Welcome to our series, Hello Denver, My Name is… where we profile different people in Denver you probably don’t know, but should. Get ready to meet painters, dancers, comedians, musicians, designers and just generally fascinating people that help make Denver awesome.

You may not know Hunter Leggitt by face, but you have certainly seen his designs. From designer homes to stage builds at Coachella and last year’s Far Out Factory to even the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Octopus Initiative design, Leggitt is a multi-disciplined architectural visionary who facilitates the projects of dreams. With an eye on intentionality, regardless of the project, Leggitt has a keen sense of imbuing his work with a distinct sense of purpose. A Colorado native, Leggitt spent much of his professional career in Los Angeles, honing his skills, and finding a home in a rather unlikely industry. Recently returning to Denver, Leggitt sees Denver as a place full of ideas ready to put design on the forefront.

303 Magazine: When did you move back to Denver?

Hunter Leggitt: I left in 2003, but came back three years ago. I went to school at University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder),  grew up down here and went to George Washington [for high school]. I split, landed in Los Angeles a week after I graduated college — it was just the place for me. I needed to be there —that’s where the design was. There wasn’t quite yet a pulse on what I wanted to do there. But, I spent about 15 years out there and came back three years ago and it’s wild.

303: What brought you back?

HL: A couple of factors. One, I think a kind of driver was the lifestyle. Having grown up here and understanding what in Denver and the mountains has as an impact of, being able to live,  work and play hard and having that attraction for moving back to Denver as opposed to being in Los Angeles, which, year after year you get a lot of stuff done, but you’re also kind of running on all cylinders all the time. Seeing the booming market for design and curation. It’s such a positive and productive momentum that we’re all seeing here, and it’s fun to be engaged in it.

303: Can you describe what Hunter Leggitt Studio does, and how you got there?

HL: I think, probably the best way for me to explain it is to share a little bit of my background. Growing up in Denver, I went to school in Boulder for the environmental design program. I had the intention initially of being a fine artist, so I started doing that in school and then transitioned into architecture as a more tangible form of expression — something that was built, permanent, less esoteric and subjective. That ultimately led me to move to Los Angeles to pursue high-end architecture and design. For the first five years in the profession, I was working in commercial architecture, working on big mixed-use projects, condos, some stuff in Los Angeles, Vegas and some overseas, but pretty much strictly architecture. I hit a point where being stuck in architecture wasn’t ultimately driving my passion. I needed to get back into building.  That led me down to San Diego to work under my mentor, which was a small kind of renegade cowboy shop with about five or six guys and girls doing everything. We were designing and building essentially extremely high end, cool, inspired architecture and not many people were doing that. I learned what I wanted to learn and decided that there was more to be had. At this point, this is about six or seven years into my professional endeavors, and I decided I was ready to start my own business, and that was Hunter Leggitt Studio. The only problem was that this was about 2008, right at the start of the recession.  So, I was launching a business, kind of figuring out as I went, but you know, architecture, frivolous spending, the type of stuff that was part of my business was not really a priority right then. So, that transition made me really think about was else I was interested and passionate about, and that led me into the entertainment industry.

303: Looking at your work with Coachella’s Do Lab and Pharrell’s stage among others, what inspires you to create these concepts?

HL: Well, a lot of my work is collaborative, so my business ranges between just me sometimes and then I can all scale up occasionally when I need to. It’s a really a malleable business that grows and shrinks as needed. I’ve structured it in order to take on some of these projects and experiences is that at certain times we assemble and grow collaborative teams of 50 people all working together, different trades, different interests, different abilities. The stuff with the DoLab was part of that. They actually had the project already going and they brought me in to collaborate on the design and build initially, and that grew into an ongoing relationship. For me, in my business, that opened up the door to a completely different form of production and design-build, which was that kind of large scale, ephemeral, high level of inspiration, high intentionality and also high exposure to the masses. That was extremely cool for me. Having spent years prior to that working with clientele that may only be one person or a family or a small team, our clientele was 30 to 90,000 people. Doing that type of design and build I think is really influential and inspiring to the other stuff that I do.

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303: How do you approach creating these experiential designs in the entertainment sphere?

HL: Experiential design is creating something that moves your audience. In order to do that, you need to understand your audience and understand what you know is going to engage them and inspire them ultimately. If we’re talking about the stage productions then music productions and looking at the audience that’s attending those things, a lot of this audience we can assume is going there for, to be inspired  — to see the either the newest technology or the newest direction in music, or just to have something to where they can go back to their normal life and smile. When we’re taking on these types of opportunities, the first thing is just let’s have some fun. The next is how do we engage our audience and let them experience something that’s unique and exciting and has some sort of message or story or intentionality behind it. What do they want? What does the artist want? What message do they want to portray to that, that fan base? Yeah, and sometimes you just take a blind stab at it — sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

303: What’s your favorite project that you’ve personally worked on?

HL: It’s tough to pick out a favorite per se. Probably the most impacting that I’ve had was a cabin that I designed and built with students. This was about seven years ago — it’s called the Five Ten Cabin. I assembled a team of student apprentices to move to the mountains with me in California for a year and we designed and built a custom cabin from start to finish by ourselves. These were students fresh out of school that had pretty much no professional experience and no building experience, but they had a lot of energy and intention to learn.

303: In your opinion, what makes a good design?

HL: Good design comes from the thought and intentionality behind it. To me, that’s not only a product of the designer, but it’s also the product of everyone who’s involved in the purpose of that project.

303: What is the best part of your job?

HL: The best, maybe most enjoyable part of my job is the team formation. I really focus on the process that goes into these projects, not necessarily the final product as much as the story that leads up to that final product. Whether it be a large stage build that we can pull together 50 highly creative individuals to create something that moves a large audience or come together on a real estate or architecture project, it’s the story behind that process that I really enjoy.

Hunter Leggitt in front of his Octopus Initiative installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.

303: If you had a dream project to work on, what would that look like?

HL: I think a dream project that is probably coming up for me is to put together a team and create a lifestyle-based real estate development that not only looks at design and how we live but also looks at sustainability, how communities can flourish and engage with each other in a healthy manner, and something that can inspire for generations to come.

303: This last question is from the previous interviewee in this series, Sophie Birkin: “What is your favorite place in Denver?”

HL: That’s a tricky question having grown up here and having a large quiver of very dear places to me, both new and old.  For what I’m doing now with strong intentionality focused on community building and high-level creative experience, I’d say the MCA Denver, hands down.  With it’s exceptional artistic and educational programming paired with a highly inclusive culture surrounding it and from within, this institution has been and still is one of the most influential groundbreakers in Denver.  I find myself over there all of the time not only for the exhibitions but also to dance to great music on the rooftop, attend inspiring lectures and consistently meet interesting people with fascinating stories.  I give it a lot of credit for being a beaconing light helping evolve the sports-driven, beer drinking, an outdoor rec-centric city that I once knew into a growing hub of creative experience, dialogue, and community.