6th Street House

What were the circumstances of receiving the commission for this project?

This was a repeat client. We completed a commercial office space for his firm, Mondo Robot, and he then asked us to remodel a home they lived in. During the design of the remodel, the client found an open lot, purchased it, and commissioned a new house.

Please provide an overview of the project.

This challenging site sat empty for years, the victim of economic downturn and constricting land use regulation. Though the lot hosted the potential for amazing views, slope, solar shadow considerations, and density limits conformed the size and configuration of the building envelope in an irregular manner. These limits ultimately define the perimeter of metal skin that drapes over two interlocked bars that form a series of folds and twists. The bars fold together, overlapping the main level public space with the private spaces above. The resultant house is a series of physically and visually overlapping forms and spaces.

The house challenges the inhabitants’ relationship to boundary. The notion of “where a room stops” or where the building begins is blurred and questioned. In this time when the definition of public and private is muddled through digital media and communication, this house for a designer of internet space pushes against the perceived absolutes of in and out, private and public, dynamics and stasis. It fosters a discussion of where physical, experiential, and social boundaries exist.

What are the main ideas and inspirations influencing the design of the building?

The building is an animated response to the site, the form responds to views off the southwest, twisting to afford the view to the living room. The folded roof form responds to a municipal code that restricts the height of a shadow that the building can cast on neighboring property.  Internally, the project is a critique of public and private spaces.  The master bath is open to the main stair and centralized skylight.

How does the building relate to contemporary architectural trends, be it sustainability, technology, etc.?

The building form is derived from operations of folds and twists, rather than a pre-determined style or form. It attempts to be an action, not a static set of relationships. Technologically, it is a steel frame with timber only as an infill. The exterior is maintenance free steel and stucco.  Great care has been taken to eliminate thermal bridging from the envelope. The house is heated with a 97% efficient boiler and radiant floors. Cooling is achieved through a multi-stage evaporative system that uses 10 times less energy than conventional air conditioning. All lighting is LED.

How would you describe the architecture of Colorado and how does the building relate to it?

Colorado is a state of great geologic form. As the Rockies rise from the center of the state they create great folds, synclines and anticlines along the front range. A similar methodology allows the building form to come from a “geologic” method.  Further, Boulder is an outdoor culture, filled with climbers, runners and bikers, who are here to be in contact with nature. The house affords a privileged connection to nature in every space and is, itself, “active” in form. Finally, we are a progressive culture, unbound by the inertia of history and building an architectural response that sets a new language for architecture beyond that of the hastily built miner’s shack.

Email interview conducted by John Hill.