Roth Sheppard

Roth Sheppard

In its time the large brick warehouse that now houses Roth Sheppard Architects sat one block over from a bustling stretch of Wynkoop called warehouse row. This was where wholesalers like J.S. Brown and C.S. Morey made fortunes capitalizing on the proximity of the newly-completed Union Station by building entire blocks of warehouses to store and distribute goods brought in by the transcontinental rails. Since then this site has gone through several renovations to take it from an industrial use to office building, including extensive structural work done under Denver firm Semple Brown to mitigate settlement and adjust floor levels.

The two street side facades of 1900 Wazee vary greatly in ornamentation. With its multiple shades of dark red bricks in common bond pattern, metal ornamentations and segmented arches and stone lintels at the small and infrequent windows, the Wazee side looks like a warehouse from Denver’s 19th century building boom. In contrast, the 19th Street façade is much more open. The narrow bays are all glass on the first level and topped with a reserved cornice of minimal detail. Above, uniform red bricks for pilasters and sunken bays hold tall windows with ornate stone lintels. A larger bracketed cornice sits pushed out by slight corbeling at the roofline. Ramps were added for accessibility at both facades and the glass entry on the Wazee side is used to open up the narrow cut through the thick masonry walls that was once in its place. Inside the masonry exterior, the Douglas fir timber frame is exposed and can be observed climbing up the lobby atrium in grids held together by heavy steel connectors.

References
Private, D. (2008, May 27). Historic Wazee Building set for Renovation. Denver Business Journal. Retrieved from https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/05/26/daily11.html.
Wazee Exchange. Retrieved from http://semplebrown.com/works/historic/wazee-exchange.

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