Denver Modern Homes

Modernism flourishes in a metro area’s urban core. The suburbs are usually a different story. To hear modernist across the net speak of the suburbs, you’d think there was nothing but quasi-colonial McMansions across the land. When it comes to retail, no businesses are linked more to the wasteland of suburbia then the venerable Big Box Store.

Walmart, and Home Depot being the kings of all that is Big Box, and are often blamed for the lack of architecture in the burbs. The thing is, Walmart and Home Depot just want to fit in. They can be convinced to build there stores in just about architectural style you can imagine. Here’s the proof.

No other suburb in the Denver metro area wants to promote modernism more than Lakewood. This is especially evident in the Belmar Shopping District and along the Colfax corridor. With a light rail station coming to the Colfax and Wadsworth area, construction of new retail, with modern influences abounds. And what two mega-stores are anchoring the area? That’s right. Walmart and Home Depot.

I snapped a few pics of them, along with the Whole Foods and Dick’s Sporting goods stores at Belmar to show how big box can actually look pretty cool. It’s not exactly FLW’s Fallingwater, but it’s a definite improvement. So the next time you’re lamenting big box architecture, remember that it’s not corporate America’s fault. Talk to your city planner.

Belmar is still ways of from being completed, but the core of Lakewood’s new “Down Town” already feels like a neighborhood. One cool way to celebrate the holiday season is to take a few minutes away from the shopping rush, and go for a skate at Belmar’s outdoor ice rink.

I snapped some pictures of the rink and it’s modern setting over the weekend.