Blake

At the corner of Blake and 19th, R+B’s Denver studio occupies a building that has housed ambition since 1892. Originally home to the E.B. Millar Coffee Company, the century-old brick and timber warehouse has been meticulously restored and reimagined as a full-service architecture and interior design studio, one that honors the building’s industrial heritage while reflecting the precision, creativity, and craft that define R+B’s practice today.

The exterior restoration, completed in fall 2018, required careful sensitivity to the original character of the structure. Following the guidelines of the Lower Downtown Historic District, the project introduced a more contemporary aesthetic and neutral material palette while preserving the building’s historic integrity. A new wood and glass storefront replaced non-historic windows and doors, and the entry returned to its original centered position, improving accessibility, increasing visibility into the interior, and restoring a sense of symmetry to the facade.

The interior followed in spring 2019, with a reconfiguration and energy-efficiency upgrade that stripped away non-historic partition walls and outdated restrooms. Open, accessible spaces equipped with occupancy and daylight sensors and LED lighting took their place. Consistent with the building’s origins as a functional warehouse operation, the open plan celebrates the original columns, exposed structure, and the honest materiality of a building that has earned its age.

The upper level was subsequently reimagined as a 2,798 square foot salon-style space that is part creative lounge, part gallery, part meeting ground. Multiple gathering areas encourage collaboration and conversation among team members, clients, and colleagues, while clean white walls serve as a flexible canvas for rotating exhibitions of emerging national, international, and Colorado-based artists. Within the historic exposed brick shell, featuring original post-and-beam construction and refinished oak flooring, dual seating groups anchor the room alongside a 30-foot custom sofa by Denver-based Rooster Socks, set against a window wall overlooking the streetscape below. Additional furnishings were sourced from designers discovered during visits to Los Angeles and travels to Milan and Mexico City, bringing a global sensibility to a distinctly Denver address.

The ground-floor Creative Lab gives R+B’s team direct access to in-house visualization, 3D printing, and laser cutting capabilities, enabling design concepts to be tested, refined, and physically realized at every stage of a project. Together with open studio space, private offices, and biophilic and ergonomic features throughout, 1830 Blake is a place built for the way R+B works: rigorous, collaborative, and always engaged with the craft of making.

The 1830 Blake Street restoration strengthens R+B’s presence in Denver as our studio continues to evolve. In addition to accommodating the needs of our team and clients, our newly renovated space will allow us to more easily engage with the surrounding Lower Downtown neighborhood and the Denver community at large. We are proud to have consistently maintained our team for the last couple of years and are excited to be a part of the exciting possibilities the future holds. – John Rowland, AIA, Principal