Boulder Modern House:
Mid-century architecture in Boulder County, Colorado
Front (west) facade & entrance
This is one of my favorite buildings in Boulder; I think it was originally conceived by Iktinos and Kallicrates, but they lost the CAD files and had to build the Parthenon instead.
The building has two stories, with the second being set back a few feet on sides, front and back. Cantilevered overhangs shade the lower level, and the second floor windows have their own aluminum shades.
Drawings dated June, 1961 show that only one floor was originally intended, and if that's all they built it would have been one long, low-slung piece of work-kind of like an early '60s Lincoln Continental (suicide doors) with the top down. The central core had an attic, about four feet high, and it is still there, a base for the second floor. Overall, the front elevation would have shown complete bilateral symmetry, except that the north section has a couple fewer windows than the south. The original entry portal was of course shorter, but reaching to the top of the attic.
Drawings from December of the same year show the second floor, labeled "second floor addition." The front portal became much larger to accommadate a stairwell, and the bump-out at the rear (the back stairs) was also added. The attractive aluminum sun shades on the second floor are included in the December drawings.
I have more to do on this building, but here is something curious (maybe it isn't to you if you are an architect or engineer): notes on the drawings allow 100 lb live loads on the main floor, but only 50 on the second.
Horizontals want to dominate here, but Wes has contained them pretty well with the even fenestration on both levels, as well as the vertical extrusions marking off the windows on the upper facades. Like the sun shades, those are OEM, and included in the drawings.
The back of the building is just as nice as the front; the windows continue right up to the service doors, and the bump-out above is articulated well with the darker brick bands and a couple of sets of smaller windows.
As fashion-forward as this place is on the outside, the interior is all business; lots of cinder block, conduits large and small, and linoleum (or something) on the floors. No marble countertops, stainless steel dishwashers or bamboo floors here-scientists don't need them.
The building has two stories, with the second being set back a few feet on sides, front and back. Cantilevered overhangs shade the lower level, and the second floor windows have their own aluminum shades.
Drawings dated June, 1961 show that only one floor was originally intended, and if that's all they built it would have been one long, low-slung piece of work-kind of like an early '60s Lincoln Continental (suicide doors) with the top down. The central core had an attic, about four feet high, and it is still there, a base for the second floor. Overall, the front elevation would have shown complete bilateral symmetry, except that the north section has a couple fewer windows than the south. The original entry portal was of course shorter, but reaching to the top of the attic.
Drawings from December of the same year show the second floor, labeled "second floor addition." The front portal became much larger to accommadate a stairwell, and the bump-out at the rear (the back stairs) was also added. The attractive aluminum sun shades on the second floor are included in the December drawings.
I have more to do on this building, but here is something curious (maybe it isn't to you if you are an architect or engineer): notes on the drawings allow 100 lb live loads on the main floor, but only 50 on the second.
Horizontals want to dominate here, but Wes has contained them pretty well with the even fenestration on both levels, as well as the vertical extrusions marking off the windows on the upper facades. Like the sun shades, those are OEM, and included in the drawings.
The back of the building is just as nice as the front; the windows continue right up to the service doors, and the bump-out above is articulated well with the darker brick bands and a couple of sets of smaller windows.
As fashion-forward as this place is on the outside, the interior is all business; lots of cinder block, conduits large and small, and linoleum (or something) on the floors. No marble countertops, stainless steel dishwashers or bamboo floors here-scientists don't need them.
The Rose Litman Laboratory: J.W. Noaecker, Architect. 1961. 30th St. at Marine, Boulder
From the southeast
The rear is as nice as the front
The first floor plan: June 1961
The second floor addition: December 1961
