09/04/2026
A colleague's recent visit to Denver gave us a reason to revisit a milestone Bensonwood project from the mid 1990s. Thanks to past employee, Chris Carbone, for spotting a familiar piece of our history at the Denver Central Library and sending these photos our way!
Back in 1995, when Bensonwood was still known as Benson Woodworking Company, our crews traveled from New Hampshire to Denver to install the three-story, eight-sided timber structure at the center of the Gates Western History Reading Room. Designed by architect Michael Graves, the structure became known as the “Derrick” and was conceived as a reference to the rough-hewn mining and industrial structures of the American West.
There is another layer of history in the timbers themselves. The wood was reclaimed from a Washington sawmill that had been dismantled in the 1920s, then assembled in Denver using traditional post and beam construction and wooden pegs. Today, the Denver Public Library refers to the structure as the “Symbol of the West,” and notes that it has become a defining feature of the fifth-floor reading room. Over the years, people have compared its form to everything from an oil derrick and mine headframe to a teepee, bridge trestle, or grain silo.
More than 30 years later, it is pretty special to see one of our earlier timber frame projects still standing at the heart of a building used by generations of visitors, researchers, and the Denver community.
Thanks again to Chris for thinking of us and capturing a current look at a project we do not get to see very often.
