Architects pick up global assignments

International developers and property owners interested in different designs are discovering Boulder architectural firms at U.S. conferences and trade shows. While innovative ideas may be the initial draw to local firms, sensitivities to cultural concerns often seal the deal.

“With international work, you must listen very carefully to understand the client,” says Bruce Downing, principal at Downing, Thorpe & James Inc. “Not until you understand can you offer better ways based on your experience and resources.”

Founded in 1988, DTJ is a multi-discipline design and consulting firm specializing in community design for residential, commercial and mixed-use environments. This specialty integrates planning architecture, landscape architecture and civil engineering in DTJ’s design approach.

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The firm has 85 employees including 15 licensed architects. Revenues in 1998 were $6.5 million. Work outside the United States is less than 3 percent of DTJ’s portfolio.

“It must be a project that will truly benefit from our community design approach, and the client must appreciate and value what we offer. We are not trying to compete with local architects or planners,” Downing says.

DTJ’s community visioning approach considers both the historical and environmental context of a project and develops a strategy that includes those elements.

Mexico project

Ixtapan Country Club in Ixtapan de la Sal, Mexico, was DTJ’s first chance to take community design and visioning concepts to another culture.

Located about one and half hours southwest of Mexico City, Ixtapan is a 50-year-old hot springs resort owned by the San Roman family. In 1997, the family decided to expand the facility to nearly 500 acres.

DTJ’s master plan for Ixtapan’s expansion blends estate homes with smaller villas, single-family dwellings, townhomes and condominiums. A village center, generous open space and a water park complete the plan.

“Ixtapan is a leading edge community plan for the area. Most golf course communities near Mexico City offer lots for extremely upscale housing and nothing else. The San Roman family anticipated doing the same thing. Our planning approach convinced them they could offer and broaden their market opportunities,” Downing says.

To sell the idea to the client, DTJ tailored community visioning to the Mexican culture. Although each housing type can be accessed from one loop road, the products are separated from each other. Security features and elements that lend a prestigious feel to the community such as grand entries are also in the plan. And the San Roman family’s affinity for art, sculpture and water are included in the development’s theme.

Montreal project

A contact with a Canadian developer at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference two years ago led to a project on Illes Des Soeurs Island near Montreal. The residential community will contain 50-60 units per acre.

The developer and DTJ designers completed a conceptual plan for the community in three day-long sessions in Canada in early summer. Based on a European city theme, the design includes townhomes, row houses, condominiums, public places, jogging and bike paths and wetland boundaries.

Asked what makes Illes Des Soeurs interesting, Downing says, “This is an opportunity to do a high density project with a strong community theme from scratch. We don’t get an opportunity to combine both high density and new community very often in Colorado.”

Spain project

Working internationally since the mid-1980’s, William Zmistowski Associates specializes in golf course facilities.

“Often developers come to us because the U.S. is the leader on how things are done in the golf industry,” says Jeff Fossum, general manager with William Zmistowski Associates.

Founded in 1978, the firm employs 15 including six licensed architects. WZA is currently working on The Real Club De Golf El Prat in Barcelona, Spain.

The 40,000-square-foot project includes a club house, a swim/tennis center, comfort stations and a golf course maintenance facility.

WZA and a Barcelona architect recently met in Boulder to work out design ideas. The local architect is handling the exterior building design with input from WZA. WZA is being considered for the interior design work.

Animal hospitals

Specializing in the design of animal-care facilities, Gates Hafen Cochrane Architects has gained international exposure by speaking and exhibiting at veterinarian conferences both in the United States and other countries.

“Our bent is not so much the day-to-day aspect of building clinics, but what is happening in the future,” say Larry Gates, partner at Gates Hafen Cochrane Architects. “There is a shift from pet ownership to companion animal stewardship. One of the things that this is spurring is a desire to care for animals in a more comprehensive way. This started in the United States, and it is moving in that direction in other countries.”

Founded in 1979, GHC has nine employees that include three licensed architects. Revenues in 1998 were $1.3 million. International work is less than 10 percent of the firm’s total design business.

In 1995, GHC designed the Ku-ring-gai Veterinary Hospital in New South Wales, Australia. The 10,915-square-foot facility is the largest privately held veterinary hospital in the Southern Hemisphere.

“The hospital was difficult to design in subtle ways. In Australia, the sun shines from the north not the south. And requirements were different in relation to sizes and materials,” Gates says.

Designing the Masuda Dog and Cat Hospital in Asaka, Japan, required cultural understanding. In Japan, space is limited and doctors work differently than in the United States. The chief Japanese veterinarian, for example, generally sees 120 patients per day compared to his American counterpart who may see 15 to 20 animals.

“The design had to be based on speed, conservation of space and minimum steps,” Gates says.

To meet these requirements, GHC designed a 3,300-square-foot round tower. A triangular shape instead of the conventional front/middle/back clinic design was one GHC innovation used in the project.

Both the Australian and Japanese hospitals received Architectural Excellence Awards from Veterinary Economics magazine.

“There is always a kernel of an idea of what we see or do in other countries that we can incorporate in what we do here,” Gates says.