2003 Western Mountain Region Design Merit Award
This 7,500 square foot commercial building was designed to house a custom hardware distributor on the ground and basement levels, and speculative office space above. The program required flexibility for future reuse, and for the potential subdivision of space on each floor. This led to a diagram that placed partially open stair towers and entrances at opposite corners of the prescribed building pad. These towers were then connected with a line that became the ridge of the roof. The roof eaves along the north and south walls then rise in opposite directions. The street side has generous glazing at the ground floor for shop front visibility, with the upper windows a proportional progression rising with the visible landscape.
In the back, expansive glass on the upper level provides mountain views for the tenant’s conference area. The architecture draws from indigenous ranch and farm structures of the region. The barn siding texture and color, along with the bonderized metal slats at the towers, reinforce this intention. In addition, the resultant form suggests a settling over time found in the old agricultural buildings of the region.