One of the sure-fire ways of designing a cool looking building in graduate school was to be infected with the Hyper-Attenuated Building Syndrome (HABS). Any project can be made absurdly long and skinny and by violating any notion of “pleasant” golden-section-type proportions, it instantly propels a project from everyday to extraordinary. Mind you, this was simply grad school students messing around. However, the Hyper-Attenuated Building Syndrome is no laughing matter:
How to select materials - natural abstraction
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 budget, technical and practical uses of each location.
Sunshine Canyon A-frames
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 proceeded to design churches.
The cost of building in Boulder
RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION COST
Housing construction costs have risen sharply in the last few years. This means that not only the large, market developer home builder prices are up, but so are those of the small general contractors and all the associated trades - plumbers, carpenters, electricians, etc.
That is very apparent especially in Boulder.
material phenomenology
selection of materials
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 budget, technical and practical uses of each location.
The long house
A number of years ago we worked on a project in Boulder that held a number of challenges, not the least of which was a long narrow lot with severe building restrictions. My client's property was 50' wide by 188' long, but because of its corner location, both street-facing sides of the lot require a 25' wide setback from the street. That setback along with additional side and rear yard setbacks made the building envelope 20' wide by 128' long, a 6 1/2 : 1 length to width ratio