Whoops! Occasionally, things like the blog get away from us as we focus on the architecture. Like this post that we just found in the "drafts" folder:

We were pleasantly surprised the other day to get a visit from a Mr. Johnny West, who, besides having a pretty fantastic name, used to live at 405 Linden Street, in the old house that is now our office space. 

We've been fortunate enough to meet a number of the folks who used to call the building home, lots of whom lived here when the building was owned by the Fort Collins housing authority. Mr. West's story was especially intriguing, as he lived in the house earlier than anyone else we've met, back in 1945, when he was 12 years old. 

He regaled us with stories of nearly dying of diphtheria in the back bedroom and of attending school with Jesse Godinez, the proprietor of El Burrito. He also filled us in on some missing history; apparently, before it was a slaughterhouse, 401 Linden (the future site of Confluence) was a private residence that raised chickens commercially. 

Thanks for chatting with us, Mr. West!! Sorry to take so long to get you published. 

Mr. Johnny West at 405 Linden Street, where he lived as a boy. 

We are excited to announce that residential units in Confluence are now available for presale! More information about presales and the commercial spaces available for lease is available at the updated project website. We have also added a few new renderings to our project page. We will have additional information about the individual units (and additional images) in the coming weeks, so check back soon!

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If you haven't been by Remington and Oak recently, Poudre Garage is coming along nicely! We were lucky enough to get a quick site tour yesterday; our first so far. Since only portions of the office worked on the project, it seems like the others of us can offer compliments; we were definitely jealous of the future tenants. The oversized windows set up a really lovely rhythm within the units, and the terraces are going to have some pretty fantastic views (see below). Click on the images to enlarge.

There's still lots of work to do, but we're already quite excited. If you are too, you can find out more information about available floor plans and leasing at Historic Poudre Garage Lofts.

 

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Work in Progress

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Longs Peak! Over downtown.

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Oversized Windows and Lots of LIght

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Double-Height Level 4 Bathroom

We had the drone out for some context photos for Confluence and decided that it was such a nice day we'd put together a few quick shots of Block One...

The recently completed Utilities Administration Building was awarded LEED Platinum in a ceremony today. We're quite excited about the designation, as speakers presented it as the first building in Colorado (and only the third in the country and fourth in the world) to be awarded Platinum under the new LEED v4 standard for new construction. 

Platinum was the City of Fort Collins' target from the inception of the project, and we were pleased to be able to work so closely with the City and RNL to meet that target.

Congratulations, City of Fort Collins! And thank you for helping to lead the charge on sustainability!

Our daily commute during worksessions for our Bangkok projects (Emsphere and a few others), beginning at the hotel near the project site.

The traffic in the video is especially bad due to flooding during the rainy season, but it provides a good feel for the daily experience. 

Main Entry View

Overall Plan

Showing entrances and flows of people and goods.

Cooler Plan

Showing the 1100% increase in cooler space and 340% increase in freezer space from the Blue Spruce facility (magenta boxes) and the direct access to the kitchen and food link areas.

Kitchen Plan

Showing the 275% increase in size over the Blue Spruce facility (magenta box) and improved access to the cooler, freezer, and food truck/mobile pantry deliveries.

Dry Storage Plan

Showing the increased loading dock size an efficiency, food link access, and volunteer access catwalk above.

Office Plan

Showing the 160% increase in work area over the Blue Spruce Facility, safe parking separated from truck traffic, and increased efficiency through much-needed meeting rooms and comfortable, collaborative work space.

Volunteer Area Plan

Showing the 420% increase in volunteer work area from the Blue Spruce facility, parking located safely away from truck traffic, and safe access to the offices via the catwalk.

Volunteer Entry View

Volunteer Area Section

Office Area Section

We've been working hard on the aforementioned design for the Food Bank of Larimer County (renovating an existing warehouse building to house their new headquarters and distribution center) and we're excited about the project, so we wanted to share a few images.

Our solution first and foremost organizes a maze of programmatic and equipment relationship requirements that are necessary to maximize both employee and volunteer safety, efficiency, and comfort. At the same time, because we believe that good design does not have to be expensive and should be available to everyone, even non-profits, we also aimed to introduce some fun spaces into the pragmatism of the existing building.

By keeping the vast majority of the existing enclosure and plumbing in place, but selectively demolishing elements to clean up the exterior and open up the interior, we are able to keep the project cost-effective while allowing plenty of room for future growth. The addition of several used shipping containers into the warehouse divides the space into rooms, while also providing rooms within the units themselves and a pop of industrial color. They also serve as a landing point for one of our favorite elements: a warehouse mezzanine bridge that allows volunteers to travel between portions of the building above the fray of forklift traffic. This bridge also allows for tours of the facility, providing views into the cooler, kitchen, and other areas. 

On the exterior, we have proposed a low-cost, extremely low-maintenance facade consisting of small opening chain link, paint, and stucco over the existing split-face CMU. A series of pre-engineered steel canopies create a village of welcoming portals, while subtly referencing the butler building construction of the warehouse itself. 

It's been lovely to work with such a great organization; their dedication and passion are truly remarkable. In addition to all of the fantastic things they do, the Food Bank has been working hard to raise the funds to make the project happen, so that they can continue providing an essential service to fill an ever-growing need. Please do visit their webpage and consider making a donation to help further a great cause. More images of the project are available at our project page.

Nope, it's not a typo; we're proud to laud the professional service of our newest employee, Stephanie Bedinghaus, who has been appointed to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards' Architectural Registration Exam Case Study Task Force: Project Management Group! In case, like us, you have acronym-induced sleepiness (AIS, for short), Stephanie has kindly explained it thusly:

“Basically, I help write the questions for the Architectural Registration Exam. ”

In all seriousness, this is a highly important position, as the ARE is something all architects must pass in order to become licensed. Because what we do as architects varies from designing safe, accessible, and beautiful buildings to writing and administering contracts,  it's a very difficult set of skills to properly assess, and a lot of effort goes into the writing the test. It's also probably a job for which the hardworking folks who volunteer their time probably don't get thanked enough, so we wanted to take the opportunity to say "Thanks Stephanie!"

Confluence has been featured on the cover of the Spring 2017 issue of Colorado Construction & Design. The AIA Colorado North spotlight lists the project alongside the Ginger and Baker rehabilitation of the Feeder Supply building (another River District redevelopment project), the Windsor Mill Redevelopment, and Bohn Farm Cohousing in Longmont. 

You can visit their website here or read the full issue here; the article is on page 33. For more information on Confluence, be sure to take a look at our project page and confluencefc.com.

The Andalucia (previously El Molino Court) has been featured on Urbanize LA! We're excited to see the project finished and we're thrilled with all of the positive responses in the comments. 

Our project page has a number of Bernard Andre's other wonderful photos of the project, and the full Urbanized LA article is available here. Be sure to take a peek at the building's rental site as well.

This has been a very rewarding project and we're humbled that it has received such an overwhelmingly positive reaction. We're proud to have been a part of it. 

April is Colorado Architecture Month, an as part of the festivities, we were asked by AIA Colorado to put together something to demonstrate what a day in the life of an architect in Fort Collins is like. After a good deal of head-scratching, Spencer through together a .gif (below) documenting the most important aspects of architecture life: coffee, mouse-clicks, and custom desktop backgrounds. 

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A day in the life of [au]workshop.

Spencer also provided a few slightly verbose answers to some of AIA Colorado's questions, which they understandably didn't have room for, so we've reproduced them here:

What do you enjoy most about being an architect? An architect in Northern Colorado?

I love lots of aspects of my job (drawing all day, working with great people, a sense of play in the things we do) but I think the thing I enjoy most is the chance to think about and directly affect part of the world that is so important but so hidden in plain sight.

Architecture and the urban environment have a huge impact on where and how we live and work and play and gather and discuss; they form perhaps our largest collective experiences and endeavors. But a big part of their power is that they exist in the background, silently keeping us warm and dry, shaping space and activity while we go on about our days.

I find it really rewarding to be able to help shape that background, and I feel privileged to get a view into a part of the world that goes largely unnoticed.

Northern Colorado is an interesting example of this. As Fort Collins continues to grow, I think the quality of urban space and architectural design is becoming more frequently discussed and more highly valued, both in the form of traditional downtown urbanism and in new architectures unique to our context. This is of course a boon for us as architects, as it allows a greater public investment in and engagement with our work. That said, I think architecture and urban design will always remain somewhere below the surface of the public consciousness, which I think is appropriate.

What has been your favorite project to work on? (It would be great to have a photo to go with this!)

I’ve really enjoyed working on our smaller, more local projects (405 Linden, Confluence, Block One) as it’s incredibly rewarding to see the real-world results of your work.

My favorite project, though, might be 1500 Kapiolani, in Honolulu. Honolulu is a super interesting context for the extremity of the relationship between the ocean, mountains, and city, which is highly pertinent to Northern Colorado as well. I’m also quite infatuated with the mirrored relationship between the two towers, both as a massing and an experience.

The part I’ve really enjoyed about working on it has been the development of the very simple, elegant diagram into this very messy and complicated series of functional requirements and front and back of house relationships; developing a sketch into a working building while keeping the essence of the sketch. To me, that’s what architecture is about, so I’m thrilled to get a chance to put it into practice. 

We're thrilled to be able to contribute to Architecture Month again, and we look forward to participating again next year!

The City of Fort Collins Utilities Administration building is now complete! Please check out our project page for professional photos and more, and be sure to see our previous post for additional images.