Plan your next home remodeling project with the use of different levels to creatively differentiate your living spaces. Changing levels can better define and utilize your floor layout.

Adding a few steps to half a floor either up or down can enhance your innovative style, no matter if you have a one-story or multi-level home. Different effects can be achieved, depending on the number of steps you add.

Liven up your living area with open, closed or a combination of levels somewhere in between. The change can be dramatic or subtle, depending on the look you are seeking. Build an overlook area from the kitchen, a cozy, intimate dining space, or a stylish transitional zone between levels.

Choose an artistic flare in level remodeling that compliments the natural flow within your home. A loft space can be incorporated with a minimal addition of design-build that can utilize otherwise wasted space and break up high ceilings.
Even just a single step or two can create a soft flowing transition from the living room area to the kitchen or dining hall areas.

Contact Trilogy Partners today for help with all your home remodeling ideas. Email or call us today at 970-453-2230.

Design by bhh Partners

For our many projects, we choose to work with only the best in Colorado architecture, design, and construction. This is why we have teamed up with bhh Partners, an award-winning architecture firm.

Formerly known as Baker + Hogan + Houx, bhh Partners has catered to the Rocky Mountain region since 1976 with residential and commercial design services. The firm is composed of a team of experienced professional architects skilled in creating architectural plans that address specific client needs and maximize natural surroundings at the same time.

The architects for bhh Partners’ Colorado offices are Marc P. Hogan, Michael R. Houx, Jarrett L. Buxkemper, and Tim Gerken. You can get to know more about them on the bHH Partners’ bio page.

Aside from highly customized projects for each client, bhh Partners also delivers excellent customer service and high attention to details. They are passionate about their craft, work well with one another as a team, and have great visions for their designs — and it shows in their work. These reasons are what convinced us that bhh Partners is a great addition to our team here at Trilogy.

Trilogy Partners is proud to be a part of the vibrant Breckenridge community and the people that call this region home. We are also incredibly proud of the work of Michael Rath, one of our managing partners, and the global charity he co-founded called Haiti Orphan Rescue Program. Michael works with an accomplished team in an effort to help revitalize distressed Haitian orphanages through grassroots solutions.

Haiti Orphan Rescue partnered with their sister organization Union of Haitian Orphanages for Action. This collaboration allows Michael and the team at Haiti Orphan Rescue Program to identify distressed orphanages desperately in need of upgrades and modernization. Through grassroots efforts the two organizations learn what the orphanages need before establishing a renovation plan. Orphanages have received a  variety of improvements, including raised garden beds, storage solutions, play structures, upgraded plumbing, roof repairs, and composting toilets.

What makes the work of Haiti Orphan Rescue Program so unique is the local approach. Local laborers are hired for the construction work and a vast majority of materials are purchased locally. This allows the benefit of the work to extend past the orphanage walls. You can learn more about the program from the Haiti Orphan Rescue Program website or Facebook page.

A SIP – Structural Insulated Panel – is a building component sandwich. It’s an energy efficient foam core laminated between two layers of wood sheathing, faced with drywall, fiberboard, metal, and even plastic. Well-designed and manufactured SIPS will make a house more energy-efficient, stronger, tighter, and more comfortable. There are some other appealing virtues to structural insulated panels that will make you want to build with them, including:

Image: Solares Architecture via Houzz

• SIP’s are a green building product. SIP walls demand far less lumber than conventionally framed dwellings. Because the wood panels are made with wood chips, 95% of a tree can be used, as opposed to only 63% if it’s sown into solid lumber.
• SIPs outperform conventional walls in fires. According to data from extensive laboratory fire testing and reports on SIP houses from real-life incidents, they are more resistant to fires.
• SIP walls are highly efficient. Foam provides much greater insulating value per inch than fiberglass batting.
• The foam is continuous throughout the wall, without the pockets and flaws in batt installations between studs.
• Foam won’t allow air infiltration inside the panels; if installed correctly they can be completely sealed.

Since 1998, Trilogy Partners has been building the finest homes in Summit County, contact us about structural insulated panels at 970-453-2230.

We are always searching for unique ways to incorporate green design into our homes, and using reclaimed scaffolding wood for the home’s structure or in its interior design scheme is one way to accomplish this.

Image: Inhabit.com

An excellent example of a home that benefited from the use of reclaimed wood is ‘Casa Box‘, which is a spectacular modern renovation of a caretaker’s home located on a Brazilian island. From the coastline, the home is essentially a concrete cube, but its contemporary design utilizes reclaimed wood from the original structure for the doors, windows, and stairway. Architect Alan Chu of Silveira e Cristiano Arns Kato Architectos designed the home with the intention of using the recycled leftover wood from the original structure to create contrast and layers of depth to the unique and simple structure. The use of the recycled wood adds tremendous character to this already stunning home, reminding it of where it once came from.

To learn more about ways that Trilogy Partners has incorporated repurposed materials into our projects, please be sure to view our sustainable design portfolio.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on this design with BHH Partners, in Breckenridge. First, we fleshed out the basic floorplan and elevations. I then created a model and applied the exterior materials for the client’s approval.

East Elevation

To help the client better understand the orientation of the house, I geolocated it using Google Earth.

East Elevation with Ten Mile Range behind

After completing the exterior, I began to work on the interior, laying out all the walls…

West Elevation Partial Build

As I model I am also designing the post and beam structure. At the end of the day I sent this model to the client for his approval. The software we use allows the client to view and manipulate the model from an infinite number of orientations. He sees exactly what the design team sees. Because the timber frame is structural but also an esthetic, it is important that the client participates in its design.

Timber Frame Structure in Design

Timber Frame Structure In Design

If you want your bathroom to provide more than just a space to clean up, consider including some of these dream bathroom ideas to your home remodeling plans. They are all great ways to make your ensuite master bath feel more like a spa retreat-and we could all use a little relaxation in our day-to-day routine.

Image: Divine Kitchens via Houzz.com

• Spa-Like Shower – Build a shower area that provides plenty of space. You can even install a comfortable bench. Make sure you have plenty of shelves or niches to hold your bathing products.

• Universal Design – Make sure the shower is accessible as you get older and your mobility decreases. These days universal design features like grab bars and curb-less shower stalls can be included in stylish and subtle ways that you’d never notice-until you need them.

Image: Moroso Construction via Houzz.com

• Warming Features – It gets chilly in the Colorado mountains, so a small feature like warming bars for your towels will feel like quite a luxury when you emerge from the shower on a cold morning. For even more comfort, consider radiant floor heating.

• Hidden Convenience – Install drawers that provide storage for your hair dryer, straighter and other bathroom accessories. You can even include outlets into the drawers.

Image: Phil Kean Designs via Houzz.com

• Morning Kitchen – A shower and a coffee are necessary morning rituals. So why not add a coffee maker or espresso machine to your ensuite bath and closet area?

Which of these features would you love to have in your Colorado luxury home? Contact us today to discuss our luxury home remodeling services.

The New American Home for 2013 embraces a new face in energy efficiency trends. The green home features methods that can be adapted into any home or business budget, such as:

• Green Building Materials –The demand for sustainable, environmentally-friendly buildings are on the rise. The home includes green floor coverings, certified lumber, recycled content concrete, efficient plumbing and lighting fixtures.
• Energy Star Products – A trustworthy indicator for consumers in need of environmentally-friendly and efficient electronics, appliances and heating/cooling systems that are EPA certified.
• Solar Energy – Solar systems for heating water or space continue to become more technologically advanced.
• Wind Energy – Energy from the wind is converted into a useful form for home and business.  An upsurge has been experienced in the field of wind energy.
• Geothermal Energy –Tapping into constantly replenished thermal energy stored within the earth is growing in popularity with sustainable architectural design.
• Eco-friendly Landscaping – Select drought tolerant or energy enhancing plant material to complement any home or business.

Contact our team at Trilogy Partners today to learn more about new technologies, sustainable building practices, and more.

Image via Trilogy Partners.

When a client hires an architect or a builder, they are not merely obtaining a set of blueprints. They are investing in a process that should result in the home of their dreams. An architect and builder who do not communicate with each other are not serving the client’s needs well. That’s why, here at Trilogy, we have an integrated design-build process. Our qualified team serves the client in both the design and build capacities.

This ‘client service’ approach ensures that the initial concept — the client’s dream — is seen through to fruition in a seamless manner. No confusion, no disagreements, no red tape. Just a home designed and built for the specific needs of your family and your site. Behind every custom home we build is a team that has considered every aspect of design and construction before ground was broken. A team full of ideas and free of ego. After all, your home should be all about you, from start to finish.

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For more information, visit www.works.trilogybuilds.com

The European architectural firm HoG Arkitektur designed a building in Austria that inspires us. The sustainable wine cellar, featured in Inhabitat, has a new wedge-shaped addition that is linked to the original cellar by a glass structure.

Image modified via Inhabitat

The gabled addition meets the roof lines of the original cellar, respecting the original structure but not mimicking it. The interior has an open floor plan with loft space, illuminated by many interesting windows. Stunning views of the countryside can be seen from every room.

Image via Inhabitat.

The new structure was inspired by the local Paarhof style. While we did not design this building, we have great appreciation for the way the architects respected the site, locale, and existing structure.

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For more information on sustainable design, follow Trilogy Partners on Facebook! Also, follow us on Twitter and share your architectural ideas with us!