Boulder Foothills Home Wins AIA Colorado Architects Choice Award

By Leslie McDonald

Last week, AIA Colorado honored Phoenix Home in Boulder, CO with their 2014 Architects Choice Award. We’ve touched on the unique story about this home before: a client’s dream retreat rising from the ashes of the 2010 wildfires.

What we haven’t shared before is the client’s goals and perspective about working with Barrett Studio Architects. The client’s responses below contributed to AIA choosing this spectacular and sustainable home for the Architects Choice Award.

What was your initial goal?

It was to build a home that would be beautiful, comfortable, creative, and that would maximize the beautiful mountain views. I believe our specific words were:

“we wanted the view to be sucked into the house…”

At the same time, we wanted a home that would be conscious – one that would appear as though it belonged to the land, and would be very environmentally responsible.

How did the project meet or exceed your expectations?

The project exceeded our expectations. We believe that it is stunningly beautiful, amazingly creative, with views that leave us in a trance. With solar panels integrated into the roof, large south-facing windows and concrete floors to absorb the heat during the day, we purchase very, very little electricity and propane. 

Does the project feel like an expression of your family’s character and lifestyle?

My wife and I live outside of the ordinary and adore nature. This home reflects our true being in many, many ways.

What were your architect’s important contributions?

The architect created the basic design of the house, after hearing our relatively inarticulate descriptive, in about 3 weeks time. He created what he refers to as the “split-leaf” roof, which flows like a mountain lenticular cloud. He captured our desires perfectly, though we could have never come up with it ourselves. Of course many details and changes followed, but his basic design was never fundamentally changed.

Barrett Studio gratefully receives the AIA Colorado award, and knows that it is an honor shared with the client. Home architecture is a co-creative process, ultimately an expression of the client’s desires.

It is our hope that this home is exemplary Living Architecture, with each element providing a functional, sustainable, and aesthetic solution to the directives of rebirth, renewal, and resilience. For more photos and details about the sustainable features, click here.