AZ Awards 2026 Finalist: CS2 House

Award of Merti: Houses

CS2 House

A circular ground floor and triangular top level define the quirky yet elegant — and ultimately practical — CS2 House in Denver.

Year: 2026
Location: Denver, U.S.
Firm: NEMESTUDIO, San Francisco, U.S.
Photos: César Béjar
Category: Houses

With its shed roof reminiscent of a sliced-off “Swiss Miss” style, smooth stucco exterior walls and candy-coloured interior accents, CS2 House looks like a Palm Springs transplant dropped into alpine Denver. The resemblance comes at a fraction of the cost: The homeowners’ small budget inspired NEMESTUDIO to creatively use standard, widely available construction techniques, including CMU walls typical of commercial construction that add thermal mass for cold winters. A circular ground floor containing the social areas keeps the footprint compact, and the upper-level sleeping quarters are set forward slightly to accommodate a back terrace that completes the desert modernist dream.

Team: Neyran Turan and Mete Sönmez with Alicia Moreira, Douglas Lee, Charlotte Chan (NEMESTUDIO); IMEG Engineering; Joe Dooling

Award of Merit: Houses

CS2 House

A circular ground floor and triangular top level define the quirky yet elegant — and ultimately practical — CS2 House in Denver.