"Aittin" - Rendering
This summer we wrapped up our residence "Aittin." We have finally made our way through editing photos and are excited to post the project here on our site. This home is uniquely situated over a little creek with wonderful mature foliage and views of the foothills out the back. Click into any of the photos for the full set of images.
Rendering
We've been fine tuning the landscape, exterior materials, and interior finishes of Sunset. Working with Marpa Landscape, the approach of the house is shaped by steel and stone sitewalls that form a courtyard housing niwaki trees. As seen in the rendering, these elegantly sculpted trees are larger, planted (not potted), and more sculpted than their bonsai counterparts.
Chickadee's making great progress, from rendering to the deconstruction of the existing home, to the build of the new simple gabled structure. A breezeway connects the main living spaces to the garage.
Watch both timelapse videos of the deconstruct and breezeway glass install below:
Bierhaus - Rendering
We're excited to introduce one of our new residential projects....Bierhaus! The close proximity to some of Boulder's most trafficked hiking destinations provides the challenge of embracing the immediate view of the foothills as well as creating privacy from the foot traffic of the hillside.
The form--as shown in our rendering above--is the result of this balance and specific orientation of views. Reinforcing that orientation is the metal roofing that wraps down from the gabled slope to create the walls below.
Keep an eye out for progress shots of Bierhaus as we are eager to break ground.
One of our recently completed projects includes the commercial tenant improvement for Woodbourne -- a capital management company here in Boulder, Colorado. Their office space is located within the upper level penthouse of Boulder's only high rise office building. Built in 1955, the historic building was landmarked during the renovation process.
Short floor to ceiling height provided the challenge to fit all required systems (ie heating, cooling, ventilation, fire sprinkler, lighting, electrical, fire alarms) while still maintaining a comfortable clear ceiling height. Responding to this challenge, our team designed and utilized a wood slat dropped ceiling over the main working spaces made of reclaimed wood from packing crates. Pendants playfully pop through the slat ceiling in a manner that responds to the organic serpentine edge of the slat ceiling as well as the black basalt to carpet transition below.
In addition to creating a warm textural element above, we incorporated honed limestone at feature walls such as the entry, black basalt floor, and white oak flooring to bring softness and comforta to this space dominated by glass and mechanical systems. Custom walnut clad steel filing cabinets with waterfall black granite tops serve to separate circulation from working spaces.
Additionally, the layout and orientation celebrates the outdoor rooftop patio that fully steps into the sweeping views of Boulder and the Flatirons that begins as a horizontal ribbon within the space.
Included are a few shots of Woodbourne below--for the rest of the set, click into our portfolio page here.
If you pick up a copy of this season's 5280 Home magazine, you'll find the kid's bunk room of Moose Lodge featured in the family living issue. A great little write up and feature can be found on this cozy space that aims to mimic the "dappled light of the snow gum forests" of the regional Victorian Alps.
“Half of the fun of ski trips is staying up late with your mates and getting up early to hit the slopes”
Photo by Charlie Brown
It's the weekend! Despite the drizzly overcast weather, we were able to shoot one of our newest homes "Larkspur" in near perfect sunset and sky conditions. The full set of photos is now up on the portfolio page here.
Located outside of Denver, this neighborhood's ordinance enforced a strict height limit which prescribed a single story home for this family and their lawn-active children (you may find some hints in the photos of some soccer fans). Getting creative with our roof forms, we took the opportunity to highlight the majority of the main spaces...gathering room, kitchen, and master bedroom...with vaulted ceilings and exposed beams and trusses delineating the clear diagram of structure. The human scale, love of detail, and embrace of the indoor/outdoor lifestyle in operable glass doors result in a beautifully articulated and circulated space awash with daylight.
Ozo Coffee's new location at Village at the Peaks in Longmont
Happy Friday! Looking for your Saturday morning coffee spot? Be sure to check out Ozo Coffee's new location in Longmont. We recently completed the interiors of Ozo's new coffee spot and had a blast utilizing their clever glyph system as well as their actual coffee bean bags into the visual and acoustical design of the 30' tall space. A curving steel mezzanine above provides ample seating for watching the action at the barista bar below. Click here for the full set of photos.
"Animal House"..... a home for horses, alpacas, goats, ghosts and goblins... is one of our favorite projects to share and update. Back in March we shared the age old roof thatching process of the apse of the barn and last November we shared the materials and sketches that make up "Animal House."
Inspired by olde world rural whimsy, this barn located in rural Colorado not only houses animals, but a massive lichen-covered stone fireplace and hearth that ambles its way up to the sky. Now that the animals have moved in, we were excited to shoot the space being loved by fuzzy alpacas, watchful barn cats and frolicking donkeys and dogs.
Scroll down for a few photos of our shoot and click into our portfolio of Animal House for the full set.
We just wrapped up photographing our newly completed Denver residence we call "Ivy League." All the natural daylight and our client's furniture/art selections (many of them her own pieces!) made this project a blast to shoot. Comprised of glass, stone, blued steel, reclaimed cedar, and white painted siding, Ivy League is a wink at the modern farmhouse. A massive operable glass door system opens up the living spaces to the landscaped courtyard sheltered from the street.
A few shots are below... for the full set, check out the new portfolio page for Ivy League.
2021 - an updated turn of the century Victorian with the new modern addition beyond.
Back in January, we introduced our 2021 project--an urban infill project consisting of an existing turn of the century Victorian home that had previously been given the 90's pop top makeover in the form of a "witch's hat." Having been used as a vertically stacked duplex for years, we began our transformation by updating the exterior forms and simplifying the massing...which meant the "witch's hat" had to go. For the existing photos and renderings, read the blog post here.
Replacing the "witch's hat" with a clean gable on the second floor provides spectacular views to Bear Peak. Gutting the interior and returning it to a single family home resulted in a gracious open floor plan with modern amenities. A modern steel staircase with butcher block treads provides a visual and physical connection to the second story of the Victorian.
Zoned for multiple lots, a new structure was dropped into the adjacent yard. This new three bedroom unit with a third floor office and roof deck/kitchen with sweeping views of the Flatirons functions as the white Victorian's modern counterpart clad in sleek black stained rainscreen. A stair tower with 20' of glazing houses a modern steel and oak spiral staircase up to the rooftop deck.
For additional photos, visit our portfolio page here.
Princess Trail // Photo by Emily Minton Redfield for Luxe Magazine
Happy Friday! Although a bit belated, we wanted to share a few of the beautiful shots taken by photographer Emily Minton Redfield for the 2015 Spring Issue of Luxe magazine.
Click here for a link to the article which includes interviews with Surround's Dale Hubbard as well as the owners of Princess Trail.
Click here for more Princess Trail photos.
Thank you Emily!
Cherry Creek Residence
Back in late 2014, we introduced the ground breaking of our Cherry Creek residence located in the heart of restaurant and boutique shop paradise. We photographed the residence this week and are excited to share the embodiment of indoor-outdoor living spaces of Cherry Creek on our portfolio page.
Responding to the surrounding urban environment and adjacency to the Ross Cherry Creek Public Library, the project required a unique siting and massing approach to create a private courtyard retreat. The open floor plan is ideal for entertaining and family events as the interior gathering spaces, courtyard and pool are united through four glass garage doors and large expanses of moving glass doors and windows.
We introduced our Animal House project on the blog back in November and followed up with the fascinating process of roof thatching here. Now the ghosts, goblins, llamas, and horses are ready to move in the barn. We can't wait to come back and photograph this project with all it's inhabitants. For now, here are some shots our client took of the exterior.
Early sketch of the east elevation of "Animal House"
Rendering
Our residential 'Larkspur' project is nearing completion and we wanted to share a few photos of it's progress. Built on a large corner lot in a neighborhood with a prescriptive ranch-style height limit, the courtyard-based floor plan allows this family with active kids to be engaged with the outdoors. The predominant contrasting light and dark aesthetic of the exterior white stained shake siding and steel runs into the interior material palette throughout.
Below, one of two concrete frogs found during demo and excavation of the site sits watch over the site. Posted there during the entirety of construction, we've come to think of them as our guardian spirit frogs.
Rendering
Glass and steel frame some magnificent views in our new residential project Sunset. We're excited to kick it off by sharing this rendering - a view of the entry through a series of stone site walls. The entry brings you in beneath the glass-enclosed bedrooms into a linear gallery space showcasing the owner's collection of art.
This last week brought exciting updates as the massive steel bent is lifted up and over into place at Calcaire to begin the formation of the gable end at the main entry. Only one more steel delivery until we can finish roofing the entire structure and really begin to visualize the scale and height of these grand gable spaces. More more progress posts of Calcaire, click into the "Calcaire" tag below the post.
View of the installed bent - the structural framework perpendicular to the length of the gable designed to carry lateral and vertical loads
View of hall towards Master Gable
Master Suite gable in progress
Master Suite framing partition wall between bedroom and bath
Sunken wine cellar; Clubhouse awaiting it's steel framework
Rendering
On the blog today we're excited to introduce our new project we call "Chickadee," so-named after the small creatures that truly own this beautiful wooded lot here in Boulder. Situated on a stone plinth with a clean gable emerging out of stone site walls, this home sits as a contemporary design among remnant stone walls of the site's past.
Upon entering the site from the garage, a floating glass breezeway connects you to the living spaces. After circulating to the east facing outdoor stone patio, a water feature connects to the historic farmer's irrigation ditch to allow the sound of waterscape to join the chorus of "chick-a-dee-dee-dee."
“Living large with less in a light-filled Boulder home”
Old North found herself on the cover of the Spring 2016 issue of 5280 Home Magazine. Click here to read a great article by Sarah Goldblatt. For additional photos of the project, click into the Surround Old North portfolio page here.
With humble beginnings as a well-loved 1958 brick ranch home complete with "unfortunate shades of Pepto-Bismol pink and avocado green..." our team reset the disjoined floor plan and brought a fresh interpretation of the classic ranch through clean lines, modern materials, and unexpected moments of beautiful simplicity.
Thatching the 'Witches Hat' at our Animal House project
If you remember our first blog post and introduction of Animal House, a home for "horses, alpacas, goats, ghosts, and goblins," you'll recall we promised an update on the roof thatching process. Scroll down for more photos and tidbits when we dropped by to watch this fascinating process.
Laying out the thatch in bundles
Using a thatching spade to form and align the thatch ends
Securing the thatch down... each successive bundle will conceal the wire.
The tools of a roof thatcher
Marking the alignment of the first daylight of the Winter Solstice hitting the interior tree post
