{"id":1310107,"date":"2019-05-09T12:32:06","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T18:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=977872"},"modified":"2019-05-09T12:32:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T18:32:06","slug":"locals-press-for-design-review-in-basalt-after-unhandsome-willits-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/locals-press-for-design-review-in-basalt-after-unhandsome-willits-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Locals press for design review in Basalt after \u2018unhandsome\u2019 Willits buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"basalt
The design of this 49-unit apartment building called One 10 Harris in Willits Town Center has some people saying Basalt needs to undertake greater oversight of design.<\/strong>
Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Basalt officials are being urged by some area residents to prevent \u201cunhandsome\u201d architecture from continuing at Willits Town Center.<\/p>\n

Design has been a hot topic since the first buildings emerged from the ground in the mid-2000s, but the latest addition to the development has spurred particular scrutiny. The One 10 Harris apartment complex<\/a> \u2014 featuring a throwback brick and metal look \u2014 was constructed adjacent to the Willits Lane roundabout. Additional small commercial buildings are being added on the east side.<\/p>\n

Shopworks Architects of North Denver designed the One 10 Harris apartment complex. Lipkin Warner Architects of Basalt designed most of the rest of the complex.<\/p>\n

At a Basalt Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Tuesday night for Aspen Skiing Co.\u2019s proposed affordable-housing building<\/a>, design emerged as a top issue. Emma resident Cathy Markle urged the commission to review the design to avoid a repeat of One 10 Harris.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of criticism of the latest building at the roundabout,\u201d Markle said. \u201cI agree with that. It\u2019s not a handsome building.\u201d<\/p>\n

The planning commission can ensure that additional \u201cunhandsome\u201d buildings don\u2019t get constructed, she said. Willits is \u201csingularly flat-roofed,\u201d which gives it a homogenous look, she suggested.<\/p>\n

Skico already overhauled the look of its building in response to comments at a planning commission meeting April 16. Commission member Gino Rossetti called the initial proposal a \u201cdark and somber\u201d building and likened it to a \u201cbig black box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commission Chairman Bill Maron also urged Skico to reconsider the look and materials, noting that the building had a \u201cLord Voldemort look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Rossetti and Maron are architects.<\/p>\n

Skico had been working with Harry Teague Architects on the original design. The firm didn\u2019t have time for a quick redesign, so Skico hired Lipkin Warner Architects for the overhaul, according to Skico project manager Philip Jeffreys. The new design is brighter, featuring brick with horizontal cement board on the lower two-thirds and metal on the upper third.<\/p>\n

Rossetti and Maron said they liked Skico\u2019s building better after the redesign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the colors,\u201d Maron said. \u201cWe\u2019re no longer in Darth Vader territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

While planning commission members aren\u2019t shy about commenting on materials, don\u2019t expect them to weigh in on architecture, Maron explained the day after the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town has always shied away from design review per se,\u201d Maron said. \u201cMy personal feeling has always been that in Basalt the last thing we need is another layer of project review.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basalt has built a reputation for creating a meticulous review system that often requires years for a developer to obtain approvals. That\u2019s been the case for multiple projects. However, the town also approved one of the biggest developments in the valley when it approved more than 500,000 square feet of residential and commercial space at Willits in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n

In addition to adding to the complexity of the review, delving into design also would risk creating a subjective process that leads to more land-use squabbles. Basalt already has plenty of those.<\/p>\n

Town Manager Ryan Mahoney, whose background is in community development, said in a prior interview that people need to wait before passing final judgment on One 10 Harris. He said he believes the appearance will be different and more acceptable to critics once landscape fills in and the three commercial buildings are completed on the east side.<\/p>\n

Maron said the building is of a design character and color palate that \u201cis very much in style in Denver at the moment and probably less so here.\u201d<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The design of this 49-unit apartment building called One 10 Harris in Willits Town Center has some people saying Basalt needs to undertake greater oversight of design.Scott Condon\/The Aspen Times Basalt officials are being urged by some area residents to prevent \u201cunhandsome\u201d architecture from continuing at Willits Town Center. Design has been a hot topic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1310107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 04:05:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1310107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1310107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1310107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1310107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1310107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}