Your Own Personal Work

[DenverInfill]

In addition to my original DenverInfill website, which tracked infill projects in the Downtown Denver area from 2000 to 2009, and my DenverInfill Blog, which I launched in 2005 and continues to cover infill-related development news in Denver's urban core, in 2010 I launched the DenverUrbanism blog which covers essentially all non-infill related pro-urban issues in Denver. Up until a few years ago, all of the content was written by me, but now I run both blogs as a collaboration, with several regular contributing bloggers and occasional posts by guests. Between the three, I average 50,000 to 60,000 visits a month.





Since this is also the Buildings and Architecture section, I thought I'd highlight an interesting series I've been running on DenverUrbanism since February. I've always been intrigued by how cities expand geographically and the relationship between that geographic expansion and the architecture of buildings over time.

Working with city GIS parcel data and a local armchair architect/photographer, I put together a research project to explore the architecture and geographic expansion of Denver's single-family detached homes, by decade, from the city's founding to the present day. So far we've posted 12 of 15 installments in the series. I'm now up to the 1980s. I invite you to check the series out! Here's a link to the 1980s decade, which provides links to the previous 11 decades at the top of the post. I hope you'll come back and check out the 1990s, the 2000s, and the big Series Finale over the next few weeks. Enjoy!

[trueviking]

summer shots of my baby....

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by plinko

These are some photos of one of my recently completed designs in Montecito, CA. The house is 5 bedrooms + pool cabana on an acre of land. 100% solar electric, 100% solar hot water (including pool heating), 100% rainwater capture. Would have qualified for LEED silver, but the client wasn't interested in the cost of the paperwork.

I was generally pleased with the end product of this design. There are a few things I might have done differently.




This picture is jaw droppingly good :

Plinko this estate is INCREDIBLE. It looks like paradise!

I'm interested in what systems are being used for it to be 100% solar? That really caught my eye as my goal is to eventually build a custom home for myself that is as close to 100% energy independent as possible.
Right now my knowledge is that with the correct solar paneling, on-site energy capacity storage, re-use of water/radiant heating, geo-thermal systems (which are too big for city use to my knowledge), you can come out with $0 net energy bills over the course of a year. (I know of several examples of this being successfully done in my area, and on renovations of huge 100+ yr old houses at that)
But I don't see any solar panels in these pics; Is it utilizing geo-thermal since it is a sizable lot?

[RLS_rls]

Originally Posted by trueviking

summer shots of my baby....

Trueviking I was in Winnipeg around Canada Day and I met up with someone at the duck pond and I had a good chance to check out the project! I had never visited that spot so it came as a pleasant surprise. It's a great design, very modern and not too formal. With the landscaping and the paths coming in from different directions it feels inviting, and even though it's so new it looks like it's been there forever. It suits the location beautifully

Are you a part of Number Ten Group? I was told they're doing a reclad project on the Otineka Mall up here, but I can't find anything on their website.

[Discipulus]

Great work guys. I was wondering, particularly to SLO and Plinko, how much the mansions/estates you guys posted cost to build, and what the architect's cut is. Going to be a sophomore at ND in a couple weeks, just trying to learn what I can.

[SLO]

Originally Posted by Discipulus

Great work guys. I was wondering, particularly to SLO and Plinko, how much the mansions/estates you guys posted cost to build, and what the architect's cut is. Going to be a sophomore at ND in a couple weeks, just trying to learn what I can.

Very nice, ND has a great design program.

The house I posted is approximately 10,000 sq ft and cost close to $3million including land. Design fees vary greatly depending on where you are and what firm you work for or if you are the principle designer. High end architects can get a percentage of construction 10-12% is what Ive heard most, but my guess is most do not. Since I was working for a design/build firm on this project the fees were calculated hourly and by the square foot for CD's. The owner spent about $50k on design and cd's. You can see much more or less depending on a variety of factors. Ive got a good friend in Dallas who went to the same arch school as me and he is a very good designer, but doesnt do many houses. He does mainly commercial and mixed use projects, but he agreed to do a house for a major developer client of his. I helped him on construction docs, he charged 12% of construction cost on a $3million dollar house in Dallas. I thought the fees were huge, but in the context of a firm it was just another job/revenue stream. I told him he needed to dump the firm and just do two houses a year at those fees! Numbers like that are not typical and come when you are at the top of your game....until then you must suffer like everyone else..

@true viking - I love how your building turned out, looks great from all angles.

@austinlee - check out the new energy star 3 guidelines, they used to be simple, but not anymore with LEED and other green building programs the goal for energy efficiency and building homes that are net zero energy users or actually producers is the future. Solar technology is changing quickly, personal wind mills, foam insulation, geo thermal are all on the rise. You can get small site geo thermal systems, drilled in small areas. Not sure about Plinkos project, but solar panels can be mounted anywhere on site.

[SLO]

Thought it'd be fun to put some pictures of a large home under construction. This was last winter. The house is on a bluff overlooking a lake outside of DFW, it features the main house, detached storage building, 3 level infinity edge pool, tennis court, and an aluminum floating boat dock.

[Surrealplaces]

These are a collection of towers that I designed just for fun....I'm not expecting them to get built any time soon.....


New Tantallon by Surrealplaces, on Flickr

[whiteford]

the stucco looks great on the big house. that is one home that really benefited from your great design talents. bravo.

[SLO]

This is an update on the house I posted construction pictures of. They had me over for a mixer yesterday. Im planning to get professional photography in about a month, but these are fine for iphone pix...


FRONT ENTRY/ELEVATION:













INSIDE FOYER VIEW TO REAR



KITCHEN



I LOVE THE GLASS



REAR ELEVATION/POOL & ENVIRONS









LOWER YARD/FIREPIT/REAR ELEVATION







GOOD EVENING:

[Tyler Xyroadia]

I don't suppose you have a Floorplan you can post for the house SLO?
I do so love studying space use and layout for big houses.

[ThatOneGuy]

Obviously it's not built, but what do you guys think of this Gothic apartment building design? Any feedback?