Ratio | Humphries Poli Architects

Ratio | Humphries Poli Architects

This two-story rectangular building occupies a site next to a historic mansion and behind Central Presbyterian Church in the North Capitol Hill neighborhood. It sits just south of 17th Avenue where it displays a new east façade to Grant with slightly different stylistic notes than the seventy-year-old building that sits behind it, though both can be described as modernist.

Nondescript commercial buildings exist ubiquitously across the U.S. and are often imparted with subtle influences from the popular architectural movements at the time of their construction. This building is an example of mid-century modernist commercial architecture with the newer facade having more influence from Italian style modernism. Notable signs of modernist influence include a minimalist nature, ribbon windows and a general design emphasis on the horizontal. The roof is flat and the building lacks any sort of corbeling or ornamentation to disrupt the long roofline. It is brick-clad in a plain running bond with flat, unarticulated walls. Ribbon windows run in broken bands down the south and west facades bringing natural light inside from the sunnier exposures. Above the windows are deep, pronounced eaves offering protection from the hottest sunlight of the day. On the north, the windows are smaller rectangles spaced evenly.

The east façade holds two large storefront glass openings as testament to its more contemporary style; the main entrance has been placed in the northern one. Around and over these large openings, darker bricks run in bands across this side of the building, spaced regularly at every four courses and offering the most decorative masonry work of the building’s exterior to its visitors. The inside has been remodeled into a contemporary office for architecture firm Humphries Poli.

References
Denver Property Taxation and Assessment System. Retrieved from https://www.denvergov.org/property/realproperty/summary/160969401.

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