Commercial Architecture April 2018 - 47

PROJECT

windows

Assembly of the project was completed by students at the Univ. of Colorado Denver's Colorado Building Workshop over the course of just two trips to Moab during a three-week period.

when the wall is opened, inviting the magnificent view indoors when closed.
A second set of NanaWall window systems in the kitchen open to the outdoor area,
while a partition wall pivots down to create distinctive, private areas and pivots up in
plane with the ceiling for flow. Vonmod (vonmod.com), a design-manufacture cabinet
company, also based in Denver, granted use of their state-of-the-art computer numerical
control router (CNC) equipment to create custom walnut cabinetry for the kitchen. Raw
Creative (rawdbf.com), a Denver-based design-build firm founded by two program alumni, also donated tools, time, and space for students to create glass-fiber-reinforced concrete benches, tabletops, countertops, and an oversized monolithic sink for the bathroom
facility.
Climate and environment were two driving principles, and the harsh Moab desert
necessitated a steel shade structure. The structure covers 2,000 sq. ft. of patio-more than
the interior of the building. One of the central challenges in designing the canopy was to
create a self-supporting span that could cover a large area while simultaneously acting as
a louver. This potentially expensive and challenging feat was accomplished for pennies on
the dollar when a telecommunications company donated excess stock of new insulated
wall panels.
Students transformed the insulated metal panels, otherwise bound for landfill, into a
staggered performative canopy that provides much-needed shade in summer and sunlight
in the winter. Using the software program Grasshopper, students determined the exact
spacing between the panels to account for shade and light requirements, while accommo-

projects. The complex, budget-conscious project was designed and built by 27 graduate
students, many of whom had no building experience. In addition to the limited budget
and a shortened timeline of only 19 weeks, students were also working from the Denver
campus, eight hours away. Successful completion of the ambitious project required incredible collaboration, ingenuity, and creativity.
After an initial site visit to gather information, project requirements, and insight from
clients and contractors, the students established a set of core principles to guide a decision-making process challenged by atypical design and building constraints. A shoestring
budget necessitated that they use salvaged materials and an existing doublewide trailer
foundation.
"Because there were so many students, there were a lot of opinions and we wanted to
immediately filter out the opinion of architecture and let it be about what the client needed and allowed," said graduate student Kelsey Wotila. Those core principles included
flexibility, sustainability, climate, structure, program, materiality, light, and environment.
Flexibility was a core design goal of the project, and the objective was partly achieved

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Work through complex problems

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the grandiose beauty of the desert, allowing the interior space to flow into the exterior

CIRCLE 218

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Architecture April 2018