By Emily Stifler Explorebigsky.com Managing Editor
DENVER, Colo. – Several businesses were featured in the September/October issue of Mountain Living magazine this year. The Colorado-based magazine included more than a dozen Big Sky and Bozeman firms in its “Top Mountain Architects and Interior Designers,” an annual feature.
In its introduction, Mountain Living called the feature an “exclusive guide to the most talented and influential architects, design/build professionals and interior designers at work in the West today.”
The Big Sky businesses were Centre Sky Architecture and Carole Sisson Designs. The Bozeman businesses were Locati Architects and Interiors, Bitnar Architects, Comma-Q Architecture, Dan Joseph Architects, Faure Halvorsen Architects, JLF & Associates, Van Bryan Studio Architects, Pearson Design Group, Reid Smith Architects, Design Associates, Envi Design, CTA Architects Engineers and Haven Interior Design. Livingston firm Miller Architects was also included.
“Some of the West’s best design is happening in Montana,” said Mountain Living Editor in Chief Christine DeOrio. “The concentration of really creative and talented architects and interior designers in relatively small towns like Bozeman, Whitefish and Livingston is pretty remarkable. Montana has a really distinct style, even within the Western vernacular, so it’s really important to us that our list represents that.”
Both Centre Sky and Carole Sisson, which work together regularly, have been on the list for several years running.
Centre Sky has a spectrum of projects including high-end residential, LEED-certified buildings, additions on smaller residences, and resort and commercial work, said its principal architect Jamie Daugaard. The firm is currently working on several residential projects, and the future Madison Valley Aquatic Center and the Big Sky entryway monument.
A sidebar to Mountain Living’s top interior designers list featured a quote from Locati lead designer, Amanda Heys, on her “favorite building in the West”
Heyes chose the Brown Palace in Denver, saying, “The exterior beckons you, and once you’re inside, you see the detail and beauty of every aspect of the finishes, from the amazing lighting to the onyx walls. It’s classy and tasteful—a must-see in Denver.”
“They just called me out of the blue,” Heys said. “I’ve had numerous people say, ‘Oh, I read your quote in Mountain Living magazine – from local people, to people all over the West that subscribe to it.”
“I feel like people are finding that [the] talent in this Bozeman area is amazing – architects, designers and craftsmen.”
Daugaard said that’s likely in part due to Montana State University’s design school.
“A lot of the architects and designers come from there,” he said. “Also, the clients that come here have high expectations. Whatever we’ve done in the past with our portfolios, that work continues to be built upon and progress.”
