Distinctly Colorado: builders capture look of the American West.

• Author: Mautner, Audrey

Too bad the wild jackrabbits that call. The Westin Westminster home don't pay. At ease on the landscaped grounds, they quietly nibble indigenous grasses, indifferent to the buzz of people just a hop away.

If the hares seem comfortable, they should. Colorado's high plains don't end at the Westin's walkways. In fact, the grasslands keep rolling right into the architecture and design of this one-ofa-kind hotel. Inside, light, space and color mimic the magnificent backdrop that last year helped draw 23 million visitors to Colorado.

What the Westin has discovered, along with a growing number of architects, city planners, designers and business owners, is that visitors and locals alike want to experience a piece of Colorado as they shop, sleep and dine.

From hotels dressed in the high West, to shopping malls with trail systems that pass right through them, to an airport that takes a design cue from the snow-capped mountains seen on its horizon, a growing number of Colorado businesses are tying design to their place in the American West.

"People who come to Colorado from other parts of the world have a very strong desire to feel like they are in Colorado, even when inside," said Andrea Lawrence Wood. Wood's design firm, Andrea Lawrence Wood Interior Design Ltd., created the unique look of the $68 million Westin. "People respond to a design that has a strong connection to place," she says.

While her knowledge of decorative design runs deep, Wood delved even deeper into the history of the Westin Westminster's surroundings, so that every artifact, every design point, would be meaningful. This attention to detail shows up in the lobby's antique corn-grinder table, classic kilim hand-woven rugs and dried flower arrangements of wheat and thistle. In the library, vintage books with titles like "Men to Match My Mountains" and "Snakebite and Other Stories" line the shelves.

"You can't go wrong when you follow nature's lead," said Wood.

Tim O'Byrne, owner and developer of the Westin, agrees. In fact, O'Byrne convinced a reluctant lender to provide an additional $1 million for a dramatic 60-foot glass wall and adjacent courtyard in the Westminster conference center's ballroom.

He, too, is passionate about the property's authentic high-plains design.

"Every piece in (the hotel) had to meet the standard 'Is this Colorado?' and, if so, 'Why is this Colorado?' If it didn't answer those two questions, it didn't pass the test," said O'Byrne. "A lot of developers...