Hotel...
Idaho Springs
Roadside signage from the 6&40 Motel in Idaho Springs.
January 12th, 2010 / 2 Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Broadway Plaza Motel
Ad for the International-style Broadway Plaza Motel on Broadway, brand spankin’ new in 1959!
January 8th, 2010 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Oxford Hotel ad
The Oxford Hotel, designed 1891 by Frank Edbrooke in the Richardsonian Romanesque style.
Ad from 1959
December 1st, 2009 / No Comments » / by Paul Schutt
Cruise Room in the Oxford Hotel
Inside The Cruise Room at the Oxford Hotel.
The Cruise Room was designed 1933 by Charles Jaka.
The Cruise Room combines Art Deco and Streamline Moderne elements.
“Here’s How”
November 29th, 2009 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Wolf’s Motor Inn
Wolf’s Motor Inn sign on East Colfax.
Modernist restaurant and hotel, 1950s-era.
November 25th, 2009 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Zeckendorf Plaza
Zeckendorf Plaza, also referred to as Court House Square as this was once the location of the Arapahoe County Courthouse.
Built for William Zeckendorf’s Webb & Knapp firm by I.M. Pei, Henry Cobb, Araldo Cossutta and the firm of Rogers and Butler. The Plaza, parabaloid and May D&F Department Store were finished in 1958, the Hilton Hotel was completed in 1960.
This was I.M. Pei’s second major commission in Denver, the first being the classic Mile High Tower.
May Company and Daniels & Fisher were merged in 1957 in anticipation of the plaza. Both were Colorado based companies. As you can see above, May Co. was started in 1877 in Leadville, Daniels started the store that became Daniel’s & Fisher in Denver in 1864.
One of the most outstanding features was the decision to build the country’s widest concrete shell Hyperbolic Parabaloid structure on the site. The roof was actually four hyperbolic parabaloids put together. Engineered by Anton Tedesko.
Intended to be Denver’s version of Rockefeller Center, the plaza featured a skating rink, reflecting pool, mini-golf, trees, and a flag display.
Across the street from the plaza was the block-long Hilton Hotel, here shown under construction in 1959. Zeckendorf Plaza was the first major development to combine a hotel, department store and a public plaza in the U.S.
The Hilton Hotel design has similarities to Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation in Marseilles.
One of the saddest moments in Denver’s architectural history was the loss of the plaza, the parabaloid, and the accompanying changes to the department store and hotel in 1995 when Adam’s Mark Hotel took over the location. I.M. Pei’s masterful Denver landmark parabaloid was replaced with an uninspired box. (Adam’s Mark Hotel has since sold the location).
The Hilton Hotel, now The Sheraton Hotel, retains most of it’s exterior charm despite the alterations. It was made from pre-cast concrete that included soil escavated from the court house site, giving the structure it’s unique coloring.
October 27th, 2009 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
Terra cotta
Beautiful terra cotta design above one of the entranceways to the Brown Palace Hotel.
The hotel was designed in 1892 by Frank Edbrooke for Henry Brown.
August 9th, 2009 / No Comments » / by Tom Lundin
