The renovation of High Plains Architects’ 740 SF office space expansion is now complete, and the team is eager to test out the new sustainability techniques and technologies we implemented.

We love this video by the Montana Main Street Program, not just because it includes a cameo from our firm’s co-founder, Randy Hafer, and a handful of our projects. It’s the message and the mission of the Montana Main Street Program that really resonates with us.

Earlier this year, Randy Hafer of High Plains Architects was invited by Gallatin Valley Earth Day to speak about the topic of water in Bozeman/Gallatin Valley, specifically water availability and consumption. His presentation, titled "Grape or Raisin? - The coming water shortage", was based on his years of research and how he has addressed this problem at his own residence in Billings, the Urban Frontier House.

Let’s continue to explore the Strong Towns Movement with a shallow dive into the six principles of a Strong town.

Strong Towns is about getting municipalities to think differently about the relationship between growth and prosperity. It requires municipalities to question whether all growth is good growth.

Commercial property-assessed clean energy (CPACE) is a financing structure in which building owners borrow money for energy efficiency, renewable energy, or other projects and make repayments via an assessment on their property tax bill. The financing arrangement stays with the property even after it has been sold, allowing for longer term investment in its construction.

The Borden Hotel redevelopment is a case study in how adaptive reuse of older buildings can activate its surrounding community. The Borden Hotel, located in Whitehall, Montana, is a classic two story Western Commercial building built in 1913, had brick additions added in 1919, 1929, and 1941; the last two additions were designed by noted Montana architect Fred Willson.

How does architecture fit into the discussion of Earth Day? In an ideal world, architects look for ways to reinforce the connection between the built environment and nature through smart design, careful material selection, intuitive planning, etc. We certainly are conscious of everything associated with environmental impacts as it relates to construction of places/spaces as well as the livability of places and how people use/interact with buildings.

The One Health Bighorn Campus in Hardin, MT, is more than just a much-needed new health clinic for the greater Bighorn River Valley area. This integrated health center is an example of a new approach to healthcare design that aims to achieve some lofty goals: to be a platform for community wellness, to be intuitively navigated while surrounded by nature and light supporting patient choice, to be flexible and high performing, and to be a local economic driver.

This quest to build a sustainable urban house, our little house on the high plains, the Urban Frontier House, began a long time ago in the early 1970’s.

Alex Tyler, Project Designer // Marketing Manager, AAIA, LEED Green Associate, joined our team in April of 2015.

“Second oldest” may not sound that impressive, but the building was occupied in 1898, just nine years after Montana became a state.

I was not familiar with these berries and I really wanted blueberry bushes; however, blueberry bushes are not as suitable to our soil and climate.

I think I should have invested in the Metal Garden Bed Company because we have purchased so many of them and I love these metal garden beds.

Spring is trying to appear, so Randy and I are strategizing our future patio along the north side of the house.

Some of you might be wondering whatever happened in the Garden Room. Last December we ran out of paint after painting the ceiling.

The plan has always been for the south side of our over-sized two car garage to be Randy’s shop.

Associate Principal Ed Gulick is a licensed architect and LEED® Accredited Professional with a specialty credential in Building Design & Construction.

Now that winter has officially arrived, the snow is falling and collecting on our solar panels. Solar panels are not very effective when they are completely covered with snow.

It just so happens that a person can get a really good deal on a snowblower in August. The weather is usually quite warm and no one is thinking about blowing snow.