Four Local Buildings Among 10 Best Designed in Kansas
To determine the Ten Best Designed Buildings in Kansas, the Kansas chapter of the American Institute of Architects surveyed its 500 members. Four of the buildings cited most often are located in Wichita, which had more winner than any other Kansas City.
Those named in Wichita were: the Allen-Hambe House, Century II, North High School and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum.
While the list includes a diverse range of building types the one common thread is that the architects involved in each of the buildings displayed a deep understanding of the people of Kansas and a vision of Kansas future, said Gary Anderson, AIA Kansas assistant executive director.
The two most frequently named buildings were the Allen-Lambe House and the state capitol, which were named by 50 percent of respondents, Anderson said.
The most frequently named buildings in alphabetical order:
The Allen-Lambe House, at 255 N Roosevelt in Wichita, was designed in 1917 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Gov Henry J. Allen.
Anderson Hall at Kansas State University was begun ater the Legislature appropriated $12,500 for the north wing in 1877.
Century II in Wichita was designed by John Hickman Associates and built in 1969 at a cost of more than $9 million.
The Kansas State Capitol is a combination of French Renaissance and Corinthian styles. The building which was designed by John G. Haskell, took 37 years and $2.3 million to build. It open in 1903
Manhattan Town Center, which was completed in 1988 at a cost of $8.75 millions, incorporated a downtown historic district into a suburban mall concept. Dallas architects RTKL Associates Inc. and the Manhattan fir of Brent Bowman & Associates used Kansas lime-stone familiar to that on surrounding buildings.
Nichols Hall was at Kansas State University was built in 1910-11 using battlements, towers and rugged stone walls to recall the military architecture of the middle ages.
North High School in Wichita was built in 1929. Its tower with colored figures mark it as an outstanding architectural work of Wichitan Glenn Thomas.
St. Fidelis Church in Victoria was dubbed “cathedral of the plains” by Williams Jenngings Bryan, who visited the church in 1912. Designed in 1905 by the renowned church architect John Comes to Pittsburg, its design was adapted to the rugged terrain by Joseph Marshall of Topeka.
Topeka High School’s timeless tower rises 165 feet in the air. British landmarks were the inspiration for architects Thomas Williamson and Ted Greist.
The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, the original City Hall, was the pride of Wichita when it was completed in 1892 by local architects Proudfoot and bird.
Article from the Wichita Times, January 1994
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