Boulder Eye Clinic

The Boulder Valley Eye Clinic was commissioned in 1968 by Dr. Firmon E. Hardenbergh, a well-known ophthalmologist, neighbor, and chairman of Haertling's first city council campaigns. The design problem was to provide space for 3 ophthalmologists, with waiting rooms, auxiliary spaces, an optical shop, lounge/conference room, and future expansion space. Haertling's sketch illustrates some of the initial design ideas. Hardenbergh also listed visual excitement as a primary requirement, inasmuch as its function deals with vision. For this Haertling developed a design concept based on the human eye. Because of the need of light control required for eye examinations, the building was designed with contrasting open and closed areas, similar to the human eye. The south side, where public activity is concentrated is like the open eye, which allows light to pour in, illuminating the waiting room, optical shop, and doctor offices. As one moves to the north end of the building it becomes darker adjacent to the examining and refracting rooms, as in the inner eye, with an open north end for the lounge area with a small outdoor garden. The building's narrowing triangular section eliminates long hallways, saving the doctors time, and is an easily accessed location for reception and records, allow operation with minimum office help. Various external views show the visual appeal of the clinic.

From his investigations of other ophthalmologist's offices, Haertling discovered typically a large amount of space was wasted there due to the distance required to conduct an eye test. As a solution to this problem, Haertling conceived of cantilevered tapered tunnels extending out of the building, providing practical eye chart projection lanes that are prominent visual features of the exterior of the building. The exterior of the building is coated in a white rubberized elastic material which along with the rounded bottoms of the outside walls create a hovering effect that relates the building to the sky and clouds. Typical commercial construction materials such as steel and concrete were used to form the outer shell.

Haertling was particularly excited by the prospect of designing a public structure such as this, not only because it contributed to the image, fabric and spirit of the city in its prominent location at Broadway and Maxwell, but also because it would be a building that many people would be able to experience from the inside as well. This was a feeling that was particularly ardent for Haertling in his early experience in church architecture, because of his intense interest in design for human experience. It is also worth mentioning that the author, Haertling's oldest son, received an eye injury when he as four and a half years old, and Hardenbergh, who lived right next door was his eye surgeon.

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This page was last revised on June 6, 1995.