David P Goode)
The Romanesque Revival building features numerous arches throughout the two-story facade, including the soaring two-story main entry on 18th Street. Intricate brickwork and corbels reflect the craftsmanship of the era, adding to the building’s charm and character.
The roof structure consists of cast iron columns and a variation of a Vierendeel truss (although Vierendeel invented the truss in 1896). The bottom chords of the trusses are reinforced by cast iron struts and tie-rods, taking up significant tension forces.
Denver City Cable Rail (David P Goode)
The building now houses a restaurant and office space and the current owner has proposed to construct a hotel tower on site, keeping the existing, historic facade in place. The brick smokestack chimney, which stands prominently over the building, will be left in place or relocated in whole to respect its historic significance.
The Denver City Cable Railway building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Happy Birthday Rem Koolhaas!
Rem Koolhaas
Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas was born November 17, 1944 and heads one of the world’s more notable firms, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture.
Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize in 2000 and the Jury stated, “His architecture is an architecture of essence; ideas given built form. He is an architect obviously comfortable with the future and in close communication with its fast pace and changing configurations. One senses in his projects the intensity of thought that forms the armature resulting in a house, a convention center, a campus plan, or a book. He has firmly established himself in the pantheon of significant architects of the last century and the dawning of this one. For just over twenty years of accomplishing his objectives – defining new types of relationships, both theoretical and practical, between architecture and the cultural situation, and for his contributions to the built environment, as well as for his ideas, he is awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize.”
A recent notable structure is the China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing. The building opened in June 2008, just ahead of the Olympic Games.
China Central Television Headquarters
If you’ve ever specified storefront doors and hardware, you’ve probably run into the problem of meeting the International Building Code requirement stated in section 1008.1.8 Door Operations. Or, perhaps, section 1008.1.8.1 Hardware.
Often, the manufacturer’s standard hardware arrangement is accepted by the architect and considered solved because of section 1008.1.8.3 Locks and Latches, condition 2.2. This condition allows the deadbolt lock if signage is provided above the door that states “THIS DOOR TO REMAIN UNLOCKED WHEN BUILDING IS OCCUPIED.”
The owner just needs to keep the door unlocked while someone is inside, and voila, we’re good.
More and more, jurisdictions will no longer allow this. Building officials are requiring that door hardware be operable at all times, whether the door is locked or not. The problem is usually this: storefront doors come with push/pull handles and a thumb-turn operated deadbolt, which do not comply with the building code nor the ADA/ANSI 117.1 standards. Furthermore, buildings are often occupied after normal operating hours, evenings or weekends in the case of an office, and someone could become trapped in an emergency.
Now what? There are options….
Rim Device
Rod Device
One of the easiest solutions is to add a panic or push bar to the door assembly and there are two primary operations: rods or a rim device. The rim device utilizes a latch to hold the door closed, and that latch can be locked to secure the door. The rod assembly doesn’t use a deadbolt, rather vertical rods are thrust into the frame head and the floor in order to secure the door. The push bar, when depressed, will retract the rods and the door is free to open. Rods can be concealed within the door stile or they can be surface mounted.
The panic bar option, although meeting virtually all egress requirements, is probably the most costly.
Lever Handle
Another solution is an actual lever handle which takes the place of the thumb turn on the interior side of the door. Same concept as the panic bar, when the handle is turned, the deadbolt releases and the door is free. Although this option is fairly popular, the handles have been known to shear off after some use. Be sure to specify heavy duty or extra heavy duty hardware.
Push Paddle
A third option is a push paddle. These are approximately 6 inches wide by 4 inches high. The placement can be the same as the lever handle, or it can be placed lower on the door in lieu of the standard push handle in order to keep the thumb turn or key cylinder to throw the lock. Although this solution works well, this seems to be a less popular option perhaps only because of limited information available.
On large projects, it is beneficial to work with a consultant that specializes in doors and door hardware. The building code and the ADA contain a maze of requirements for doors and its easy to get lost. These consultants will often generate your schedule, write your spec, and review your submittals in exchange for specifying their product lines.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Colorado, recognized its 2009 architectural design, honor and president’s awards recipients during a ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Keystone Resort and Conference Center (Keystone, Colo.). The following architectural design awards were selected from 120 entries submitted by Colorado architects who are members of AIA Colorado. These were presented by AIA Colorado 2009 Design Awards Jury Chair Deborah Berke, FAIA, of Deborah Berke & Partners Architects in New York.
Chapel of the Sky
Honor, Built Architecture
Anderson Mason Dale Architects (Denver) for Chapel of the Sky (Granite, Colo.)
Armstrong Oil and Gas
Honor, Built Architecture
Bothwell Davis George Architects (Denver) and Lake|Flato Architects, Inc. (San Antonio, Texas) for Armstrong Oil and Gas, Inc. (Denver)
DEA
Honor, Built Architecture
Gensler (Denver) for DEA – Centennial Station Office Building (Centennial, Colo.)
Additionally, Brian R. Klipp, FAIA of klipp (Denver) was named Architect of the Year and Studio B Architects (Aspen) was named Firm of the Year.
Colorado possesses some wonderful architecture dating back many years. Wealthy families built grand residences and buildings to escape the hard, early American West life. Many of these structures remain and have found new life. However, there are some old lives who haven’t quite left.
Redstone Castle
Redstone Castle, or Cleveholm Manor, in Redstone (just south of Carbondale) was once home to the sixth wealthiest man in the world, John Cleveland Osgood. Mr. Osgood was a coal and steel pioneer in the late 19th century and came to Colorado for the mining. The home anchored a model company town and served as a retreat for world dignitaries and businessmen.
The English Tudor style structure is constructed of large sandstone blocks which were quarried and hand cut from the cliffs of the Crystal River. The 24,000 square foot home was built with the finest of craftsmanship inside and out.
Visitors to the manor have stories of the smell of cigar smoke or perfume wafting through the halls. John Osgood was rarely seen without a cigar in his day. Osgood’s first wife, Irene, died before the home was completed. Alma Osgood, the second wife, is rumored to have affairs with artists she commissioned for paintings and sculpture.
After the Osgoods abandon the castle, it sat empty for years. There have been a series of failed purchases and conversions, including a 1997 default on the motgage. The property was seized by the IRS in 2003 in connection with an investment scam. The property was later sold at auction in 2005 and now operates as a hotel and retreat.
Could it be the Osgoods were still watching over their beloved estate until the right owners came along?
Colorado possesses some wonderful architecture dating back many years. Wealthy families built grand residences and buildings to escape the hard, early American West life. Many of these structures remain and have found new life. However, there are some old lives who haven’t quite left.
Miramont Castle - Manitou Springs
Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs dates back to the 1890′s and was first occupied by Jean Baptiste Francolon, a Catholic priest and son of a wealthy French diplomat. He intended the structure to be a home for he and his mother Marie Francolon.
Father Francolon incorporated all architectural styles he liked into the Castle. What stands is a remarkable structure with nine distinct styles: Shingle-style Queen Anne, Romanesque, English Tudor, Flemish stepped gables, domestic Elizabethan, Venetian Ogee, Byzantine, Moorish, and half-timber Chateau are used randomly throughout the four stories. Father Francolon did not hire an architect, rather he and the builder, Angus Gillis, executed the designs on site.
In the early 20th century, the building was used as a sanatarium by the Sisters of Mercy. The building was converted to apartments for many years and was ultimately purchased by the Manitou Springs Historical Society in the early 1970′s. It now serves as a museum and Victorian tea room.
There are also many ghost stories told about the castle. Voices, children playing in different rooms, ghosts wandering the grand staircase. In these photos, you can see what appears to be an apparition in Lady Francolon’s bed chamber.
After leaving the castle to return to France, Mrs. Francolon passed away. Perhaps Marie Francolon made her way back to Miramont Castle and she wants her room back?
Every architect wonders from time to time, “how long will my building survive?” We want the buildings to at least outlive their creator.
There are examples the world over of buildings that have not only outlived their creators, but the entire civilizations.
We design buildings that, we hope, will stand the test of time. Often, clients want a “timeless” building, a “classic” design. This can be a vague description, but what they ultimately mean is, “I don’t want people to point and say, ‘that building was built in 1978 and it shows, what were they thinking?’.”
We also detail our buildings with care and attention, always to keep the water out. Knowing, of course, that water from the sky doesn’t always fall straight down. Details that, when built properly, will last for decades without much maintenance.
What architects don’t necessarily consider is the economic serviceability of a building. How long will a building live in usefulness? When will it be torn down to be replaced by something bigger and better?
Consider the photo study of retail properties by photographer Brian Ulrich entitled “Not If, But When.” There are some eerie photos of shopping malls that have died a slow death and are left to decay, unattended. This was certainly not the intent of the architect. But, the architect cannot control the economy and what finicky shoppers want.
And, should an architect mourn the death of his progeny?
1111 Tower LLC
The $350 million Four Seasons hotel and condo project under construction in downtown Denver has reached its full 45-story height, and its developers commemorated the milestone with a ceremony Thursday morning. The 75-foot mast, which tops the structure was lifted into place.
The Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences, located at 14th and Arapahoe Streets, will include 230 hotel rooms and 102 condos priced at $800,000 to $10 million for a penthouse. It is the Denver area’s first Four Seasons property.
Carney Architects, a Jackson, Wyoming based firm, designed the building and HKS, Inc is the architect of record.
Construction on the Four Seasons started in September 2007 and is expected to be completed in early next year.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Denver chapter, recognized its 2009 architectural design, honor and president’s awards recipients during a ceremony on Sept. 11, at The Pepsi Center.
The following architectural design awards were selected from 66 entries submitted by members of AIA Denver and judged by a jury of architects and design experts from New York. These were presented by AIA Denver Design Awards Jury Chair Bruce Fowle, FAIA, of FXFOWLE Architects (New York).
In the Built Projects-Architecture category, Bothwell Davis George Architects of Denver along with Lake Flato Architects of San Antonio won an Honor award for the Armstrong Oil and Gas project in Denver (right).
Also in the Built Projects-Architecture category Anderson Mason Dale Architects of Denver along with Antoine Predock Architect of Albuquerque took home an Honor award for the Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center in Colorado Springs (below).
4240 Architecture of Denver won an Honor award for their studio and the Denver office of Gensler also took home an Honor award in the Built Projects-Interiors category for the WPP CO-Location project in Denver.
Congratulations to the winners… Merit award winning projects will be posted as well in the coming week.
