Private Residence
Denver, Colorado

This residence is situated on an elevated plateau overlooking Cranmer Park, with downtown Denver and the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Commissioned by a contemporary art collector, the three level house is conceived as a glass, metal, and concrete pavilion floating in space and water. Excavations below grade allow the structure to appear to hover above the ground while concealing private gardens and pools, in addition to interior guestrooms, spa and wine cellar. The ground floor plane, which houses the main living areas including the gallery, is a limestone plinth on which the interior spaces are delineated by a system of sliding translucent screens. The perimeter is enclosed by a water’Dwhite glass, translucent stone and titanium curtain wall, with sliding screens allowing the wall to open onto a perimeter terrace and landscape beyond. The master bedroom suite is located on the mezzanine level, which floats as a wooden platform cantilevered within the vaulted space of the suspended canopied ceiling.

Utilitarian spaces are located throughout the house in a series of open-ended boxes clad in titanium, American walnut and white Sivec marble. The largest of these boxes, which is constructed from cast’Din’Dplace concrete and rises two’Dlevels, houses the kitchen and morning room on the ground floor and gallery storage, wine cellar and mechanical spaces below. Ambient light slots and openings allow for the manipulation of daylight and passive solar design throughout.

The structural cast’Din’Dplace concrete walls, piers and floor slabs anchor the house in its excavated basin. The titanium clad roof hovers above the ground and mezzanine levels, lightly resting on the perimeter curtain wall. Its form is inspired by the principles of air flow diagrams utilized for the design and fabrication of aircraft wings.