Paradise Earth is a 150,000 s.f. aviary and learning center in Phoenix Arizona.  The facility includes a 64,400 s.f. tropical rainforest habitat to provide a natural living environment for exotic and endangered tropical bird species.  A learning center surrounds the aviary, providing the opportunity to become more familiar with the importance of saving the Tropical Rainforest ecology throughout the world.  The project includes conferencing facilities for 2,000, a documentary theater, as well as a restaurant & retail center.  Being designed to LEED standards, the project is one of the world’s largest privately funded environmental learning & research centers and will enlighten millions each year about the important role tropical forests play in maintaining earth’s human-friendly environment.

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Click here for the Paradise Earth Website

Thanks in large part to the efforts of SOPA (Supporters of the Performing Arts)over the past year, Thorp Associates has been able to develop the plans for a performing and visual arts venue in Estes Park that will support performances and exhibitions throughout all months of the year.  Time has been well spent creating computer modeling and detail drawings to help SOPA illustrate the project to interested parties and for use in developing accurate preliminary cost estimates.  SOPA’s responsibility of providing funding for the building’s construction through grants and private gifts is well underway.  Once the building’s construction is funded, the Town has committed to covering the costs of site development and landscaping.  The cooperative efforts of SOPA and the Town of Estes Park will soon bear fruit in the form of a single, integrated center for the Arts in Estes Park.

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Thorp Associates is honored to be one of only 5 northern Colorado architects asked to design state-of-the-art homes for the 2008 Northern Colorado Home Builders Association Parade of Homes at the Thompson Crossing subdivision of the “25-34” commercial development in Johnstown.  With a beautiful site overlooking the Big Thompson river valley, the 5,000 s.f. home, to be built by Lifestyle Homes of Greeley, will feature many amenities including an outdoor living room with spa, continuous swimming pool, and a conversation fire pit.

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Situated high on the edge of a mountain in the north end of the Estes Park Valley, the Barber residence is a 5,600 s.f., two and one-half story retreat designed to “grow” naturally from the site.  The home will feature a two-story interior waterfall to welcome visitors and the Great Room will open to breathtaking views of Longs Peak and the entire Estes Valley.  Native stone veneer foundations and canted piers will securely anchor the arching footprint to the ground as the remainder of the house opens to nature all around.

Endeavoring to expand library services to a growing community, the Windsor-Severance Library District commissioned Thorp Associates to accomplish a “Needs Assessment” for the district which has lead to a 5,000 s.f. addition to the existing facility.  The expanded design will include improvements to the Children’s Library area, larger stack space, a novel “drive-through” book drop & pick-up service, as well as a mobile library facility.  Designed to seamlessly match the architectural character of the original 10 year-old structure, the addition will not only complement the existing building, but will give the district a chance to resolve several original design flaws that have haunted the facility since inception.  Planned for a March 2009 completion, the project construction will get underway in early summer 2008.

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The native grasses and ancient pine trees on the site of the Elrod Residence in Estes Park are split by a seasonal stream that helped define the unusual footprint of the home.  Designed to set gently on the site, the structure hugs the slowly rising contours and carefully steps between the pine trees, to give the sense of growing with the environment.  Detailed in an updated Arts and Crafts architectural character, the exterior of the house features stained timber framing, synthetic stone and stucco, with a standing seam metal roof.

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Thorp Associates has enjoyed designing a mountain retreat for Jan Bloom and her husband Ed Degan on the “Flying-Hi” Ranch near Estes Park, CO.  Jan’s father, Bill Myers, originally owned the Ranch and was a previous client of Thorp Associates.  The home has been designed to “grow” from an existing barn (now a garage) originally built by Mr. Myers in the 1960s.  Making use of a natural rock outcrop as an entry feature, the two-story house sits on a sloping site with a commanding view of the Estes Valley and Longs Peak.

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Thorp Associates is honored to be working with the Bank of Choice Colorado on a security remodel of one of the Denver area’s most unique buildings, originally designed in the mid 1960s by world-renowned architect, Charles Deaton.  Years before the use of computer aided design, Mr. Deaton worked with plaster cast models to develop the complex, organic forms of his buildings, the most famous of which had a starring role in Woody Allen’s 1973 movie “Sleeper”.  Taking care to maintain the architectural integrity of Mr. Deaton’s original design, Thorp Associates developed minor adjustments to the Englewood Bank of Choice to provide a safer, more secure workplace for employees and patrons alike.

Thorp Associates has worked closely with the owners of the historic Park Theater Mall and the Estes Park Urban Renewal Authority (EPURA) to develop a functional & aesthetically pleasing design to connect EPURA’s Riverwalk through the historic structure.  The public-private endeavor will not only include a remodel to a portion of the Mall structure, but will significantly improve access to the Riverwalk both Moraine Ave. on the West and the public parking lot on the East side of the building.  Some of the challenges include working with the Army Corps of Engineers on improvements to the river corridor, keeping the Mall open for business during construction and maintaining the Owner’s second floor apartment undisturbed, as the project anticipates a Spring 2008 completion.

The Silver Cinema is a seven screen, 26,000 s.f. movie theatre designed for Trans-Lux Theatres in Silver City, New Mexico.  The building's unique shape establishes not only a new image, but also a new building technology for the Trans-Lux Theatre Corporation. The shape is a result of careful design coordination of Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs). These forms allow for the construction of solid reinforced load-bearing concrete walls for both the exterior and the sound demising walls separating adjacent auditoriums.  The factory-built custom formwork not only allows for an efficient structure and construction process, but also provides adequate thermal and sound insulation on these walls, eliminating the need for many additional interior and exterior materials. The stucco finish of the exterior will be applied directly to the permanent forms and a single layer of fire-rated gypsum board will be applied to the interior, exceeding the theatre industry's stringent requirements for sound transmission attenuation.  The Silver Cinema project is scheduled to start construction in mid-2007.

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Thorp Associates has been commissioned to help the new owners of an aging (1960s era) corner retail complex in Fort Collins, Colorado to upgrade and refresh the facility to take better advantage of it's prime commercial location.  Utilizing well-placed exterior detailing to minimize costs but maximize impact, the enhancements to the structure, including a new "beacon" tower element, create an updated and invigorated architectural character at a very reasonable redevelopment cost.

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