AwA Dream Homes

DREAM HOMES

by Paige Boucher

Design Build with Artisans

DIVING INTO THE design build process inherently inspires creative collaborations between homeowners and architects. “Together we consider many core artistic principles—for example, light, pattern, color, scale, contrast and movement. Sometimes in this creation, we are faced with an architectural element whose expression warrants it to be elevated well beyond its functional objectives,” says Jeff Gerber, GB Design Build’s principal of architecture. “These instances present us with the opportunity to collaborate with talented artists, creating something that is unique for our client’s home.” Two such inspired collaborations connected GB with a lighting artist and a sculptor.

CARL PEARSON AND IRONGLASS LIGHTING

As the design build process began for a family building on a mountain lot near Steamboat Springs, they were inspired by a chandelier with a fly-fishing theme. They wanted to find something similar for their dining room. Jeff introduced the owners to Carl Pearson of IronGlass Lighting and immediately recognized they could work well together. Jeff had collaborated with Carl previously, creating a custom light for a home where he couldn’t find a stock fixture that would work in the space.

The mountain lot owners visited Carl’s shop outside of Bozeman, Montana to see elements of the design and choose colors. The finished design emulates a stream floating above the dining room table. Guests at the table have the vantage point from the bottom of the stream and look up through the hand-blown glass river rocks and schools of fish, through hammered stainless ripples in the stream, and finally more hand-blown pools on the surface. Monopoint lights from the ceiling reflect on the elements like the sun would.

Carl followed in his father’s footsteps, working as an electrician for 20 years. Dismayed at how cheaply made he found expensive stock lighting, Carl indulged his artistic side and began to create custom lighting as a side job. His part-time hobby soon became a full-time business with a team of six working on 30 to 40 projects at a time. The UL-certified shop now delivers custom pieces from Montana to locations in Colorado, Texas, and New York. “This is the most unique piece we’ve ever done,” says Carl of the streambed chandelier.

DAVID MARSHALL, METAL SCULPTOR

GB Design Build completed a home on the edge of old town Steamboat Springs a few years ago. During the design phase, the owners mentioned they would like an element in which water could interplay, providing additional visual interest as well as pleasing sound. While the form, location, and mechanics were designed and installed, the custom pieces that introduce water and create the dynamic waterfall were never fully developed. Fast forward a few years. The family was delighted to be living in their home, with the interior impeccably decorated and the grounds beautifully landscaped. But the edge between the indoor space and the outdoor space was missing that key element.

Jeff Gerber pointed the homeowners toward metal sculptor David Marshall. David’s simultaneously smooth and rough textured cast aluminum sculptures seemed a perfect fit. His works, both large and small, include pieces that invite light in and feature unique voids well suited to interact dynamically with water. David, who lives part-time in Routt County, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He now resides in southern Spain, working out of a rustic studio where he molds organic shapes out of ceramic or polystyrene.

The molds are then shipped around the world for casting closer to their permanent home.

After an inspired meeting with David at the home, it was decided that one sculptural piece, located in the center of the main outdoor living courtyard, would introduce water into the system as a bubbler. The second piece was to be designed to receive overflow water from the waterway fed by the bubbler. This piece was to be seen from the dining table and would have many voids and platforms through which the water would cascade, creating a gentle and pleasing sound.

David, his wife Dagmar, Jeff, the owners, and the GB project manager for the home, were all on hand to uncrate the cast sculpture, which had recently arrived from the foundry. It was the first time David had seen the finished elements including the bubbler, an organically shaped circle, and two options for the second part, one more enclosed than the other, so the owners could try both and choose the one that they found more pleasing visually and acoustically. The group determined the perfect position for the circular piece, but they wanted to test the two options for the

second element by running water through them before installation. After water testing, David and the plumbing subcontractor will install the piece and complete the outdoor living space of this spectacular home.

“Adding a work of art to a project, whether sculptural, functional or even structural, elevates the experience of both the design build process and of living in the home, every time,” says Jeff.

ELEVATE THE ARTS: Hire GB Design Build for your next project. gbdesignbuild.com.

Purchase your own custom art. http://www.ironglass.lighting/about https://spacegallery.org/artist/david-marshall/ PB

Page 64: Streambed Light Fixture, by Carl Pearson, courtesy of David Patterson Page 66: Detail of Streambed Light Fixture, courtesy of David Patterson

Page 66: Sculpture by David Marshall, courtesy of Paige Boucher