Residence in Observatory Park

In early spring several years ago we began envisioning this traditional Moorish garden sanctuary located in Denver’s Observatory Park.  As we begin to enter our Spring season here in beautiful Colorado, we are reminded that design preparation and visionary guidance is an important step of proper planning for this year and those to come.

Today, leading from the sidewalk, the curved entry path takes you across a sloped lawn, through a small perennial garden,past large, ornately flowered pots, and through exquisite antique gates.  As you enter the traditionally geometric Moorish Courtyard, you’ll imeadiatley be enchanted with the precious sound of water coming from an

Geometric Courtyard

elegant antique wall fountain. Situated perfectly nearby, in the slightly sunken sitting area, is a stone bench which provides a resting place for visitor’s looking to fully relax and feel into the space.  The furnishings have been positioned strategically around a central flowering Hawthorne tree which gives views to the architecture of the house including the decorative balcony, light fixtures, and hand carved doors.

The focal point of the more spacious, rear sunken garden is an elegant antique fountain from Southern Spain position in the center of a circular sitting wall.  Large, beautifully planted flower pots accentuate the steps that lead in to, and later out of, the sunken patio that serves as an entertainment area for friends and family.  Integral to the rear garden is a sitting area with a raised fireplace and an outdoor covered dining room.  A series of raised stone beds offer a sculptural focal point on the far side of the garden, where vegetables are nurtured towards greatness.

Rear Sunken Patio

Altgelt & Associates was recently hired by a client in the Lyons area to transform a one time cattle detention pond into something resembling more of a wildlife sanctuary.  The property is located on 120 acres with views that span from Loveland south towards Boulder.  It attracts all sorts of wildlife [...]]]>

Moving Boulders on Site

Altgelt & Associates was recently hired by a client in the Lyons area to transform a one time cattle detention pond into something resembling more of a wildlife sanctuary.  The property is located on 120 acres with views that span from Loveland south towards Boulder.  It attracts all sorts of wildlife throughout the year. Most recently of note have been a black bear and mountain lion. The premise behind the design was a broken overflow pipe that had been installed when a proper driveway was installed nearly twenty years ago.  The clients had tried numerous times to repair the pipe but were limited because the break was in an area of the detention pond where a large number of salamander had taken refuge and any disturbance to be done was in a very limited area and with no direct ground poisons to be introduced.  This was a very difficult task seeing how most colaguants use a number of man made chemicals.  The one option best suited for this type of situation was to try and utilize a Bentonite slury to effectively seal the leak.

Placing Boulders

Bentonite is a type of clay that absorbs more moisture than its dry weight while providing a cement like effect when it becomes wet. After talking through the various ways of repairing the overflow pipe, it was made clear that the detention pond was needing a facelift if it was going to hold water once again. It was a rare opportunity for designers Tom Altgelt and David Robinson to utilize their creative skills outside the normal paper to construction process and move in a direction resembling what it must have been like prior to the invention of AutoCAD and other design programs that limit the amount of on-site direction the land inspires. By being on site and listening to the land and the clients desires, we are able to quickly sketch through sections, perspectives, and overall plans that quickly and easily communicated the ideas being bounced around.  The best part of the co-creative process with the client and other construction personnel is that it allows all parties involved to have an opinion and a personnel sense of responsibility to the project.  Without this involvement and respect for the land, projects would lack the identity they deserve.  This has truly been a unique design opportunity to for all parties involved from the design process through construction.  We at Altgelt & Associates have been very pleased with the direction this project has taken us as a firm and look forward to sharing more photos in the spring as the plant life begins to shape the project in another direction.  For now, we welcome you to take a look through the photos from the beginning through construction.

This article features the various creative approaches of four leading firms to the creative use of hardscape elements in four distinctly different fields of [...]]]>
As you can see from the lead image of this story, we love using stone, and other forms of hardscape elements to give emphasis and spacial definition to our gardens and landscapes.

This article features the various creative approaches of four leading firms to the creative use of hardscape elements in four distinctly different fields of design and construction. We have had the privelige of working together with each of the other three firms, whose exemplary work is also shown.

We welcome you to view his article, which appeared in early June, at the following link