Here is an article featuring our Principal, Scott, as he discusses green building. Material selections and initial steps of design are just as important as dealing with site waste disposal months later. Take a look at these 11 steps of utilizing green materials and practices that we think are worth prioritizing.
On your next vacation, if you’re looking for something to deeply expand your understanding of the world, try these three thematically-linked award-winning books. Each provides a unique and insightful perspective on our environment, on our culture and how we can create a more sustainable civilization
Take a look at this article about the Building of the Year nominations that Arch Daily has decided upon after sorting through 3,000 buildings and designs created this past year. You can check out final results here. Do the winning designs match up with your favorite nominees?
See the TEDx talk about The Agora Projects. The Agora was created by Scott Rodwin and Marina Nash as their entry for Boulder’s Civic Area park competition. The Agora seeks to bring solar powered WiFi enabled pavilions to underserved populations worldwide. {Read More}
See Scott Rodwin’s latest and smallest architectural invention. The LOOP, the world’s best earbud anti-tangling device – and a great little Xmas stocking stuffer. Check out the Daily Camera article. {Read More}
This unique remodel and addition is for a one-of-a-kind client. Coco is a prolific artist with an eclectic, exuberant, rebellious and decidedly quirky approach to life, art and architecture. Perhaps more than any project we’ve ever done, this house truly embodies our client’s personality and mission. The Art Box is a tall, sunny, versatile loft, with funky windows punched in seemingly random patterns to create surprising and delightful views. {Read More} “It is a living-sculpture dream come true!” – Coco”
“A lovely sketch of our office by local artist Jonathan Machen www.boulderdrawings.com”
Meet Brandon David, AIA Assoc., LEED AP. He has been with Rodwin/Skycastle for over eight years and is our VP of Construction. In addition to a Bachelor of Architecture and a wealth of design experience, he also brings 20 years of construction expertise to every project. He works with impeccable integrity, responsibility, attention to detail, and a positive can-do attitude that creates the highest quality buildings and experience for our clients. Brandon is in charge of our design/build work, and his extraordinary skill and efforts have just been recognized by Professional Builder Magazine which listed him among the 40 Under 40 best in the nation. {read more…}
Home and Hood Magazine - Rebuilding after the flood. Huy Lam dug his shovel into the deep sand and continued to excavate the buried play-structure in what used to be his family’s back yard. Twenty feet away, the creek that used to be on one side of the house now flowed swiftly down the other. When the stream moved, it dumped hundreds of tons of sand and rock all over his property and it tore away a good chunk of the house.
“I’m not sure what comes next. It all depends on what the County decides to do with the creek”, Huy said between shovels.
For six months from the time of the flood, the County is allowing flood victims to bypass the daunting Site Plan Review process (as long as the re-constructed house is the same size as the original), but all new construction must still meet all local building codes. The green building codes are some of the most rigorous in the Country, and many of the older homes that were damaged will require a substantial upgrade to their envelope and mechanical systems in order to meet them.
The Lams have a long way to go before they can get back into their home: County reviews; navigating insurance and mortgage requirements; figuring out how to best rebuild with the insurance settlement; getting a building permit; re-building the house; moving back in; and perhaps most important of all, repairing the land that made them want to live in this beautiful, but (every 500 years) dangerous place in the first place.
Brokers can help you find cheap car insurance deals, especially if you've got specialist requirements. However, you will pay for their services so make sure that the savings you'd make are worth it.
We are currently assisting them to reconstruct their home to begin living after the flood.
Where the Land Meets the Sky - The Gunung Mas Ranch Home creates roots for a family in Boulder.
Best of Boulder Japango
Japango's intimate space has always been one of the stellar Japanese restaurant highlights. So what did they do this year? They expanded that great space to create a spectacular bar area to go along with what was already the best setting for sushi in the county. And they needed that bar because Japango has the area's largest selection of fine sake. If you haven't been in since the place grew, take it from us you need to see it. It's fantastic.
We were the Associate Architects for the new Columbine Elementary School that opened two years ago here in Boulder. The Boulder Valley School District made a special investment in the re-building of this underserved school, and it has paid off in spades. It is now a vibrant and sough-after bi-lingual school with some of the most beautiful and advanced sustainable architecture in the state. And now as the cherry on the top, we just assisted the school in creating a new geodesic greenhouse, where the kids will grow fresh food for their school lunch program year round in partnership with the Growe Foundation. Columbine Growe Dome
We have had a very positive and long-standing relationship with Boulder Area Realtors, which recently culminated in our complete remodel of their new association headquarters. We provided full design/build services for their 10,000s.f. building. BARA sought to dramatically transform the dysfunctional and dated existing building into one that was professional, inviting, and green. It had to accurately express their brand, support their mission, and do it cost-effectively and quickly. {read more…}
It’s baseball season and last year we completed a large sports bar/restaurant a block from Coor’s field. Brothers Bar is set in a 110 year old historic building and features the structure’s tall ceilings, the original brick walls and the heavy timber and steel structure. We added giant glass garage doors opening onto a large patio, connecting the indoors and outdoors seamlessly. Long wood bars and lots of cozy nooks make this a popular spot for the sports crowds. This is the latest of a dozen bars and restaurants we have designed.
This HERS 6 modern green home was featured in a pair of articles in Colorado Homes & Lifestyles magazine “Design on the Edge” & “Hot Kitchens”, helped us to be nominated as a finalist for the Colorado 2011 Sustainability Champion Awards and garnered a few honors:
• 2011 Sustainability Champion Award: Finalists, Colorado Biz
• 2011 Responsible Development Award, Mountain Living Magazine
• Green Home of the Year Home Builders Association of Colorado
• Colorado Sustainable Design Awards (1st Place – Residential)
