Company: Designs by Sundown
Location: Littleton, Colo.

The office space at Designs by Sundown — a $25 million landscaping company that ranked at No. 82 on the 2019 LM150 list — is designed to show potential and future clients the type of outdoor rooms and amenities the company is able to design. It’s also functional for employees and provides the company with a space to have special events and host networking opportunities.

During construction, the team faced several challenges, such as code compliance specific to working on a commercial site, developing a complex irrigation system due to the site’s well-water system, working with many subcontractors and finding time to put crews on the job.

The project was completed at the company’s office during busy season, and labor resources had to be allocated to work on it while employees were also busy working on client projects.

To overcome this unique challenge, Designs by Sundown team members worked on weekends, after hours and even came in on special volunteer days to get the job done.

This project won the company a 2018 Gold Award from the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ Awards of Excellence program.

Planting beds in the back were made more natural with bright flowers to match the surrounding areas of the preserved open space.

The company blended the landscape into and through the architecture of the building as seen with the tree protruding through the void in the horizontal roof plane. The landscape site walls embedded with plant material help bring the horizontal elements of the architecture into the landscape and ground the structure.

Groups of mass plantings help soften and define the outdoor rooms while keeping the design simple and clean.

The silo is a strong focal point on the building and the landscape design echoed this form across the site. The concentric radial bands are offset of the center point of the silo and have perpendicular bands that resonate from the core of the mass.

The firm created many outdoor rooms, including a rustic in-ground fire pit with a mix of natural materials (boulders and sandstone steppers) as well as man-made forms such as precast concrete to define the fire pit.

Designed as a showroom, the natural water feature allows the company to demonstrate the calming nature and pleasant sounds a water element can add to a landscape. The meandering stream is soothing to the eye and by bringing the turfgrass directly to the edge, it mimics the look found on a historic farm pond or drainage way.

The faux vertical fireplace chase is strong vertical element, designed to echo the large vertical nature of the buildings silo. The cut stacked logs are a twist of contemporary design mixed in amongst a traditional form of the fireplace element. An outdoor pingpong table is used by employees throughout the day to take a quick break and get some extra vitamin D.

The large gracious lawn steps allow one to transition from the finished floor elevation down into the garden and open space just beyond. They also allow for impromptu stadium seating for gatherings and yard games.

This raised formal water feature is just outside the boardroom, where large, floor-to-ceiling windows allow you to enjoy the reflective nature of the stone and water flowing up and over the polished stone.

This smaller gathering place is set apart just enough from the rest of the space to help make this area feel intimate. The large fire strip off to the side of this patio is a great visual feature and the raised concrete wall just behind the fire provides the flames a blank canvas to display its every evolving light show.

The covered outdoor kitchen was designed with a mix of materials that either matched or complemented the materials on the main building.

Grasses were mass planted throughout the landscape to add volume to the landscape while still being able to maintain a clean form.

The same reclaimed wood that was used on the building was used to build the outdoor pavilion. Antique farm pieces were brought from an old farm in Kansas to add character throughout the property.

A fire-bowl fire pit was one of the seating areas created to showcase a highly requested element for clients. This area acts as another intimate setting for employees to gather after work.

This shot shows all the outdoor pavilion has to offer, from two separate seating areas with fire elements, a fully equipped outdoor kitchen, TV and AV equipment throughout the property.

All the furniture throughout the property was designed by the company’s newest department, outdoor furniture. This property is truly a showcase of all the different departments that the company offers to its high-end clientele.