HMH designed Boulder Modern Net Zero Home and HMH Architecture + Interiors was recently featured in the article “Mid-Century Makes a Modern Comeback” in the Winter 2012 edition of Boulder County Home and Garden Magazine.
From the article:
“Boulder County boasts a fair number of Mid-Century homes, although many were not custom and incorporated prefabricated components such as standard windows, trusses and cabinets, and pre-hung doors.
Mid-Century homes were still unprecedented, however, and deceptively simple. Mid-Century design “appealed to many people, because it was a reaction against the glut of detail and ornamentation,” says architect Harvey Hine, owner of HMH Architecture & Interiors in Boulder. The county’s original Mid-Century homes were typically smaller than 1,000 square feet and contained a multiuse area in which the living room spilled into the dining room. Relative to the multiuse area, the scale of the other rooms was smaller.”
“Although the county’s original Mid-Century homes broke new ground, the technology to make them energy efficient was lacking. “Basic Mid-Century homes had very thin roof lines, with practically no insulation,” Hine says. “The low ceilings were not good for maintaining temperature. The large, original, clear-glass windows let in a lot of light, but allowed a lot of heat to escape. While it was a cool style, the original homes were impractical.”
“Nostalgia is another facet of Mid-Century’s appeal, architects say. Older people commissioning new Mid-Century homes often want to re-create the types of homes they knew when they were children.
Mid-Century also complements many people’s lifestyles, Hine says: “We want smaller homes with more of a transparent and open plan, and we want less stuff in those rooms.”