Presented by: Cody Glastetter, Lawton Thompson, Phineas Scanlan, Tyler Boyce

Our goal is to breathe new life into this long-time community gathering space by respecting the wants and needs of current Elks Lodge members and by updating the building to meet modern event space requirements so that it is capable of catering to a diverse array of contemporary social groups looking to host events in the Boulder area, while providing a members only area for Elks members. We also want to attract and encourage people from younger generations to become members of the Elks Lodge, and still showing reverence and respect for the mission and history of the organization.

Formally known as the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, it was founded in 1868 as a social club in New York City, which evolved into a nationwide fraternal order dedicated to community service, patriotism, and mutual aid. With over 750,000 members across 1,900+ local lodges, the Elks are known for philanthropic programs that support veterans, youth scholarships, and disaster relief efforts. Their core values include the four pillars of Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love, and Fidelity.

Rooftop Transformation – An inventive reimagining of the rooftop into a lively lounge that transforms an underutilized space into a destination.

Through a process of redesigning and updating aspects of the building and surrounding landscape, we aim to create distinct public and private spaces to accommodate a myriad of different event types and group sizes. Elks members are able to utilize the private members only spaces, which can be accessed by the private entrance and parking lot on the north side of the building, while the public visitors entrance and public parking is located on the east side of the building.

In order to renew the exterior landscaping, archways bearing the Elks Lodge/B.P.O.E. crest are used to mark the thresholds where people enter and exit the property to help people feel like they are transitioning into a new territory. The parking lots are updated with planters and painted parking spaces, and tennis courts are added to the gravel lot on the east side, which are open and accessible to the public.

The raised ground around the immediate exterior of the building is turned into flexible patio areas which include seating areas, a fire pit on the east side, and a rain shelter on the north side. The member RV parking area on the west side has been renovated to include a limited number of large concrete pads with full RV hookups and a handful of designated boondocking sites with no RV hook ups. All RV campers have access to two new structures which house restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities, as well as clean water refill stations, electrical device charging stations, and picnic tables.

A community garden in the southeast corner of the lot is accessible from nearby bike paths crossing through the site. All of the pathways are paved with hexagonal brick panels which draw people towards building. This hexagonal pattern is continuous between the exterior to the interior, though the texture shifts from brick outside to a smooth tile floor inside.

The members only area occupies the north end of the building and is where most of the historic information, photos, memoriam plaques, and taxidermied elk heads are displayed. The office and administrative spaces are also moved into the members area. A pair of double doors are added to the main hallway to separate the private members area from the public lounge and ballroom areas (which are available to rent), giving members a way to move between the two zones.

For the interior, we focused our attention on the lounge area by shifting the location and layout of the bar to accommodate both the lounge and the ballroom, while also making them more distinct areas. A VIP section was added in the space where the offices used to be, and the ceiling lighting and skylights in the hallway were redesigned to provide an ample amount of diffused and ambient lighting. A staircase and elevator were put in the place of the old bar location to access the new rooftop patio which gives people the opportunity to take in the mountain views of north Boulder from a unique perspective.