The 15 Best Housing Markets For The Next Five Years

Business Insider's Mamta Badkar merges data sources--the S&P/Case-Shiller and Fiserv--to assert that Business Insider has "combed through Fiserv's data and picked the best housing markets for the next five years." We're thinking we'll stick around until 2016, just to see if they're right.

Click Here to read more...

AIA Design Competition Results

AIA Denver and CAD-1, Inc. have partnered for the design-build competition for Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity located in Kittredge, Colorado. The project benefits Hazell and her son Titus. "Currently, Hazell and Titus live in a too-small cabin, and she works several jobs to support her son. She says she feels so blessed that she found Habitat for Humanity as she has always longed for a home and stability, especially now that she has her "miracle child.”

A multitude of individuals throughout the design industry teamed up to create innovative, energy conscious homes and the results were very impressive. The winning team consists of Molly Blakley, Assoc. AIA; Alan Ford, AIA; Kathy Ford, AIA; and Matt Weaver, Assoc. AIA. Alan Ford Architects P.C. is the Architect of Record. (Winning home shown above)

Click here to view images from all the entries.

$85,000 is needed for this project to become a reality and donations can be made at  GivingFirst.org

Check donations should be sent to Habitat for Humanity of Colorado (550 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Ste. 150, Lakewood, CO 80226) with AIA Denver in the memo line.

BUILDER'S 10 Favorite Houses of 2011

Builder has listed it's favorite homes for 2011 with categories ranging from Favorite Passive House (shown above), Favorite Traditional House to Favorite Organic House. Check out their article for some truly unique home designs!

Click here to read the full article.

10 Lifestyle Trends to Watch For in 2012

Looking for a niche to fill next year? These trends are likely to influence how consumers live for much longer than the next 12 months.

Living Smaller

While there’s danger in prognosticating which direction the housing market will take next, the fact that, according to the Urban Land Institute, boomers and their children, Generation Y, make up half the country’s population makes it a safe bet that these groups are likely to be strong drivers of where the housing market will need to go—and both those groups are positioned to be looking for something on the small side. Projections from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies indicate that persons living alone will make up the largest share of household growth for the foreseeable future, as boomers lose spouses to either death or divorce and as the rising generation finally moves out on their own. The trend also dovetails nicely with the green movement, given that smaller homes use less material to build and take less energy to condition. And then there’s always pure practicality: Smaller homes can cost less, which means there’s a greater chance the bank will approve that mortgage application.

Click here to read the full article by Builder

Denver ranks 10th in U.S. on housing-market strength

Denver ranks 10th out of the nation’s top 100 cities in the strength of its housing market, according to new data from market-intelligence firm Hanley Wood    LLC.

To read the full article, click here!

Beating the Cost of LEED

 "Affordable LEED Gold housing comes to Dallas, with no corrugated steel or recycled tires involved." We think that this is a great example of how to incorporate LEED design in the residential community. Take a look!

Fish House by Guz Architecture

This is an amazing vacation home in Singapore designed by Guz Architects. Check out the rest of this blog posting to see the remaining photos. ArchitectureBlog.com

Parade of Affordable Homes Announced

A non-profit housing developer is hosting a Parade of Affordable Homes on Oct. 22.

The Community Resources & Housing Development Corp. will showcase eight homes in Arvada, Thornton, Northglenn, Westminster and unincorporated Adams County. All of the homes featured are considered affordable for most working families in the Denver metro area and have been renovated through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The Parade will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and each home will have real estate professionals and non-profit staff members available to answer questions.

A list of homes is available at www.crhdc.org.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/thebalancesheet/2011/10/07/parade-of-affordable-homes-announced/821/

Smoothing Out

Denver, Philly, San Fran See Some Stability

With the exception of Friday’s report on personal incomes and spending, economic data released last week were generally more positive than perhaps anticipated.  Consumer confidence increased slightly in September, first-time jobless claims fell to their lowest levels since early April, and revised final 2nd quarter GDP estimates showed the economy steadily expanding.  Better economic data domestically was not able to offset the negative sentiment created by continued debt concerns in the Eurozone.  


Click Here to read the full article from Housing Intelligence.

Best Cities for Seniors

Forget the Sunbelt: Colder Areas Top New List of Best Cities for Seniors

While sunny locales in the West and South often top retirement destination lists, a new survey of the best places for older residents found that many colder-weather areas actually offer the highest quality of life for seniors.

[In Pictures: Top 10 Cities for Senior Living.]

Using health, economic, and other quality-of-life measures, the survey named the folliwng 10 metro areas:

1. Minneapolis

2. Boston

3. Pittsburgh

4. Cleveland

5. Denver

6. Milwaukee

7. San Francisco

8. Portland, Ore.

9. Kansas City, Mo.

10. Newark, N.J.

Click Here to read the entire article by US News

Welcome and Congratulations!

Godden|Sudik Architects is pleased to announce the addition of Christopher Walla to our team. Chris graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Architecture and is bringing over eight years of experience in custom residential, government, educational, religious and a variety of commercial projects to the firm. His extensive background in sustainability and high performance design will aid Godden|Sudik Architects in continuing to provide our clients with the highly specialized services they have grown accustom to.

Chris is married with a 2 1/2 year old daughter and enjoys golfing, hiking/snowshoeing, camping, skiing and live music.

Godden|Sudik Architects is also very pleased to congratulate Kellie Hart and Andrew Rowan on their nuptials on September 30, 2011. May their life together be one filled with much love and many happy memories through the years!!!

Habitat for Humanity Design Competition

AIA Denver has partnered with CAD-1, Inc., to administer a design-build competition for Habitat for Humanity of Colorado/Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity. The competition is currently underway, and the winning design and team will be unveiled in October 2011 at the AIA Colorado 2011 Practice & Design Conference. The construction of the home located in Kittredge, Colo., will be completed in 2012 by volunteers.

Several goals for this project include demonstrating that sustainable design and building practices are not luxuries, and creating a sustainable benchmark for Habitat for Humanity of Colorado and Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity.

Visit the initiative’s website at www.aiadenverdesignbuild.com for more detailed information and updates. Please contact AIA Denver at 303.446.2266 for information on ways you can get involved.

Webinar: ENERGY STAR Hot Water Systems for High Performance Homes

Please join us for this upcoming webinar:

ENERGY STAR Hot Water Systems for High Performance Homes

Friday, September 30
11:00–12:00 p.m. Eastern
Description: This webinar is presented by research team Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction (BA-PIRC), and will provide information about how to achieve energy savings from solar water heating, electric dedicated heat pump water heating, and gas tankless systems. Participants will learn how each of these systems work, including savings potential of combining solar with a heat pump or gas tankless system. Instructors will describe how to rate different systems, and explain important maintenance considerations. Results from comparisons in the DOE-funded Florida Solar Energy Center hot water laboratory will also be reviewed. Register now.

Healthiest Housing Markets

Healthiest Housing Markets: Mid-2011 Update

Recently we have seen some optimistic postings for the Greater Denver Area that we wanted to share. In Builder Magazine they reported Denver as # 10 on the list for development for the future.

Click here to check out the remainder of the article.

2011 BAR & BALA Awards

Admissions for the HBA BAR Awards are due for entry August 31, 2011 and Godden|Sudik Architects is pleased to be submitting numerous awards in many different categories this year in addition to submitting several homes for the 2011 BALA Awards (due for entry September 1). Many talented individuals throughout the design and building industry contributed to making these projects a success.

 Godden|Sudik ARCHITECTS

NAHB 55+ Market Survey Data Indicate Growing Optimism for Rental Sector

NAHB members in the 55+ housing market are significantly more optimistic about production and demand for multifamily rental units than they are for sales of single-family homes or multifamily condos, according to results of NAHB’s latest 55+ Housing Market Index (55+ HMI) survey. 


All of the components measuring production and demand for 55+ multifamily rental units increased significantly quarter over quarter. In comparison, the 55+ HMIs for single-family units and multifamily condos were largely unchanged with small increases from 12 to 13 and from 7 to 8, respectively.  These are fairly low numbers, as the 55+ HMIs are on a scale of 0 to 100, where a number below 50 indicates that more NAHB members report conditions in the 55+ market as poor than good.

National Association of Home Builders

2011 EcoHome Design Awards

The various styles awarded for the 2011 EcoHome Design Awards are a great example of how you can be "green" no matter which architectural style you desire. Designs range everywhere from contemporary  to traditional to rustic. 

Eco Home Magazine

Verona: Active Adult Living

Godden|Sudik Architects  is pleased to announce that the model homes for Verona Community, located in Highlands Ranch, CO, are now open. Verona features low-maintenance traditional Tuscan style homes for the active adult priced from the high $200s to the mid $400s. Two collections are offered at Verona  and the first to open is the "Villas" which features two walkout units with main floor master suites and one multi-level plan which features an upper level master suite. All units provide outdoor living space which captures the views of the surrounding High Line Canal. The "Manors" features luxury kitchens and upgraded master suites and  is set to begin construction in late 2011.

Please visit www.liveverona.com for more information

Digital Image Catalog

As architects, we spend numerous hours learning about different styles and design concepts. Recognizing and identifying the small details is not the easiest task. At G|S we have found that a digital database of images for our clients to browse through is a priceless resource. We have accumulated many images from our own projects at Godden|Sudik Architects, some of which have been featured in Colorado Homes and Lifestyles Magazine, but realize that clients might desire certain details that we have not digitally cataloged yet. For this reason, we love Luxe Magazines online site that lets browsers filter by style, space, color, interior spaces, exterior spaces and location. There is a plethora of beautifully photographed designs available to aid in the design process and we encourage all to go and take a look and grab a few ideas for their own home.

New Employees at G|S

Godden|Sudik welcomes new hires Rick Sall, Kevin White and Wes Hottman and welcomes back Alex Duran, Don Gibson and Britni Rotunda! We are excited to add some new and familiar faces to our team allowing us to enhance our level of service. A company is only as good as its employees and GSA is always striving to be the best. Kevin and Wes come to as recent graduates and Rick has over 27 years of experience. Kevin is a recent graduate of CU Denver hired for his Revit and graphic design skills. Wes graduated from CU Boulder this past May with a degree in Environmental Design; he will be working with Godden|Sudik on multifamily projects. Rick previously worked at B+Y Architects on single family custom designs.

We are pleased to have a full office again and look forward to the future with our new design team.

Godden Sudik Architects Launches New Website

When re-designing our website we wanted to have it function on multiple levels. Of course, we wanted it to be visually appealing but, more importantly, we wanted it to serve as a tool that our clients and consultants could come to trust as a valuable resource. We quickly realized that in order to do this, we would need two websites. We understand that homeowners want to gaze through images of our previous projects and that a contractor or developer needs more technical data for a project.

This is why we divided our site into two different user groups, "Homeowner" and "Professional". On the "Homeowner" side, which launched July 2011, an overview of our digital portfolio, renderings of various elevation styles, firm information and an explanation of our process is available. The "Professional" side, launching October 2011, will be a resource professional affiliates can access to gain detailed information about our projects. In addition to our new website, we have created a blog which highlights current events  at Godden Sudik, publications on current topics by employees and articles, websites and blogs our staff regards as respectable resources.

Please check out our new website at www.goddensudik.com