Hunter was born in Omaha and moved east before he came west. From college at Iowa State he graduated from architecture school at the University of Illinois in 1936. Moving to Boulder, he began as a draftsman under Glen Huntington and by 1940 he was collaborating with the latter on the eight houses in Floral Park known as "Red Square." His architectural endeavors were interrupted by the war, and he spent over two years in the South Pacific before returning to what would be a long career.

Many of Hunter's extant works are commercial or institutional buildings. Beginning probably with the Primary Building on the Uni-Hill campus (1949), he designed Base Line Junior High, The Boulder Municipal Building, a building for the Public Service Company of Colorado (now part of Whole Foods at Broadway and Arapahoe), the Boulder Medical Center, the Boulder Public Library, Grace Lutheran Church, and the Nomad Playhouse at 1410 Quince.

Other large projects were in other cities: At Colorado State University (then Colorado A & M) his designs include at least the library and Danforth Chapel. He also designed buildings for the campuses of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Regis College in Denver, and Tarkio College in northwest Missouri.

The residential projects were numerous, and some of them still exist. Varying in style from a vernacular of the times to more adventurous usonian and solar projects, some can still be seen in Boulder, Denver, and elsewhere.

 

 

The Uni-Hill Primary Building: 1949-50

The Primary, or Small Building, was designed in 1949. One level in elevation and asymmetrical in plan, the building's prominent feature is its use of glass block in the upper half of the classroom wing. Combined with the ribbon windows below, the glass blocks make for a pure curtain wall for each classroom, punctuated only by one slender vertical support in the center of each section. In the building's early years the lighting effects must have been delightful; during the days, nice and even on the interior, and at night if they wished, a dramatic back-lit display for the neighbors and passers-by. As of 2007, all but two of the classrooms have had their glass blocks painted white on the inside-apparently to minimize solar gain and excessive heating. This problem was noted early on; letters from late 1952 discuss the problem and possible cures. Suggestions included sandblasting the exterior of the blocks and adding some sort of glass screen to the interiors. A louvered screen was attached for some time to the exterior of one
of the classroom sections, but it is long gone.

This building was conceived around 1946, and original plans called for a structure of about 20,000 square feet. What got built was smaller, with the possibility left open of an addition on the north end. The shed roof over the north door looks like an afterthought, and it was; a minor design error let rainwater and snowmelt drip down over the door rather than flow completely into drains in the center of the roof.

In plan the school is modular. Each classroom is 40 by 22 feet, and a pair of classrooms with hall space between measure 40 by 53 feet. The gym, or play room, is also 40 by 53 feet (and 4 inches). Another 40 by 22 foot classroom hangs off the south end, and the office area, on the southeast corner, is also 40 feet wide. If you could eliminate the office hall by shoving the front bank of offices up against the back service rooms, you would again have a 40 by 22 foot space.

Hunter has separated the various functions of the building-classrooms, foyer, offices, and gym, and made them evident in the plan. He has done the same with the elevations. The classroom wing and the office section share the same roof, but the latter has a brick facade. The higher roof of the gym pitches off to the south, while the roof of the south classroom slopes down to the north. A wide chimney-like structure rises between and above the offices and gym, adding some visual weight to the elevation at that equilibrium point just off center. The slight butterfly of the classroom wing/office roof feels sophisticated and adds a little extra light to the interiors. An afterthought may have been the south classroom; was it in the plan from the beginning, or did they decide to use up some extra space in the yard?