2970 Washington Street - Landmarks of the Future
Oct 21st, 2008 by contributor
This addition to a small Boulder home features flowing, expansive spaces and a faceted wall of glass doors that open to erase the boundary between inside and outside. Despite its generous feel, the space weighs in at an amazingly efficient 1,500 square feet. The remodeled home exemplifies the architect’s objective of creating spaces that positively affect the people who experience them.
The home is uncomplicated and unpretentious. The central kitchen opens to both principal living spaces, a sunroom and a living room. The spaces feel uplifting and energizing, due to the abundant natural lighting, the flow created by the diagonal opening between the two living spaces, and the use of vertical volumes in the Sun room where it opens to the outdoors.
Connection to nature was a key goal of the remodel, achieved through the sunroom’s openings to the outdoors and the concrete floor that continues beyond the interior as an outdoor patio. The home clearly communicates the values and identity of its architect/owner and his wife. Simple materials and spaces create a personal, yet open and energizing environment. The home shares an outdoor patio and bicycle storage stands with its next-door neighbor.
The “green” achievement of this home is its low square footage, yet it’s spaces feel ample. Other sustainable features include a solar panel that preheats domestic hot water, a “scan” clean-burning fireplace insert with an output of 20,000 BTUs per hour. Insulation was upgraded throughout the lower level and the forced-air heating system was changed to a more efficient hydronic radiant system.
The house was built in 1945, a 900-square-foot prefabricated postwar home. A bedroom and entry were added in the 1980s, bringing the home’s square footage to 1,100. In 1996, the owner-architect reconfigured the upstairs, and a
detached studio/guest suite was built at the end of the driveway. The most recent addition, also designed by the owner-architect, was completed in August 2003, adding 400 square feet to the main house and bringing the total
to 1,500 square feet.
Links:
3016 9th Street - Landmarks of the Future
726 Pine Street - Landmarks of the Future
505 Geneva Ave. - Landmarks of the Future
3076 7th Street - Landmarks of the Future
Historic Boulder