For this relaxed family home in Boulder, Colorado, re:architecture was inspired by the forested landscape surrounding their client’s acre-sized lot. “We feel strongly that the building and context must complement each other and add up to more than the sum of its parts,” explains founder Rick Epstein.

The homeowners were more interested in connecting with the parklike site than in catching mountain views—and the resulting home benefits from a special sense of place and a seamless indoor/outdoor flow.

The homeowners hail from a cloudy part of Canada, so they have a particular appreciation for Colorado’s 300 plus days of sunshine per year. They envisioned their home as a “suncatcher” that would harness the region’s abundant rays and achieve passive heating and cooling using solar energy.

Clerestory and floor-to-ceiling windows enable massive solar gain during the day, while the home’s concrete walls and floors provide thermal mass and help regulate the interior temperature. A solar photovoltaic system on the roof significantly offsets what little energy the house does use.

“Another critical aspect to creating a sense of place is to design with the microclimate and macroclimate in mind: being attuned to wind and sun and the local environment. Great care was taken to create spaces that celebrate Colorado’s climate while providing protection from it,” Epstein remarks.

The large roof overhangs shelter the home from strong summer rays while still allowing the sun to penetrate deeply in the winter, and the H-shaped plan creates sheltered outdoor nooks that are sunny yet protected from strong western winds.

The single-story home is designed to be private and accessible, as the homeowners’ aging parents often visit for extended periods of time. A private suite was built for them in the “sleeping bar,” which houses the bedrooms and private spaces and is connected to the “living bar” by a central, glass-encased courtyard. The open-plan kitchen/living/dining area opens up to a pool and a large backyard patio, which is perfect for entertaining.

Inside, curvaceous elements break up the home’s rectilinear geometry. Large oculi beam daylight into the interiors, while a curved wall in the family room softens the flow of the living area. In the kitchen, the pantry, powder room, and coat closet are housed in a unified, furniture-like “object” clad in blue-green laminate.

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“We had designed an office remodel for them previously, so we got to understand their personalities and design goals. This office project also reflected their personalities and has a few similar elements: the colorful ‘object,’ the concrete walls and floor, and the flow and connection to the outside.”

“My favorite part of the project is that it has a very special sense of place—it’s not just a nice house on a nice site, but an environment in which the lifestyle of the clients flows from inside to outside. The plan reinforces this and supports the activity of wandering—between, around, through. I am always surprised and delighted by the special framed views that emerge: glimpses of an incredible weeping willow in the yard are revealed from the bedroom, and there are more special views between the buildings.”

Related Reading:

This Eco-Friendly Home Wears the South African Bush as Camouflage

This Mountain Hideaway in the Czech Republic Burrows Into a Meadow

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: re:architecture / @re.arch

Design Collaboration: Marcel de Lange

Builder: Morningstar

Structural Engineer: Anthem, LLC

Landscape Design Company: R Design

Interior Design Company: Istoria

Photographer: Michael de Leon