Alumni

ENVD celebrates alumni during CU Homecoming 2024

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 21:30:21 +0000

ENVD celebrates alumni during CU Homecoming 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/23/2024 - 15:30

Sierra Brown

“I hate to admit this, but I used to ride my mountain bike up and down the stairs to get to the third-floor studio,” Mark Meiser, 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, said. “I don't think it'd be tolerated today.”

Things around the University of Colorado Boulder’s Program in Environmental Design might have looked different when Mark Meiser attended the program in the late ’80s. Even for Kate Sector, who graduated in 2019, certain aspects of the building have noticeably changed since her time as a student. “I was excited to see all the renovations that happened. Oh, did you see this room?” she shared, motioning to the recently redesigned Materials and Resource Library.

Meiser and Sector returned to campus last week to be honored as recipients of the 2024 Environmental Design Alumni Awards. The awards aim to celebrate individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the fields of design and architecture. Faculty, staff and students, as well as alumni and family and friends of the recipients gathered to celebrate the winners’ accomplishments during the annual ceremony.

To welcome guests as they arrived for the ceremony, an opening reception was held in the ENVD Gallery for the Spirit of ENVD: Five Decades of Community and Innovation exhibition. Curated by Teaching Professor Jade Polizzi, the exhibit features a colorful collection of stories, photographs, news articles and memories from the past 50 years of ENVD. According to Polizzi, the exhibit focuses on the people who have been a part of “this little program that could” and celebrates their unique experiences from five decades of ENVD.

Meiser and Sector were especially celebrated for their contributions as members of the Design Buff Family. Sector was presented with the Young Designer Award by Betsy Johnson, one of Sector’s former ENVD instructors. Johnson noted Sector’s extensive involvement in extracurriculars during her time in the program. "I'm still too overly involved in orgs, even outside of school,” Sector acknowledged in her presentation at the event. She credited ENVD with giving her the opportunity to become so involved both inside and outside of the classroom, something she says has opened a lot of doors for her post-graduation.

During his presentation, Meiser dedicated his Distinguished Alumni Award to his mother, Dr. Mary Meiser, for her determination to obtain her PhD from Harvard while raising him. He also commended ENVD for the program’s multidisciplinary approach to projects and learning. “The ENVD studio experience put interdisciplinary people together,” he explained. “There was a lot of collaboration, and I think that was really applicable for me and influenced how I ultimately form and operate my companies.”

Over the years, Rothchilds Downes, the real estate development company he founded, has hired over 20 ENVD graduates. “The talent has gotten better and better,” he noted. “They come in with an arsenal of skills and we can teach them more skills. It’s very rewarding.”

Both Meiser and Sector shared how honored they are to receive an award from a program that they both have strong connections to.

“I loved my time here," Sector said. “I tried to have the most positive impact I could on the school when I was here.” Her advice to current ENVD students is to encourage them to find a passion and be intentional with it. "Use this passion as a guide to help build leadership skills and get to know your community outside of the studio.”

“You are dependent on others to get your job done,” Meiser shared. “So, give it your best, provide that leadership, that vision, that support. Those are the things that are really important in the real world to completing projects. And the fun part will always be the design, right?”

Mark Meiser (ENVD'89) and Kate Sector (ENVD'19) returned to campus last week to be honored as recipients of the 2024 Environmental Design Alumni Awards.

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ENVD announces 2024 alumni award recipients

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 22:24:19 +0000

ENVD announces 2024 alumni award recipients Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/27/2024 - 16:24

The University of Colorado Boulder Program in Environmental Design has announced the recipient of the 2024 Environmental Design Alumni Awards. This year’s honoree for the Distinguished Alumni Award is Mark Meiser and the Young Designer Award recipient is Kate Sector.

The Environmental Design Alumni Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and architectural professions.

Celebrate the 2024 Alumni Award winners on Thursday, Sept. 19, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Environmental Design Building. To kick off the celebration, an opening reception will be held for the Spirit of ENVD: Five Decades of Community and Innovation exhibition, curated by Teaching Professor Jade Polizzi.

Schedule of events:
4:30 to 5:30 p.m. | ENVD Gallery reception with light appetizers
5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | Presentation of ENVD Alumni Awards

Distinguished Alumni Awardee:

Mark Meiser, CRX, CDP, founder, president and CEO of Rothschild Downes, LLC in 1994 and MEIZ Development Company, LLC in 2004.

Meiser, winner of the 2024 ENVD Distinguished Alumni Award, has over 30 years of experience in the mixed-use real estate development industry, in Englewood, Colorado. He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado Boulder. Providing national Third Party professional Owner’s Representation and Project Management Services under the Rothschild Downes banner, his commercial achievements include over $10 billion in oversight of design and construction execution that entails more than 15 million square feet of new retail, entertainment and hospitality encompassing 5,500 stores and restaurants opening for business. He has orchestrated retail tenant activity for over 25 new and renovated shopping center grand openings, which have included some of the nation’s highest-profile and most successful mixed-use retail projects. Mark is the co-inventor of TCTrac®, one of the first leading project management and tenant coordination tracking software in the industry. The software provides real-time mobile tenant tracking for day-to-day workflow and reporting systems for the retail industry.

His passion is design and architecture. From historical renovations to mid-century modern, his firm has specialized in cutting-edge sustainability and biophilic design practices on over $20 million design-build residential real estate developments. Projects range from urban multi-family to luxury mountain homes on private ridgelines to the revitalization of Denver Urban Landmark circa 1894 Ross-Lewin Double Residence. His recent development Two Dancing Trees in Breckenridge, Colorado, featured two custom single-family mountain retreats and received the 2023 Platinum Award in Best in American Living (BALA). 

In collaboration with extraordinary clients and colleagues, the Rothschild Downes Team has received over 20 awards in Development Excellence and Design achievements. A few to name include the Innovating Commerce Serving Communities (ICSC) North American Design and Development Award for multiple projects, such as Westfield’s Century City in Los Angeles, The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk in New Orleans and a Finalist for Mack Weldon retail store of the year at Hudson Yards in New York. Additional achievements include the LEED Neighborhood Development Gold Certification for Hudson Yards in New York, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Award for Excellence for multiple projects including Fifth + Broadway in Nashville, Water Street Tampa in Tampa and Park Meadows in Littleton, Colorado, and most recently the ULI Award for Excellence in Development for Nashville Yards in Nashville.

Meiser is a father to three remarkable children, Maxwell, Karis and Beckett. He spends most of his time traveling the Great American West in a Sprinter van with his Mountain Cur and bestie Taos. Chasing snow on his snowboards in the winter and crushing single-track trails in the summer. 

Young Designer Awardee:

Kate Sector, the Environmental Design 2024 Young Designer Award recipient, graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she also earned a certificate in renewable energy and sustainability. During her time at ENVD, she pursued her passion for sustainable architecture, taking on leadership roles within the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and receiving several awards, including the AIAS CRIT Scholar Fellowship for her senior research project in biomimicry.

After graduation, she joined Lake|Flato Architects in San Antonio, where she now serves as the design performance manager. In this role, she guides firm-wide design performance efforts, including performance goal setting, building simulations and sustainable certification management. Sector also researches emerging building performance topics such as embodied carbon and climate resiliency, presenting her findings at national and local conferences like AIA National, Greenbuild and the TxA Conference. Additionally, she led the certification of Lake|Flato’s office to WELL Platinum, the first of its kind in San Antonio.

In her Texas community, she has chaired the local AIA San Antonio Committee on the Environment (COTE) and actively engaged with UTSA’s School of Architecture and Planning as a guest studio critic, presenter and organizer of the second-year student COTE Top 10 competition. She has been recognized with two emerging professional awards–the 2023 San Antonio Rising Star and the 2024 Texas Society of Architects (TxA) Associate of the Year. Sector now serves as a committee member of the TxA Committee on the Environment (COTE) and aims to continue empowering designers and fostering a regenerative future through her commitment to sustainable architecture.

"Reflecting on my time at ENVD, the most memorable takeaway is the close-knit community of students and teachers, which fostered lifelong friendships. My involvement in AIAS was transformative, enhancing my leadership skills and providing opportunities to meet local architects and attend the AIA Forum in Boston, Seattle and Austin. Participating in the restoration of the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse ignited my interest in historic preservation and led to meeting Maruf Miramatov, artisan and architectural historian from Dushanbe,Tajikistan, as well as collaborating with Nate Jones and Shawhin Roudbari on the book An Architecture of Dialogue: Learning from the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.

ENVD’s unique multidisciplinary approach, encompassing architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning, has been crucial in my career development. This approach helped me think holistically about design, from the big picture to the smallest detail. Additionally, ENVD introduced me to the work of Lake|Flato Architects, leading to my first internship and a five-year tenure with them. Overall, my time at ENVD was marked by significant personal and professional growth, preparing me for a successful career in sustainable architecture."

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ENVD hosts lunch with class of 1978 alumni

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 19:18:19 +0000

ENVD hosts lunch with class of 1978 alumni Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 11/02/2023 - 13:18

Kitty deKieffer, the wife of alumnus Robert C. deKieffer, assisted Environmental Design in organizing an endowment lunch event with alumni from deKieffer’s 1978 graduating class. The alumni group and their families were provided with a tour of the ENVD building, getting an exclusive look at the newly redesigned studio and materials library spaces. They also learned about the Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR) and heard from Tamara Islas Morales, Environmental Design Diverse Scholars (EDDS) board president.

In 2015, deKieffer established the Robert C. deKieffer Endowed Program Support Fund in memory of her late husband. The fund provides general support and flexible resources for advancing strategic initiatives, strengthening core offerings, and addressing ENVD’s greatest needs.

Give Now

Kitty deKieffer, the wife of alumnus Robert C. deKieffer, assisted Environmental Design in organizing an endowment lunch event with alumni from deKieffer’s 1978 graduating class.

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ENVD announces 2023 alumni award recipients

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 06:00:00 +0000

ENVD announces 2023 alumni award recipients Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/06/2023 - 00:00

The University of Colorado Boulder Program in Environmental Design has announced the recipients of the 2023 Environmental Design Alumni Awards. This year’s honoree for the Distinguished Alumni Award is Nancy Blackwood and the Young Designer Award recipient is Thomas Hoffmann.

The Environmental Design Alumni Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and architectural professions.

Celebrate the 2023 Alumni Award winners on Wednesday, Nov. 1, from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Environmental Design Building.

Schedule of events:
5-5:30 p.m. – Pre-ceremony hors d'oeuvres reception
5:30-6:30 p.m. – Presentation of awards

RSVP

Distinguished Alumni Awardee:

Nancy Blackwood, winner of the 2023 ENVD Distinguished Alumni Award, came to Boulder from suburban Detroit in 1970 to attend what was the new Environmental Design Program at CU. She graduated from ENVD in 1974, the first graduating class, and has lived and worked in Boulder for the past 49 years, including 15 years at DTJ Design (Downing-Leach and Associates), 15 years with OZ Architecture, and a cumulative 19 years as a private Urban Planning Consultant.

Her work over the years has encompassed both public and private urban mixed-use developments, land use planning for large-scale residential/commercial developments, urban planning, design guidelines, downtown redevelopment plans, corridor master planning and streetscape design concepts for projects in communities across the country. A notable project was the Master Planning and Design Guidelines for a new 5,000 acre sustainable/off-the-grid city outside Nairobi, Kenya. She has also served on urban design review teams in multiple Colorado municipalities.

Nancy has been a long-standing member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and has served the Boulder community extensively. She has been the president of the University Hill Neighborhood Association Executive Committee for the past eight years and served on the Historic Boulder Inc. Board of Directors for 17 years.

Highlights of Nancy’s time at ENVD in the early 1970’s include: Buckminster Fuller’s visit to the campus and the opportunity to build a geodesic dome in the Norlan Quad; the wide range of projects the classes tackled (from designing a play toy to an entire city); staying up night after night upstairs on the 3rd floor to finish a project; making long-lasting friendships and playing flag football on the “green” to the west of the building (now filled in with a building). She was pretty good for a girl.

Young Designer Awardee:

Thomas Hoffmann, the Environmental Design 2023 Young Designer Award recipient, graduated with his Bachelor Degree in ENVD in 2017. During his time at ENVD he focused on design studies which offered an interdisciplinary approach to design. Currently, Thomas is a young entrepreneur and instructor in the ENVD program who is constantly building upon his education. From his early days at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ, Thomas was captivated by design's multifaceted nature. Informed by ENVD courses in communication, history, and policy, he recognized that design wasn't solely about aesthetics but also its impact on cultures, communities, and individual lives.

Thomas established Campworks in 2019 where he created the NS-1 adventure trailer. The NS-1 is a micro-architectural product that interacts with landscapes while incorporating technical innovation, sustainable design, and environmental ethos. Building Campworks and the NS-1 represents Thomas's life's work, and he is grateful to only be 29 and on this journey. Thomas's ambitions transcend product design, as he aims to create a world where humans live in harmony with nature, and sustainability isn’t an afterthought but ingrained into our lifestyles.

The University of Colorado Boulder Program in Environmental Design has announced the recipient of the 2023 Environmental Design Alumni Awards. This year’s honoree for the Distinguished Alumni Award is Nancy Blackwood and the Young Designer Award recipient is Thomas Hoffmann.

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Boulder Heritage Roundtable celebrates ENVD authors

Anonymous — Tue, 09 May 2023 16:24:13 +0000

Boulder Heritage Roundtable celebrates ENVD authors Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/09/2023 - 10:24

This month, Environmental Design alumna Kate Sector and co-writers Nathan Jones and Shawhin Roudbari will be recognized by The Boulder Heritage Roundtable for their book “An Architecture of Dialogue: Learning from the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.” Sector graduated from ENVD in 2019 and works at Lake|Flato Architects as a Design Performance Manager.

The Boulder Heritage Roundtable is a small organization comprised of Boulder County Historical Societies, museums and libraries, as well as City and county departments that focus on local history preservation. In celebration of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month, the organization is recognizing authors who have contributed to Boulder County’s history.

The recognition ceremony will take place on May 15 at the Community House in Boulder.

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ENVD Honors Jordan Lockner with 2022 Young Designer Award

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 20:50:04 +0000

ENVD Honors Jordan Lockner with 2022 Young Designer Award Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/06/2022 - 13:50

The Program in Environmental Design (ENVD) is proud to celebrate its design community by recognizing individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and architectural professions and their communities.

This fall, ENVD honored Jordan Locker, AIA, with the 2022 Young Designer Award. Lockner graduated from The University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor’s in Environmental Design, emphasizing in architecture. He is now the principal architect and owner at Collab Architecture in Windsor, Colorado. During this year's CU Alumni Week, ENVD hosted various events to recognize Lockner’s professional career and personal achievements.

Recognition events kicked off on Tuesday, Oct. 25, as Julia Rodriguez, American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) President, led a tour with Lockner through the Environmental Design building. Following the tour, an award presentation took place during the ENVD Colloquium Lecture Series, where over 100 students, faculty and staff attended, both virtually and in person.

ENVD Director Stacey Schulte opened the recognition event and introduced Lockner, followed by Assistant Director of Undergraduate Education and Teaching Assistant Professor Neal Evers, who presented the Young Designer Award. After receiving the award, Lockner spoke to the audience about his time as an ENVD student, his early design career, and the experience of starting his own architectural firm in northern Colorado. He emphasized Collab Architecture’s commitment to making contributions to their local community as a top priority of his firm. Following the commemoration event, a group of ENVD faculty, staff and students attended a celebratory dinner at Ado’s Kitchen on University Hill with Lockner.

The Young Designer Award recognition events continued on Wednesday, Oct. 26, with an alumni open house and breakfast in the ENVD Lobby. Students, faculty and staff had the opportunity to meet and interact with the new award recipient. Following breakfast, Lockner participated in instructing students for studio desk crits in ENVD Instructor Jeff Shi’s intermediate architecture studio.

As part of the young designer’s recognition and benefits, Lockner has been invited to be the commencement speaker for the ENVD Class of 2023 recognition ceremony. In March, students can also interact with Lockner in preparation for the Career and Internship Fair.

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ENVD Announces 2022 ENVD Alumni Award Recipients

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 22:13:12 +0000

ENVD Announces 2022 ENVD Alumni Award Recipients Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/18/2022 - 16:13

The University of Colorado Boulder Program in Environmental Design has announced the recipient of the 2022 Environmental Design Alumni Awards. This year’s honoree for the Young Designer Award is Jordan Lockner.

The Environmental Design Alumni Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and architectural professions.

Join us in presenting the Young Designer Award during the Colloquium Lecture Series on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 3:30 p.m. in GOLD A2B70 in the Gold Biosciences Building. On Wednesday, Oct. 26, please join us from 8-9 a.m. for an alumni open house to meet with Jordan, reconnect with classmates and engage with current students. Walk through the ENVD Gallery to view exhibited student work. Light breakfast snacks will be provided.

Young Designer Awardee:

"It is hard to recall my time in the Environmental Design program without reliving the countless hours and memories spent in the studio. The atmosphere of so many dedicated, passionate individuals working so hard, yet still enjoying the process was, and always will be, unforgettable. It became a second home. So many nights were spent taking shifts sleeping at the computers, bandaging cuts from X-acto knives suffered while model making and exploring new and different mediums.  All while unknowingly building lifelong friendships that would outlast the years spent at ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ. That teamwork and collaboration has really driven my outlook and passion as I continue to pursue architecture in a professional environment in my practice. One memory that stands out relates to my final project for my green technology class. In it, I was able to combine my passion for architecture and design with my passion for hockey.

From an early age, I spent a majority of my free time at the ice rink playing hockey and was able to acquire quite a collection of wood hockey sticks and other hockey materials. This collection continued to grow as I played on the CU hockey team, and my green technology class provided an opportunity to reuse it creatively for my final project. With the encouragement of my professor, I pushed the limits of a typical desk design and added my own story and twist. The story and desk were eventually published in the national USA Hockey magazine and is still a family favorite that is used to this day."

Jordan Lockner, AIA, graduated from the University of Colorado Program in Environmental Design in 2013. He is currently the Principal Architect at his firm, Collab Architecture based in Northern Colorado. He has experience in a variety of project types, including municipal, education, hospitality, healthcare, and residential architecture. Jordan has always enjoyed finding creative solutions to difficult and complex problems. He approaches architecture in a very similar manner, working to make every project both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Jordan believes that the root of all good architecture must support the community that it exists within. He has been heavily involved in many community outreach events, including sitting on the AIA Colorado Board of Directors as the Associate Director in 2018, and mentoring young professionals through programs such as ACE Mentorship. His passion for architecture directly stems from his personal experiences, and his understanding that every project should have a positive and lasting impact on a community.

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Congratulations to the 2021 ENVD Alumni Award recipients

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 19:30:20 +0000

Congratulations to the 2021 ENVD Alumni Award recipients Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/19/2021 - 13:30

The University of Colorado Boulder Program in Environmental Design has announced the recipients of the 2021 Environmental Design Alumni Awards. This year’s honoree for the Distinguished Alumni Award is Adam Harding and The Young Designer Award has been awarded to Ann Dang.

The Environmental Design Alumni Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and architectural professions.

Join us in presenting the Alumni Awards during the Colloquium Lecture Series on Nov. 2 from 4 to 7 p.m. in ENVD 134 at the Environmental Design Building. The presentation will also be available via Zoom. On Wednesday, Nov. 3, please join us for an alumni open house to meet with the 2021 Alumni Award recipients, reconnect with classmates and engage with current students. Walk through the ENVD Gallery to view exhibited student work. Light breakfast snacks will be provided.

Distinguished Alum Awardee:

"My memorable takeaway will always be the late nights in the studio, working on projects, listening to music, hanging out with friends until we got the job done. Also, the pain of X-Acto blades. Never forget."

Adam Harding, AIA, LEED AP is a distinguished architect with a reputation for design excellence. With 17 years of experience, his practice has served his clients, the community, and the profession of architecture. His work has transcended architecture in the residential, commercial, municipal, and hospitality market sectors in Colorado and across the country.

Adam joined Roth Sheppard Architects in 2004 after graduating from the University of Colorado, Boulder with a Bachelor of Environmental Design. He became a licensed architect in 2011 and a second-generation firm owner in 2016. As a Partner and the design visionary of his firm, he has redefined the culture to foster individual growth and professional development.

He is actively involved with AIA Colorado, sitting on the Board of Directors for the past four years and chairing committees since 2012. As AIA Colorado’s 2020 President, he worked to lead his peers through a cultural transformation of the organization, clearly defining its mission, vision, and values.

His work has been honored with numerous design awards and has garnered local, national, and international press coverage. Personally, Adam has received several honor awards for his leadership and community involvement including recognition by AIA National as a 2021 Young Architect of the Year.

Young Designer Awardee:

"The most memorable takeaway during my time at Environmental Design was the relationships I had with the ENVD staff, faculty and students. I am the first one to go to college in my family, and I did not know what to expect when I first started, but the ENVD community welcomed me with open arms and became my extended family even after graduation.

I made long-lasting friendships and mentors who played an important role in shaping me into a better architectural designer. A lot of my research and internship opportunities stemmed from the ENVD staff and faculty's support. There are not enough words to express how grateful I am to ENVD for becoming a keystone of my architectural career."

Ann Dang received her Environmental Design degree in 2019. During her time at ENVD, she was involved in the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), Student American Society of Landscape Architects (SASLA), Designers without Boundaries (DWB) and the Peer Mentorship program. Additionally, she worked with the Spatial Justice Design Collective (SJDC) to produce exhibits and creative works tackling race and gender inequities in architecture.

After graduation, Ann worked full time at LOA Architecture and was more involved in SJDC where she became aware of the lack of diversity in architecture. The scarcity of minorities in architecture affirmed her ambition to start her own architecture firm in the future and become an advocate for social equity within the design industry.

Currently, Ann is on a full-ride Sam Fox Ambassadors fellowship to pursue her master’s degree in architecture at Washington University in St Louis. At the same time, she is working part-time at Arcturis, a multi-disciplinary design firm that is certified as a Women's Business Enterprise. Outside of work and school, she was a part of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (J.E.D.I) committee for AIA St Louis, and a member of the Academic Organizing team in the Design As Protest (DAP) Organization. The J.E.D.I committee provides programming, training, volunteer, and community engagement opportunities to increase diversity and equity within the architecture field. DAP is a collective of designers mobilizing strategy to dismantle the privilege and power structures that use architecture and design as tools of oppression.

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Environmental Design 2021 Alumni Award Nominations

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 18:56:16 +0000

Environmental Design 2021 Alumni Award Nominations Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/08/2021 - 12:56

We are excited to invite you once again to celebrate the achievements of the Environmental Design community by nominating classmates, colleagues, former students, and/or other exceptional alumni for a 2021 ENVD Alumni Award.

The annual ENVD Alumni Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and planning professions. The Program will consider nominations in the following categories:

Distinguished Alumni Award – Honors alumni who have demonstrated leadership, service, and professional merit in the design and planning professions.

Young Designer Award – Honors early-career alumni (in the profession under 10 years) who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and planning professions. Nominations are internal, submitted by ENVD faculty and staff.

Submit your nomination for the ENVD Distinguished Alumni Award by midnight on July 23, 2021.

Submission materials will be accepted through our online form linked below. Self-nominations are allowed.

Nominate an ENVD alum

Submit your nominations for the third annual Environmental Design Alumni Awards. Help us celebrate the achievements of the Environmental Design community.

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Program in Environmental Design announces 2020 Alumni Awards

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Program in Environmental Design announces 2020 Alumni Awards Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 02/19/2021 - 00:00

The University of Colorado Boulder Program in Environmental Design has announced the recipients of the 2020 Environmental Design Alumni Awards. This year’s honoree for the Distinguished Alumni Award is Sarah Broughton and The Young Designer Award has been awarded to Mike Blea.

The Environmental Design Alumni Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and architectural professions.

Distinguished Alumna Awardee:

“The amazing faculty throughout my time at ENVD, starting with Juana Gomez in my first studio. Her favorite saying was “it is a good start.” That was very motivating for me because it kept me reaching and pushing design. As I have progressed through my career, I am thankful that through the curriculum at ENVD, I honed my critical thinking skills. This has proven invaluable to me as our projects continue to be more complex and challenging.”

Sarah Broughton, AIA, NCIDQ and principal of Rowland+Broughton, brings over two decades of experience in the architecture and interior design industry. She is the champion of R+B’s design philosophy and rigorous quality control standards, as well as a leader to her design staff. In addition, she is a highly respected colleague in the design community and among clients.

Sarah leads the studios in participation and management of all phases of the design process, including client relations and proposals, project programming, conceptual design, design development, architecture and interior design, project budgeting, construction documentation and contract administration. Sarah is very active in her community. She served as Chair of the City of Aspen’s Historic Preservation Commission, is involved with multiple non-profits and is serving her second year as the AIA Colorado West Director. Sarah helped rewrite the Aspen Historic Preservation Commission guidelines and the Aspen Commercial Design Guidelines. R+B frequently provides feedback to the City of Aspen on land use regulation.

R+B has been the recipient of multiple City of Aspen Historic Preservation Commission Awards for its historic preservation work. Both Aspen and Denver studios are located in historic buildings that have been lovingly preserved by R+B. With Sarah’s leadership, the firm has received numerous AIA, ASID and IIDA awards for excellence in design. The team is especially proud to have won AIA Colorado’s 2020 Firm of the Year. Sarah was awarded the Defy Ordinary award from the City of Aspen Chamber and the Aspen community and was named an Outstanding Woman in Business by the Denver Business Journal. Both of these awards recognize Sarah as a champion of the community and a leader to her colleagues.

Originally from Portland, Oregon, Sarah attended the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree in architecture, with honors in 1996. Sarah is a licensed architect and a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Sarah is also a licensed interior designer and a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).

"Sarah Broughton is a great example of the progressive and broad thinking that is leading the architecture profession forward. The design work that she leads at Rowland + Broughton combines the awareness of user needs with the elegance of a design philosophy that captures the natural beauty of Colorado and the progressiveness of the west. I believe Sarah is a great example for the next generation of designers who are looking at bringing the natural environment into a central role in their design solutions. It is an honor for ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ to have played a part in Sarah’s successful career."

–Paul Chinowsky, director, Program in Environmental Design

Young Designer Awardee:

“When I reflect on my time at ENVD, I often remember the feelings of opportunity and excitement that seemed to live inside of the design studios. As someone with no formal or informal design training, I was constantly amazed with the ingenuity & creativity that my peers embodied. Being surrounded by people that were motivated by good design was intoxicating. For me, being exposed to the CINC [Creative Labs Center] put me on a different trajectory than a typical architect and I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity.

While in school I met my wife, my business partner (both of whom were ENVD students), and multiple mentors who I have continued to stay in contact with and who have helped me develop into a better designer/fabricator/builder/architect. I am very thankful for my time at ENVD as it provided a crucial foundation for how I think about design and the built environment.”

Mike Blea, AIA and co-owner of Raw Creative, received his environmental design degree in 2010. He then earned a certificate of construction management from Colorado State University and later pursued a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Colorado Denver. Before Blea established himself as an NCARB-certified architect, a licensed general contractor and a local leader in digital fabrication, he was learning the ropes from his uncles on construction sites across the Denver metro area.

Today, he is regularly welcomed as a featured lecturer in the architectural and design community. Blending years of hands-on site supervision experience with a passion for crafting intentional spaces, Blea’s multi-disciplinary background continues to shape the unique design, build and install capabilities of the Raw Creative studio.

"Iconic is a word that is often overused. However, iconic is the perfect word to describe the work that Mike completes with Raw Creative. Mike has brought together the concepts of design, the pragmatism of construction, and the innovation of fabrication into a unique vision that is fundamentally changing our perspectives on what design can bring to critical details of projects. Whether it is a restaurant interior, an exterior entrance, or a park, Mike’s distinct voice can be seen in its iconic features. ��ý�Ļ��Ʒ is honored to have Mike as an alumnus and we look forward to watching Mike continue to create new paths in the design industry."

–Paul Chinowsky, director, Program in Environmental Design

The University of Colorado Boulder Program in Environmental Design has announced the recipients of the 2020 Environmental Design Alumni Awards.

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