Caleb’s Journey is a hybrid timber frame home that was designed to look like it had been on the site for decades. This rustic mountain home near Breckenridge ski area features chinked log siding, 150 year old vertical board and batten redwood and wavy-edged clapboard that create a vintage look on the exterior.

Parade of Homes Winner Grand Award

Parade of Homes Winner Best Kitchen

Parade of Homes Winner Best Exterior Design and Elevations

Parade of Homes Winner Best Interior Design

From our Design Build team:

This marks the first home that Trilogy became more involved in the architectural design of our homes. Design, construction and interiors were all done by Trilogy Partners. This home was the Grand Prize Winner in multiple categories at the Summit County Parade of Homes, was featured on the cover of Timber Home Living magazine and in Timber Homes Illustrated magazine.

Inspiration: Caleb… a fine craftsman who has spent his entire life living in a small mountain cabin while he builds magnificent homes for others. From each home he builds he takes the left-over timbers, siding, corrugated metal, leaving nothing to waste, saving over the years until he has a pile of material large enough to build his own magnificent home. Caleb’s Journey is this home. Give a big hug to the enormous log posts that support a web of timber trusses.

The Netherlands might have lost the final game of the World Cup to Spain, but they are winning in terms of sustainable architecture.  Architecture firms RAU and Powerhouse Company, based in the Netherlands, have designed a “super-efficient” luxury hotel for Amsterdam that is powered by one thing the city has lots of- water.

According to Inhabitat, “The H2Otel is a prototype for a new hotel typology that uses water as its main source of energy for heating, cooling, cooking, and the generation of electricity.”  This proposed hotel will be situated along the Amstel River and will be a net-zero building.  The rooms will be equipped with a climate system that will shut off the air conditioning completely if the room is vacant, helping to cut the building’s energy consumption by 40%.

Currently the proposed H2Otel is on display at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum in New York.

Building homes that use sustainable building techniques has become sort of our mantra. We often use reclaimed materials like a timber bridge from Utah, recycled ski lift cables or carpeting.  We love being able to outfit new construction with a bit of the past, especially something that is indigenous to the region we are building in.

We also strive to make every home energy-efficient by using high-efficiency boiler systems, energy-efficient insulation and in-floor radiant heating. According to David Arkin, “In order for a building to be sustainable, it must be loved; it must touch the soul.”  We feel that every building that we have built has done just that!

Daniel Libeskind

Renowned architect Daniel Libeskind has stepped into the prefab arena with the launch of his “Libeskind Villa” in Germany.  Prefabrication, the assembly of buildings off site, has typically been associated with mass production, yet there will be only 30 of these homes built.

Libeskind’s villas are taking prefab to a whole new level.  Marketed more towards the high end, these homes are equipped with games rooms, wine cellars and even a sauna.

Take a look at the “Libeskind Villa” below.

Vanity Fair asked 52 of the world’s experts in architecture the following two questions:

“What are the five most important buildings, bridges, or monuments constructed since 1980 and what is the greatest work of architecture thus far in the 21st century?”

Some of the noted experts included Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Steven Holl, Daniel Libeskind and Richard Meier.  An overwhelming majority of those surveyed choose Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

It’s hard not to see why Gehry’s massive, titanium-clad structure with its curving pillars and glass-and-steel ceiling is considered as the greatest work of architecture in the 21^st century.

“Bilbao is truly a signal moment in the architectural culture,” says the Pulitzer Prize—winning critic Paul Goldberger, author of Why Architecture Matters (2009). “The building blazed new trails and became an extraordinary phenomenon. It was one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something.”

For a complete list of the top 21 structures please visit VanityFair.com.

What do you consider the greatest work of architecture in the 21st century?

We wrote in our post about Building in Colorado that it’s hard not to be inspired by our surroundings.  I think that Spanish architects Cadaval & Solà-Morales feel the same way about this house they built nestled in the heart of the Spanish Pyrenees.  Take a look at this incredible home located on top of a mountain with views of two different valleys.

A major addition is in the works for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.  The new building will cover nearly 175,000 square feet and will make up nearly a third of NREL, it will also add 24 labs and up to 250 jobs.   The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary lab for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.  Its goal is to find new energy efficient ways to power our homes, business and cars.

The new Energy Systems Integration Facility will be designed and built by J.E. Dunn Construction Group to meet LEED Gold certification.  “We are eager to begin construction on this unique facility that will help speed the adoption of renewable energy for everyone’s everyday use,” said Dan Arvizu, lab director.

On January 12, 2010 an earthquake hit Haiti and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes affecting the lives over 1.5 million of its population.  Last week the Republic of Haiti unveiled a design competition unlike any other.  “Building Back Better Communities” invites architects and builders from around the world to compete in a two part contest to create homes on a 12-acre former sugar plantation outside Port-au-Prince.

Applicants may apply to both contests.  The deadline for the first lot is Monday, June 28^th, 2010 at 5:00 EDT.For more information about Building Back Better Communities, visit the Malcolm Reading website.

If you are interested in helping to support building permanent shelter for Haitian orphaned and abandoned children please visit The Haiti Orphan Rescue Program (HORP).



On June 22^nd from 6 to 8pm at the Center for Architecture in New York, Versa Design, LeroLero Productions and Archinect are presenting Shifting Paradigms: Design in Transition.  You can also watch a live feed of the event on Archinect starting at 6:30pm EST.

“Shifting Paradigms: Design in Transition will explore the evolving relationship between the creators of the built environment and the technological advancements in the design and fabrication process that are facilitating a new language of architecture.”

Panelists Include:

Marty Doscher: Morphosis Architects
Paul Seletsky, AIA: ArcSphere
David Benjamin: The Living / Columbia University GSAPP
Neil Meredith: Front / Columbia University GSAPP
David Pysh: Gehry Technologies
Moderated by Jason Ivaliotis: Versa Design

(Re)Centering the Square
Director: Elba Calado
Executive Producer: Jason Ivaliotis

Event Schedule:

6:00pm Wine & Hors Doeuvres
6:35pm Film Premiere
7:15pm Panel Discussion

Michael Rath, a Trilogy Partner, has co-founded The Haiti Orphan Rescue Program (HORP) to build permanent adequate shelter for Haitian orphaned and abandoned children.

Mike M January 2010

Joined by builders Mike Mahon and Andrea DeLuca of sustainable building company Adaptive Building Solutions in Ann Arbor, Michigan, HORP will raise funds and assist Haitian labor to construct multiple orphanage projects over the coming years. Haiti’s “children without family” receive no aid from their government, and Mike M and his family have years of experience in Haiti helping these most vulnerable Haitians and their caregivers with support and medical aid. The earthquake of January 12, 2010 left more than 500,000 children without family or government support, spurring the two Mikes and Andrea to establish HORP as a non-profit 501(c) charitable organization. The next project commences mid April when members of HORP will travel to Haiti to refurbish a damaged orphanage housing 20 children more than half with disabilities. Visit HORP to learn more about this worthy cause and to contribute through programs like the “Adopt an Orphanage” and “HORP Ambassadors.”