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Category Archive: info for home-making
I am working on a remodel and addition to an odd A-frame hybrid house at the base of Sunshine Canyon, just west of Boulder. The original house, built in 1964, was designed by architect Richard Brown. Brown designed a number of these modified A-frame houses, mostly around Boulder, before he later took that form and [...]
Every project has a budget. Whether it is a grand country house or a humble pop-top, the cost of the construction will always be stressed. It should be. In the design process, there are loads of options that are considered and balanced. But there is nothing quite so focused as the discipline brought to a [...]
We started construction today on a house up Sunshine Canyon to replace a home lost in the Fourmile fire. Equipment is rolling. Although the scars of the fire are all too evident, new life is sneaking back in between the County’s air-dropped mulch. Spring is indeed a time for renewal. Stay tuned for updates over [...]
This is the base competency for an architect – if you want a dining table that seats 10 (and you have made that clear to your architect) then the dining room ought to be able to hold that table. Room-by-room, this is not difficult. The homeowner describes what they want, in functional terms, the architect [...]
On this celebration of Earth Day it is tempting to post about all the sustainability efforts and green productsthat we have integrated into our work. Here in Boulder, the installation of solar panels, integration of geothermal ground source heat exchange systems, advanced framing techniques, etc. are so commonplace that they have become a standard part [...]
In all of our projects we go through an extensive process of trying to choose materials for interior finishes. there are an almost infinite number of choices available for tile, wall and ceiling colors, flooring, etc. The final selection should reinforce the ideas of the design as well as meet the technical and practical [...]
In case you were wondering if its true that your building materials go a long way to determining a building’s shape, I give you the following: The 1980′s historical pastiche of Po-Mo as rendered in the very appropriate foam blocks (not so far from the EIFS of the time) the large, rambling suburban “Western” McMansion [...]
In the previous posts I have remarked on the drama of stairs. That drama is certainly reinforced by the actual design of the stair – its details and materials, certainly its shape and how sharp or relaxed the descent or ascent. Unfortunately, as architects love stairs, we can get a bit carried away with this [...]