The experience of Living…
Sean Garrett founded Sean Garrett Architecture on the
fundamental conviction that the quality of one’s environment directly
affects the experience of living. Today SGA remains committed to providing
the highest level of architectural design and interior design services
for projects of all types and size. Whether commercial or residential,
SGA combines a unique mix of practical field experience and refined artistic
sensibilities to design exceptional buildings that delight and endure.
Architecture is a residue of Relationship…
The most talented of architects fails in the absence of
a knowledgeable and willing client. The most passionate and committed
of clients cannot fulfill a project’s potential without qualified,
professional design services. The design of buildings is a collaborative
exercise that calls upon the project team to reconcile an idealized concept
with the client’s functional building program, schedule, and budget.
SGA directs all efforts toward achieving the client’s goals while
also checking the progress of the developing design against the established
standards of design excellence.
Every client is an Individual…
If you don’t see your project in these pages, it’s
because we haven’t designed it yet! No singular aesthetic prevails
in SGA’s work. Every client is an individual. Every place is different.
Every project is special. The SGA portfolio is a direct reflection of
our clients’ varying needs, interests, and tastes. SGA seeks to
develop original designs that embody the essential qualities of a project’s
time, place, and use. What’s specific? What’s authentic? It’s
your vision. It’s your project. We’ll bring it into the light.
What’s important Now?
SGA’s design process is a collaborative exercise
that reconciles the client’s vision and the needs of the users with
the standards of design excellence, environmental factors, available building
technologies, budget constraints, and community interests. The problem
is wickedly complex, but to ignore any of these variables is to diminish
a project’s full potential. After identifying the issues and the
opportunities, SGA leads the client through a process of prioritization.
Determining what’s important introduces into any building a logic
and economy that transcends mere taste and appearance.
The Qualities we value…
Each new building is but a single contribution to the
larger built and natural environments that we inhabit, and each individual
design and construction project either reveals and reinforces the qualities
we value or conceals and degrades our sense of place. Whether cityscape
or landscape, SGA strives to identify the critical components and characteristics
of each place and design architecture that responds appropriately to the
individual, community, culture, and environment. The incorporation of
green, sustainable, and energy-efficient building technologies is part
and parcel to SGA’s design process.
Attention to detail…
SGA’s attention to detail rewards clients with responsive,
economical, and performance-driven designs that incorporate the benefits
of modern building technologies while remaining uniquely suited to the
client’s needs and desires. Years of project management experience
and the application consultants’ special knowledge help to ensure
timely project delivery. SGA listens to the client, articulates the client’s
wants and needs in spatial, material, and financial terms, and delivers
a technically sound, well-coordinated architectural design that results
in a durable, comfortable, and livable place.
Here, there, (almost) everywhere…
SGA’s reputation for timely responses to client
concerns allows SGA to transcend geographical distance and simultaneously
design projects throughout the United States. While assembling a talented
team to ensure the timely delivery of each project, Sean attends to each
of his clients’ projects individually. As the primary point of contact
for each project, Sean’s hands-on design and project management
services help to ensure the delivery of a successful project. Colorado,
California… coast or canyon.
The intent to communicate…
Sean Garrett received his Bachelor of Architecture degree
in 1990 from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. During
the 1987-88 academic year, he studied art and architecture in Rome, Italy.
His subsequent thesis, A Re-Vision of the American Catholic Church: the
Iconography of Form and Image, won AIA Chicago’s Benn-Johnck Award
for the best student work from a mid-west school of architecture in 1990.
The award validated Sean’s lingering belief in architecture’s
narrative potential: architecture is the application of technology
with the intent to communicate.
The Rigors of Chicago…
Following three years of active duty as a U.S. Army Medical
Service Corps officer (1990-93), Sean resumed his career in architecture
in Chicago. First as an intern and later as a licensed architect, Sean
acquired the knowledge and skills for the professional practice of architecture
from some of Chicago’s leading firms and architects including Hammond,
Beeby, Rupert, Ainge, Architects; Booth/Hansen & Associates, Architects;
and Anthony Belluschi Architects. The rigors of the Chicago School continue
to inform Sean’s practice.
Colorado in mind…
Never far from Colorado in his mind, Sean moved to Denver
in 1999. In addition to managing his growing architectural practice, Sean
maintains an active voice in the Denver community where he is a member
of the American Institute of Architects and the U.S. Green Building Council.
Sean is a frequent evaluator of student work at the University of Colorado,
and he advises neighborhood groups on issues related to architectural
design, real estate development, and construction. Most recently, Denver
Mayor John Hickenlooper appointed Sean to the Denver Parking Commission.
LICENSURE
Colorado, California, Illinois, Michigan, and Virginia
NCARB certified
AFFILIATIONS
Commissioner, Denver Parking Commission (mayoral appointment)
Member, American Institute of Architects
Member, U.S. Green Building Council
Member, Historic Denver
Member, Old South Pearl Street Association
Member, Platt Park People’s Association (3PA)
Contributing Member, Denver Art Museum
Instructor, College of Environmental Design, Univ. of Colorado at Boulder, 2000
HONORS & AWARDS
Exhibitor, Outside the Box exhibition – AIA Denver, 2005
Winner, Merit Design Award, Chicago Green House – AIA Denver, 2004
Winner, Green Homes for Chicago Design Competition – City of Chicago, 2000
Recipient, Meritorious Service Medal – U.S. Army, 1993
Winner, Benn-Johnck Award – AIA Chicago, 1990
Recipient, Rambusch Prize in Architecture – Univ. of Notre Dame, 1990