Circle West Architects Earns AIA Honor Award for Desert House

PHOENIX, AZ, October 06, 2010

Circle West Architects celebrates receipt of the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA) Arizona Honor Award for a residential renovation known as "Desert House" in Paradise Valley. Lauded in the Distinguished Building Category, Desert House is a living structure that balances a modern aesthetic with design intelligence through a profound integration with the desert setting.

Desert House, the residence of Circle West founder Peter M. Koliopoulos, AIA, is a powerful narrative of sunlight, sustainability, and harmony with the natural environment. Characterized by abundant floor-to-ceiling windows, the home shimmers with light and modern elegance. From afar, the simple geometric plane of the roof appears to float on cascading sheets of glass. From within, the structure brims with natural light while its inhabitants - the Koliopoulos family of four - are immersed in breathtaking views of mountains and sky.

Operating silently in the background is a seamless infrastructure of sustainable elements: building materials high in recycled content form the core of the home, while high-efficiency HVAC units direct the interior climate. On the outside, landscape vegetation comprises native flora with minimal water requirements, and the entire one-acre parcel of land, regraded to capture all roof and site rainwater, reduces the total amount of storm water needing treatment by the municipality while supplementing the vegetation's needs.

Founded by Peter M. Koliopoulos, AIA, Circle West Architects is a creatively driven, award winning, planning and design firm based in Phoenix, Arizona that combines a reverence for the natural environment with a powerful modern aesthetic. Koliopoulos is recognized for his firm's sensual modernism that accentuates spatial relationships, natural materials and light for a memorable way of living. http://www.circlewest.net