FEATURED Projects

 The design of this horse barn was tailored to accommodate 12 horse stalls, featuring spacious alleys running both side to side and front to back. Initially intended for a smaller capacity, the client opted to expand the barn to anticipate their future needs. 

With a blend of contemporary finishes and a charmingly rustic barn aesthetic, each of the 12 horse stalls is equipped with an individual Dutch door leading to the exterior. The front and rear elevations are equipped with a 14-foot high door for convenient trailer or RV parking, alongside 9-foot tall side doors for easy vehicle and equipment access. 

 Considering the challenging mountainous location of the construction site, special attention was given to material delivery when crafting the framing and foundation plans. Employing a post-frame structure minimized the need for extensive concrete and facilitated on-site concrete production. The primary structural components of the barn are crafted using assembled built-up posts and girders, enabling the use of commonly available dimensional wood products for on-site assembly. 

Despite its generous size, the simplified design of the barn streamlines the construction process, making it feasible for a small team to handle the primary elements. Repetitive common bents, as well as wall and roof girts, are strategically integrated to provide the necessary structural support for exterior sheathing and siding. 

 Regrettably, this property suffered a complete loss due to a fire, resulting in the complete demolition of the house down to its foundation. The original structure had a split-level design, with the front entry divided between the lower and upper levels. However, such designs are now considered outdated, with a current emphasis on optimizing available square footage. The use of habitable spaces on floating slabs is no longer recommended, and the shift of the main floor to serve as the upper level deviates from the conventional norms in the Denver market. 

 Initially, the plan was to rebuild the home with its original floorplan and the addition of livable space over the garage. However, this design proved inefficient, necessitating five separate staircases to access different floor levels. After a thorough review of the initial rebuild plan and an assessment of existing conditions, ENGenious proposed a more practical design. This involved utilizing the existing lower level as a crawlspace, allowing the main level to be above grade and creating a continuous upper level throughout the entire home. 

 To improve the home's floorplan, additional square footage was integrated to create more usable space and allow for higher ceilings in the foyer and great room. This architectural approach has become a standard in our market, significantly enhancing the overall value of the home compared to its previous state and in relation to the construction cost/value of rebuilding it as a split level. 

 Facing the total loss of a home is a nightmarish experience, and the instinct is often to rebuild quickly with minimal planning. However, ENGenious took a considerate approach, steering away from a mere recreation of the previous floorplan. By thinking creatively and exploring alternative options, the homeowner will not only have a more functional residence but also one that aligns with contemporary standards, boasting higher value than its previous iteration. 

This home is part of a pre-planned community development, featuring a limited selection of floorplans for the homes within the area. Since the construction of these homes isn't tailored to specific sites, considerations for site-specific views and topography are not included in the original floorplans. However, this particular property boasts an elevated backyard offering sweeping vistas of the Front Range.

Initially, the property had its backyard filled with material, fully enclosing the basement. Yet, by excavating down to the lowest grade, the basement was transformed into a garden-level space, now featuring mountain views through two existing basement windows.

 The pre-existing exterior deck was found to be undersized and unsuitable for seating or enjoying the views of the Front Range, given the challenging Colorado climate. The addition of a new covered deck significantly expanded the usable square footage, providing a sheltered space suitable for both summer and winter use. The elevation of the cover was thoughtfully designed to minimize sun exposure during the scorching summer months and maximize it during the winter, aligning with the adjacent 16' multi-slide door.  This 16' panoramic multi-slide door allows the existing great room to expand in size during ideal weather conditions, contributing to a more versatile and open atmosphere. 

 For the deck framing, I-joist members were utilized, typically intended for dry use only. To protect the structure from the elements and ensure its suitability for use, an EPDM membrane was added over the entire frame. The advantage of employing I-joists lies in their ability to span longer distances with less deflection, ensuring a stable, untwisted, and unwarping surface, consequently resulting in a perfectly level deck. 

 These straightforward modifications to the rear elevation of the property have notably transformed and broadened the potential uses of the space, making it more adaptable for all seasons. Moreover, the excavation of the rear foundation wall has contributed to a more open and airy feel in the basement, granting picturesque views of the outdoors.  

This spacious custom home is located in a well-established golf course community that enforces strict HOA design standards. ENGenious was commissioned to adhere to these guidelines while ensuring that the design remained contemporary and didn't hark back to outdated architectural norms. The property boasts a prime location adjacent to multiple fairways, emphasizing the need for a design that maximized the enjoyment of these views. A significant feature of the design is the large deck and cover with four multi-slide panoramic doors, providing every room with a captivating view.

The residence is characterized by striking elements such as large Alaskan yellow cedar timber trusses with black plating, expansive tray ceilings, black-trimmed windows, stone veneer, and a full-size RV garage, all of which contribute to its Modern Mountain Lodge aesthetic. Balancing traditional and contemporary elements, this property is poised to become one of the most sought-after homes in this exclusive golf course community.

Architectural aspirations can pose significant challenges for engineering, particularly in the case of large custom homes with expansive rooms, high ceilings, and intricate designs. Such projects often incur higher construction costs due to complex framing components, which can be mitigated with some adjustments. ENGenious employs an integrated approach, conducting both the architectural and structural engineering design concurrently through an iterative process. This approach enables cost savings without compromising the original architectural vision.

ENGenious is well-versed in managing projects of various scales, consistently applying the same techniques and processes irrespective of size. A key aspect of our service is value engineering, which, when combined with an iterative architectural design approach, results in an unexpectedly cost-effective and feasible end product. While the value engineering efforts may go unnoticed by a passersby after construction is complete, our clients will undoubtedly appreciate the benefits.

 This new custom home presents a ton of modern flair, nestled in an established downtown Denver community that's undergoing gentrification. ENGenious LLC teamed up with an experienced architect to deliver a modern open floor plan that includes a detached garage, open floor plan to a large backyard and a roof deck for those beautiful mountain views! Oh and the 3D realistic rendering is second to none. 

 This 2-story home will sit on a 4,989 square foot lot, yet boast 3,320 interior square feet along with a 564 square foot roof deck. The lots in this Denver community provide a number of design constraints as it pertains to allowable building footprint and bulk plane requirements. This home maximizes the allowed use of this lot to provide the client with the upmost value.   

 While Architectural designers love the open floor plan concepts, Engineers find them to be a bit more challenging than a typical home. Large floor spans either require deeper truss/joist diaphragms or mid-bearing beams. For this project we utilized a combination of both. By using a flush mount steel beam running front to back, the floor I-joists spans were cut in half along with reducing the diaphragm depth. A flat sloping plated roof truss allowed for floor loading at the roof deck without the added depth. Considering the bulk plane restrictions ever inch of depth counted against the overall ceiling height. By using multiple types of joists we were able to minimize Architectural changes along with keeping construction cost low. 

  Modern elevations and floor plans are all the trend in today's residential homes. With these open floor plans we typically also see flat sloping roofs, glazing walls with little to no return walls, and large spanned floors. All of these great architectural features cause new engineering problems not typically seen in the past.  Maintaining the architectural intent is priority number one. By understanding the capabilities of all the materials available in construction, we are able to provide a design that uses the most cost effective material, not just the typical material used. This reduces construction cost and maintains the original architectural design. 

 An existing undeveloped retail space of approximately 4,200 sft needed to be modified from one single use space to three future tenant spaces with a shared bathroom and access hallway. The existing space was to large to attract potential tenants, therefore ownership decided that smaller tenant spaces would attract a larger range of potential tenants from restaurants to office space and many others.

The new shared hallway and shared bathrooms was designed to be utilized by all three future tenant spaces and sized to accommodate three restaurants if so needed. 

 The owner wanted to explore the idea of having gender shared lavatories, in an effort to minimize waiting time for either gender. By utilizing gender shared bathrooms, the overall required square footage for the bathrooms was reduce by 10%.  

During the design of the space, our Electrical Engineer noted that the existing structure had two switch gears of 400 amps each servicing the space. It was determined that two of the four separated spaces would likely need 400 amps of service, and therefore leaving a shortage for the two remaining spaces. By finding this deficiency during this stage of the modification, future issues with limited power were mitigated and will supply the amount needed for any  potential future tenants.

Even simple retail modification projects can present many hurdles. It's easy to just jump into these projects and hammer them out without any thought as to future needs. By including the owners, real estate professionals, property managers, and Mechanical/Electrical Engineers; we were able to design the modification of the space to accommodate any future desired tenants, and reduce the need for additional construction to the shared space.

 This project includes Passive Haus or green building techniques, all of which are focused on creating a more efficient building, a building that will perform better of it lifetime, and will have a much longer lifespan than typical homes currently being built in the US today.   

You can still obtain large uses in small spaces. This cabin was challenged with wanting all the luxuries in life, but not with a typical footprint we've become accustomed to.  This 2 bedroom 1 bath cabin has the ability to invite guests to stay or just to come gather. 

 Building green in the past meant spend a lot more money upfront. Well, those times are coming to an end as we create and learn better ways of building and new products hit the market. We are able to take these new products and incorporate them into new building assemblies that create higher performance with the smallest if any additional overall cost to construction. 

 We're incredibly excited for the future and what's in store with higher efficiency building and how it not only affects the design and construction process, but how it affects the end user and how it extends the usable life.