Monday, July 20, 2009

Dream City 2020



This past Saturday LGA Studios, in partnership with Facility Lines and Designs and Peak Development Company Inc, participated in the Dream City 2020 competition.

Our entry was a poster for a project in the conceptual phase - Mesa Park. Already developed by the Peak Development Company, these 11 lots will be built with LEED-certified homes in different architectural styles.

There isn't another neighbor like this in Colorado Springs. These homes will be energy-efficient - which in fact will save the homeowner much more money each month than any additional mortgage, spent to put in items like energy-star appliances and solar panels during construction. They will be constructed with better quality materials - both for the environment and for their living conditions. They will be built so that the homeowners can "age-in-place," without remodeling to accommodate their needs as they get older. And they'll show that "green" homes are not limited to a couple of styles. We're excited about this project, so I'm sure you'll hear more about it as we make it a reality.

Dream City 2020 gave LGA Studios and Facility Lines and Designs a chance to formulate our ideas and present them. It's great that there are so many around this community desiring to discuss their visions to make Colorado Springs a better place.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Convervation Hardware



One of LGA's newly finished projects is a interior remodel for Conservation Hardware. They are also our office's neighbor in the 409 Tejon building, and what a fantastic neighbor! Conservation Hardware is a unique non-profit organization with the goal of helping the people of Colorado Springs decrease their carbon footprints. They do this by educating consumers and by selling home products - anything from CFL lightbulbs to radon sensors to composters - at very reasonable wholesale prices.



In keeping with Conservation Hardware's foundations, this project is in the process of being LEED-certified as a commercial interior. This will be the first non-profit LEED-certified retail space in downtown Colorado Springs!

Another neighbor in our very active 409 Tejon building is Facilities Lines and Designs. We hope to partner with this new interior design firm on many projects to come, especially after seeing the results of their work on the Conservation Hardware Project. They did a wonderful job choosing a palette of sustainable materials, from cork and bamboo flooring, to low-VOC paint, to using American Clay to cover many of the walls. One fun item was they collected used bottles from Rico's Coffee down the street and had them made into countertops at Satellite Design.



We had a huge team across the community working on the Conservation Hardware project. What an achievement - 95% of the new and used materials used in this remodel were donated! I especially want to mention Mark Tremmel for his contributions. Take a look at all the other people who helped out with their time and resources:



In the design process our associate Axel Bink modeled the space in Sketch-up so Conservation Hardware could get an idea of what their space might look like! Check out a couple of screen captures from Axel's model:





If you happen to be in downtown Colorado Springs, Conservation Hardware is worth a visit!