Associate Professor Erik "Rick" Sommerfeld

Colorado Building Workshop

Campus Box 126
POB 173364
Denver, CO 80217
United States

Aims and expectations

Since 1991, the Department of Architecture’s Design Build Program has served the broader community by partnering with non-profit organizations on a variety of innovative projects. The program centers on the practical application of architectural theory and promotes a blend of hands-on skills, creative design, and cutting edge materials to construct buildings for communities in need. Collaboration is the core principle of the design-build program. We are thankful to all the businesses and individuals who support this work and recognize its importance in the local community.

Short CV

ColoradoBuildingWorkshop, the design-build program at the University of Colorado Denver, takes Masters of Architecture students out of the classroom and into the real world, tasking them to design and build a project for a “community in need.” Since 2009, the program has built twelve community projects, including 21 micro-cabins for the Colorado Outward Bounds School, and in collaboration with DesignBuildBLUFF at the University of Utah, five charitable homes and two cabins in Southern Utah.

ColoradoBuildingWorkshop’s pedagogical vision for design-build is heavily focused on integrated project delivery. This requires students to work closely with clients, engineers, consultants, and community partners at the earliest stages of design, testing their ideas against contextual and programmatic constraints. We believe this enhances the practical application of architectural theory and promotes a blend of hands-on skills, authentic learning, and material exploration.

Since the program works with not-for-profits, towns, governmental agencies, and communities in need, we are familiar with tight budgets, short timelines, and challenging site constraints. We embrace these obstacles as opportunities for creating innovative design solutions. The work has been recognized with over 40 design awards, been featured in over 17 books, and exhibited in Museums in Paris, Vienna, Vancouver, and the US. Learn more about what we do by visiting our website. http://coloradobuildingworkshop.cudenvercap.org/

Projects

Building in the Landscape

Holt Watters Field Camp, Antarctica

Livingston Island
Antarctica

by: University of Colorado Denver
Project Status: Completed / Usage Phase
Year of Completion: 2024
Scale of project: M - Medium
more information

Auraria Bike Pavilions

Project Status: Completed / Usage Phase
Year of Completion: 2020
Scale of project: M - Medium
more information

Longs Peak Privies

Function Other Function
Project Status: Completed / Usage Phase
Year of Completion: 2018
Scale of project: S - Small
more information

Cottonwood Cabins

Function Hospitality Housing
Project Status: Completed / Usage Phase
Year of Completion: 2019
Scale of project: M - Medium
more information

Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art

Boulder,
United States

Project Status: Completed / Usage Phase
Year of Completion: 2009
Scale of project: S - Small
more information

Colorado Outward Bound School Micro-Cabins

Leadville,
United States

Function Housing
Project Status: Completed / Usage Phase
Year of Completion: 2015
Scale of project: S - Small
more information

Facts

United States of America
Role in DesignBuild Network