Turkel Design: Winner of International Residential Architecture Awards 2024. Located in one of the country’s most stunning natural settings, this project invites occupants to experience nature through the home. Each interior space frames a unique view of the mountains, forest, and Roaring Fork River. The homeowners selected an architecture firm that specializes in prefabrication, both to control the cost and timeline and to reduce environmental impact on the pristine site. Combining elegant, modern design with the efficiency and precision of off-site fabrication, the result demonstrates that prefab architecture need not compromise on quality.

The carefully proportioned four-bedroom, 4,200-square-foot home creates a seamless flow of movement between indoors and outdoors. A double-height great room not only frames dramatic views of the mountain ranges near and far, but also encourages engagement with the surroundings through retractable lift-and-slide glass walls on either side. Located on the first level, the primary bedroom suite also opens directly out onto the poolside patio, wrapping around it to create a protected lounging experience. 

High-quality, regionally appropriate materials (thermally modified ash siding, Western red cedar fascia) imbue the home with a modern warmth. Prefabrication ensures that each piece of the structure fits together straight and tight. This both expedites the construction and finishing process and limits energy loss. The dedication to material selection extends to interior finishes. The architecture firm’s casework specialists designed and fabricated the white oak cabinetry throughout the home paying particular attention to the large kitchen where the owners enjoy socializing with guests while preparing gourmet meals.

To achieve the fully custom design, the firm began with a visit to the property to understand its topography, views, and solar orientation. Then, they engaged the homeowners in thorough surveys to develop a complete understanding of the clients’ motivations and preferences in order to create a program for the home that would help achieve these goals. Next, they created a 3D digital model of both the site and home, allowing the owners to virtually explore how the various design iterations and select materials, finishes, and fixtures would feel on their land.

Once the major design decisions and specification selections were made, the architects developed a 3D Building Information Model (BIM), essentially building every detail of the structure virtually. Because the BIM contained all the necessary data about the home, it ensured the accuracy of the manufactured building components, which were then shipped to the building site.

With labor at a premium in Aspen, off-site fabrication became a key advantage. The precision of the building component package allowed the locally hired crew to work rapidly and through the winter—assembling the home more quickly than traditional construction would allow.

The completed home fulfills its owners’ goal of experiencing nature through architecture. Each morning, when they awaken and draw the automated window shades, they are greeted with a view that only Aspen can provide: the mist-shrouded Colorado Rockies, a stand of proud fir trees, even the occasional moose or elk passing through the nearby stream. 

By capturing the epic quality of the site—a location that looks much the same as it did thousands of years ago—the home inspires its occupants to feel as though they are part of a continuous stream of space, time, air, and water.

It is a vantage point from which to appreciate one’s place in the world – and it’s home.

Project Details:-
Firm
Turkel Design

Architect
Rob Watson

Project Name
Aspen Valley Home

Project Category
Housing Single Family

Team
Joel Turkel, Jake Wright, Ron Millett, Jeff Farrell, Kerry Moser, Jamie Fronske, Dabota Wilcox

Project Location
Aspen, CO

Country
United States

Photography ©Credit
Draper White