CREJ

December 2020 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \ 93 WORDS: Sean O’Keefe T wenty years after he found- ed Architectural Workshop, Mark Bowers is still fascinat- ed by architecture’s many in- teresting in-betweens. Recog- nizing both an ambition and aptitude, his father took him to Chicago as a teen in pursuit of inspiration, telling his son –“You’d make a good architect, take a look around and see what it’s all about.” In college, Bowers earned his structural and illumination engineering degree from the University of Colorado Boulder before ob- taining a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. An inside-out perspective of design has in- fluenced his vision ever since. “For me, architecture starts with the basics, the bones of the building, how things stand up, and how structure, systems, materiality and lighting combine to create spaces and connections,” says Bowers from his office on the southern fringe of Denver’s Santa Fe Art Dis- trict. After maturating through a series of firms both in Chicago and Denver, Bowers launched Architectur- al Workshop in 2000 from a genuine desire to develop a deeper relationship with cli- ents. “We strive to compel a personal align- ment of architecture to client needs by im- aging solutions that go beyond constraints and opportunities to reach the highest lev- el of design we can achieve.” In a juxtaposition of possibly, the firm’s portfolio is somehow both broadly diverse and acutely focused, stretching across ar- chitecture’s only genuine dividing line. “Most architecture practices seem to concentrate on either single-family homes or commercial design, without much variation,” says Kati Jenista, who has be- come Bowers’ partner in design over the 16 years since she joined the practice. “At AW, we like to design on both sides of the divide because there are a lot of positives in custom homes that can benefit the commercial perspec- tive. Likewise, there are many influences from commercial architecture that enhance the way we design homes to be smarter and more sustainable.” Whereas residential architecture neces- sitates a refined articulation of the own- ers’ emotional perspective through style, materiality and a healthy connection to the environment, commercial architecture often is influenced by technology, sustain- ability and efficiency in ways that can be incorporated to make custom homes to live richer. This cross-trainer approach to design is embodied by the firm’s tag line – enriching lives through design – and manifests itself across a vibrant tableau of successful projects that quietly speak for themselves. AW has had its hands on the Tivoli Stu- dent Center and Starz Theatre on the Au- raria Higher Education Campus for several years, working on a series of interior revi- talization efforts that illuminate an ability to find the sweet spots between spaces. “We have been engaged in about nine different adaptive reuse projects at the Tivoli,” says Jenista of AW’s ongoing rela- tionship with one of Denver’s oldest and most iconic public buildings. Built in 1870, the Tivoli has lived many lives and today stands as the epicenter of student activi- ty on the multi-institutional campus in the heart of Denver. In 2014, AW was en- gaged to rethink four seemingly forgot- ten basement theatres as innovative and inspirational spaces uniting the formerly Exploring the ins and outs of space is an AW strong suit. At East Village, a dated office building was ele- gantly reconceived as a 21st century "workmosphere" focused on collaboration and internal connectivity. Kati Jenista Mark Bowers