Hobart Wagener: The Labrot House. 1954 (foreground) with Cheri Belz's 2009 addition to the rear
The Labrot House. 1954. Street facade. One of possibly two examples of the use of a butterfly roof by Hobart Wagener.
Cheri Belz. Labrot House addition. 2009. Living, dining & kitchen on the main level, with garage & utility areas below. There is lots of glass all around, but the living area, facing the mountain in the background, is especially transparent.
The Labrot House. 2009 addition by Cheri Belz. From the kitchen through the living room
Hobart Wagener: The Paddock House. 1962. Wide eaves under a Dutch gabled roof, T plan with long cross axis, and living room giving onto the terrace in front and garden in back.
The Paddock House: Living room from the garden. Note the complete integration of the roof with the porch overhang. Underneath, the soffit continues the line of the interior ceiling.
Knudsen's Commercial Shopping Center. 2600 Broadway. 1960. Hoby had been interested in thin-shell structures since the mid-1950s, and although this is composed of t-beams over concrete arches, it has the appearance of a barrel shell. Two others have suggested that since it replaced a series of greenhouses with curved roofs, at least one design motive was to refer to those older structures.
Another view of Kudsen's Market; you can see the first series of concrete arches and the t-beams.
North Broadway Shopping Center. 2700 Broadway. 1957. Another reference to thin-shells, in this case folded plates. Like Knudsen's market, it uses different, and probably less expensive, techniques. There are vertical supports at the ridges and valleys, supporting beams that run from front to back. Large open spaces are possible, and one of the businesses, an Italian restaurant, takes up a large open section spanning two bays.
Ideal Market. 2700 Broadway. 1957. Hoby liked texture and articulation to break up large expanses of wall. In his houses he often used vertical details applied every few inches to every few feet, and in commercial buildings with CMU facades he often had some of the blocks bumped out a bit. Other examples are the exteriors of the Control Cell Units at Ball Brothers on east Arapahoe and the Wesley Chapel on Folsom at University Heights.
Ideal Market. 1957, with some later additions. I am not sure how large the front overhang was in the beginning. I'll find out.
First United Methodist Church. 1421 Spruce St. 1958-59 Two of six bays, each with a four-gabled hyperbolic paraboloid roof of shot concrete. The consulting engineer, Milo Ketchum, also worked on the roofs for Casey and Centennial Schools.
First United Methodist Church. Boulder. Note that the slope of the side gables matches that of the old section. Boulder's downtown parking garages are perfect photo vantage points.
First United Methodist Church. Boulder Six discrete bays with expansive clerestory windows. Ribs and webs, but not quite like they did it 750 years ago. The longitudinal frames have tension rods at their haunches, and can be thin. The transverse frames probably have moment connectors at their apex, and have to be thicker.
Casey Junior High. 2410 13th St. Boulder. 1954-55 Six Z-plates, each about 127 feet long, spanned a gym and cafeteria. Note the clerestory windows under the upper parts of the Zs. Hard to tell without going back to the plans, which are available, but it looks like those upper sections needed support only at the front and the back. The aluminum louvres were adjustable, and covered the upper windows as well in the beginning. This photo was taken shortly before demolition in February 2009.
Casey Junior High. 1954-55 Another view.
Casey Junior High. Boulder. 1954-55 The cafeteria, looking west.
Casey Junior High. Boulder. 1954-55 The gym, which was about 57 feet across. The north-facing clerestory windows formed by the Z plates gave lots of light-some from the north sky and some reflected off the adjacent plate section. Sorry about the focus, which I forgot to do.
Casey Junior High. Boulder. Demolition in February 2009
Centennial Middle School. 2205 Norwood. Boulder. 1957 The original is on the right. Note the adjustable screens. And the different treatment on the newer section, to the left.
Centennial Middle School. 2205 Norwood. Boulder. 1957 The folded plates of the gym. Look at the skylights, then the next photo, to see how the engineer, Milo Ketchum, worked them out.
Centennial Middle School. Boulder. 1957 The gym's folded plates are solid reinforced concrete on one side, and open trusses, at least in part, on the other, to let the light in through the skylights above. The flocking was added later to control the sound. Like being on the inside of a Chia Pet.
Boulder South Fire Station. 2225 Baseline. Boulder. 1957-58 The gables on the right are hyperbolic paraboloids, in wood, with exposed beams and planks on the interior.
Ball Brothers Tower (background) and Control Cell unit (foreground). 1600 Commerce. Boulder 1956-64. Wagener liked inexpensive screening walls, which he used here as well as at Williams Village Residence Halls and the courtyard at First Presbyterian Church. He articulated the CMU walls with a little relief pattern, and at the top of the tower, as in at least two other structures, he added the balustrade framework, which helps the connection with the sky.
Ball Brothers addition. Sometime between 1956 and 1964. Same treatment, with lots of glass and something to look at in the walls. The car on the left is nice as well.
Ball Brothers addition. 1600 Commerce. Boulder. 1956-64. Another view of the northernmost unit.
First Presbyterian Church. Courtyard. 1955. As transitional spaces, courtyards are perfect, and Hoby did several in Boulder. This was possibly the earliest, and is combined with some extra space, including a chapel, added to the church;
Courtyard loggia. First Presbyterian Church. 1955. Nice Tuff Shed or whatever it is at the corner.
First Presbyerian Church Courtyard. 1955.
First Presbyterian Church. Boulder. 1955. The chapel from its mezzanine area, which is a library reading room.
Boulder High School: Courtyard. 1963. The courtyard was made by enclosing a U-shaped space, then adding the two upper walkways and stairs. This is a central area in Boulder High, and is well used. Views from the third level are of the Flatirons to the southwest.
Wesley Chapel. 2400 University Heights. 1957. Again, a wooden roof reminiscent of a folded plate concrete structure. The lower sections on this side and the other-see the next photo-have warped roofs in the central sections: the beams that support the inner valleys are not parallel with the ridge beams.
The Wesley Chapel. south facade. Note the two interior beams, tilted down to warp the inner roof sections into hyperbolic paraboloids. Instead of popping out some of the CMUs, this time he used blocks with little corner sections cut out to get the diamond pattern.
St. John's Episcopal Church addition. 1419 Pine St. Boulder. 1965. A pyramid over a square with re-entrant corners, so the interior is a Greek cross. The chapel is on the north side of a courtyard that is open to the street on the south. A loggia runs from the left side of the chapel to the wall of the older building, then turns and follows that wall to the sidewalk.
St. John's Episcopal Church. chapel interior. 1965.
St. John's Episcopal Church. Loggia. 1965. If you go straight ahead and turn right you come to the chapel. The buttresses of the older church are on the left; the new piers are on the right.
Williams Village. 1965-66. One of the Stearns towers. 12-13 levels, with an observation deck on the roof. The red bricks vary slightly in value, and give the walls some texture, always changing depending on the light. The sense of mass is controlled by the separation of parts into small sections that seem independant, as well as the long vertical planes that pull away from those sections. As with the Ball Brothers tower, he avoids an abrupt connection with the sky.
Williams Village. 1965-66. Darley on the left, Stearns in the right background. The pyramid in the right foreground is Darley Commons, another pyramid incorporating a loggia.
Williams Village. Darley North. 1965-66.
The Thompson House. 1967. The clerestory windows in the gable over the living room. The fascia are only as wide as the thickness of the roof; planks, tarpaper and shingles. Longitudinal beams hidden by the thicker mullions hold the thing up. If this roof were a swimsuit it would be barely legal, and since it has about the same insulating qualities, the same goes as a roof. But it sure looks great!
The Bartkus House. Above Boulder. 1963. Bartkus's second house by Hoby, and they tried to avoid cutting down trees to make room. They had to cut down one. Two others were accommodated by holes in the eaves. The other corner has the same kind of re-entrant porch.
The Bartkus House. 1953. The front entry, with a cut-out in the roof. Note the tree branch growing down into the gap. I think the tree came first.
The Hansson House. Boulder. 1960. A modern bungalow, with two bedrooms above, looking out over the floor-to-roof living/dining area that you see here. At the time of construction the Flatirons were visible in the distance from these windows.
The Hansson House. Boulder. 1960. Street facade, with gated entry to courtyard, and carport on the left. Note the double pitch of the roof, and on the second floor, the upper storey bedroom windows.
The Reed House. East of Boulder. 1965. This porch, with dining room behind, faces a point very close to Long's Peak, and the residents have a sweeping view from the Indian Peaks to the Mummy Range. The house sits on a large lot and could have been oriented in any direction, but was pointed just so. Like the Hansson House it has a gated entry court, but a much larger one.
The Reed House. East of Boulder. 1965. The entry court at night.
The Wagener House. Boulder. 1965. With a pyramidal roof over a square, this house, like several others, has corner porches on either side of the glassed area that looks out to the view. The skylight at the apex covers a central square area which in the early years was a garden. In the early stages of the design provisions were made for keeping the skylight open and glassing off the square below as an atrium. That plan was never carried through, with the result that they could tend the garden throughout the year. The chimney location defines the boundary between the central area and the surrounding space.
The Wagener House. Boulder. 1965. Sorry about the overexposure. Hoby liked board and batten exteriors sometimes, but this is different, and what I mean by his use of vertical strips of wood. In this case, the vertical details help to balance the strong horizontal of the roof's edge.
Wagener House. Near Boulder. 1994-95. Hoby's last project in Boulder, for his son, daughter-in-law, and their children. Original plans called for one level under a sweeping roof, but bedrooms above were needed, thus the dormers. The dormers and roof are very powerful elements; they combine with protruding rafters, folds in the sheet metal above, vertical detailing of the walls, and strict symmetry to make a muscular house.
The Wagener House. Near Boulder. 1994-95. Facing the view. Look at the sheet metal folds on the lateral dormers. They appear to match up with the folds of the main roof below. Look at the veranda-it goes all the way around, ending only at the living room. The corners of this facade are again re-entrant, making for large porch areas.
The Wagener House. Near Boulder. 1994-95. One more, to show the external details and veranda ceiling.
Sunset Enterprises (now the Tree House). 737 29th St. Boulder. 1967. Originally two levels, and Wagener's offices, among other things. The building is built on a small pond.
Sunset Enterprises (now the Tree House). 737 29th St. Boulder. 1967. Another view, from the parking lot. Note the glass pyramid above the center. It does illuminate a small office reception area on the second floor.
900 28th St. Boulder. 1958 (?) I think this was originally the Green Shield Building, and it was to be part of a larger complex that remained unfinished. The roofs are held up by massive concave beams that follow the roofline. The beams are reinforced by large tie rods, and I don't know if those are tension or compression members.
777 29th St. Boulder. 1979. Big and cubic, with the windows set back a foot or so from the wall surfaces. The walls are textured well by the brick.
Midland Federal Savings & Loan (now City of Boulder offices). Boulder. 1966-74. Like the Wagener residence, a pyramid. You can almost touch the eaves and rafters when you stand under them.
Midland Federal Savings & Loan (now something else). Longmont. 1973. This is on the N.W. corner of Main & Mountain.
Midland Federal Savings & Loan (now a U S Bank). Loveland, CO. 1984. Extensive solar planning, with trombe wall, heat transfer by blowing hot air under the floor, etc.
Boulder Public Heath and Social Services. 3400 and 3450 Broadway. Boulder. 1964. Note the corbelling at the tops of the windows. The most dramatic corbelling was saved for the bases of the exterior walls, in the next photo.
3400 and 3450 Broadway. Boulder. 1964. Exterior wall detail. The hopper windows below are for the lower floor.
3400 and 3450 Broadway. Boulder. 1964. This building, and the neighboring one at 1333 Iris, has lots of inside and outside corners. The outside corners tend to be easier to manage, but the inside ones, especially when two walls of different height meet, can have problems.
Boulder Mental Health Center. 1333 Iris. Boulder. 1970. The front door, facing south, and approached through a courtyard. The upper cornice tops a wall that is set back several feet from the front facade. The corbelling is continued in this building, but only at the window tops.
Boulder Mental Health Center. 1970. The center wing, with the entry foyer, is on one level, the right-hand wing is a couple of feet lower, and the left wing, in the next photo, about two feet higher. So the cornices don't match. Turning corners can be difficult-look at the Greek problems with the Doric-but inside corners I bet are especially hard, since you are forced to see both sides at the same time.
Boulder Mental Health Center. 1333 Iris. Boulder. 1970. The left side of the entry court. The left wing is a couple of feet higher than the central entry foyer, so the cornices don't match.
Boulder Mental Health Center. 1333 Iris. Boulder. 1970. Another view, of the SW corner, with an example of Hoby's use of screening walls.
Boulder Mental Health Center. 1333 Iris. Boulder. 1970. The cornice, with four different bonds. The bricks with their short ends sticking out look like dentils.
A photo of the guide map for Boulder's various Health Dept., Social Services, and Mental Health offices at Broadway and Iris. On the upper left, 3460 is an older building, I suspect from the first third of the 20th century. On the lower left, Wagener's first project, which was drawn in 1964. On the lower right, 1333 Iris dates from 1970, and I believe that the southern part of 3482 above was done at the same time. The north part of 3482 looks more recent, with similar brickwork but different window treatment. Look at the courtyard formed between the two Wagener buildings below.
An early Wagener House. Boulder. 1950s. Sorry about the photo quality, but here is a small house, hip roof, the rafters trimmed to give a thin fascia, and note the porch roof of lapped boards, like clapboards, which continues inside the house. You can also see a little of the interior wall treatment, in this case horizontal board over batten. This is a small, elegant house in perfect condition. Multum in Parvo.
