Seattle vs. Denver Mashup

The floor-to-ceiling windows at either end of a Seattle boathouse allow light to stream through the entire 1,000-square-foot space.

Armstrong Oil and Gas in Denver, Colorado. Designed by Lake|Flato Architects. Winner of the 2011 Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture. Project description: "The adaptive re-use of a 1900s machine shop celebrates the spirit, craft and materiality of its original program. The transformed spaces are organized around a new landscaped courtyard created by stripping away the center section of the existing roof to bring in natural light and ventilation to the interior spaces. A gated entry court on the street front acts as a threshold to the courtyard framed by two brick volumes containing the building’s public spaces on one side and office spaces on the other."

A second-story Dutch door above the canopy ushers in sunlight and breezes. “Light is really important in the Pacific Northwest because it’s dark for most of the year,” says the resident. The cedar-clad facade is pierced with thoughtfully placed windows, which frame views and “actively engage the idiosyncratic nature of the place,” says architect Tom Kundig.

Daniel Libeskind's Denver Art Museum, whose titanium-clad exterior shimmers in the afternoon sun.

Seattle David Sarti's little red house in Seattle's sleepy Central District proves that a bit of land, ambition, and carpentry know-how can go a long way. The rear facade. Photo by Misha Gravenor.

Remnants of the past mingle with more recent developments, exemplified by these modern structures sitting atop an old brick warehouse.

A supposedly impossible site was the perfect plot for Hale (pictured) and Edmonds, who were searching for some sort of break that would afford them the chance to build their own home. Stilting the house over the steep hill gives them direct access to nature while still being located just a ten-minute drive from downtown Seattle.

Lewis Sharp’s Usonian home is just around the corner from where his children and grandchildren live.

Anthony Pellecchia and Kathy Wesselman's careful site planning garnered a waterfront view at little cost to the trees.