Colorado Building

1919 14th Street, James M. Hunter and Associates architect/ Meisian style/ built 1955/ Historic Landmark

This is downtown Boulder’s only ‘skyscraper’ at nine stories, built when the city was trying to portray a progressive image and before today’s height regulations. Business leader, Allen Lefferdink, hired James M. Hunter and Associates, the premier architecture firm of the decade, to build a distinctive, modern building for his Colorado Insurance Group headquarters.

The design is inspired by the work of Mies Van Der Rohe and consists of a tall office block with a roof-deck helipad and a short retail block that housed a department store. The exterior is a regular pattern of glass and window frames, called a curtain wall, which is a favorite Modernist detail. The narrow sides are covered in stacked brick with a subtle abstract pattern that is repeated up the entire wall. In big cities, buildings like this reach heights of 60 stories, but in Boulder this building is politely short.

Some years ago, a previous owner changed the color of the panels below the windows. The current owners restored the original color and landmarked the building.