BLUE RONDO

 

The synchronicity between music and architecture comes to life in the design of the Blue Rondo Tower.  The Blue Rondo was designed as a 250,000 square foot, speculative, class A office building located at 14th and Lawrence Streets in the Denver Central Business District.  The proposed site is on the edge of the developing arts district.  The owner desired a building with a connection the the area’s culture.

 

Inspired by the rhythms, patterns, and syncopation of jazz, “Blue Rondo a la Turk”, by Dave Brubeck, became the inspiration for the design.  The success of the design effort rested in translating the complexity of the rondo into a literal three-dimensional object.  By looking to the instrumentation and musical form, the building began to develop.

 

The building’s composition within the skyline of Denver and an emphasis on how the building is viewed as one enters downtown creates a focus and entry point at the 14th and Lawrence edges.  This welcome point and associated ground level retail space reinforces the pedestrian experience.  A transparent glass face at the street blurs the boundary between street and lobby.  The design links the unique site and its prominent views to and from the north and west.  Massing is set with the largest floors at the top of the building, maximizing premium space and views.  The building face is articulated in a way the reinforces the instruments of the rondo, allowing distinctive impressions of the building from various viewpoints.  Each view of the buildings creates a changing kinetic sense of the architecture.

 

Project completed as Project Designer at RNL.