Principal Designer Jobs in Colorado (NOW HIRING)

Studio James | Refined Interiors
Vail Valley, Colorado

Position: Full-Time
Work Structure: Hybrid
Location: Vail Valley, Colorado
Salary Range: $90,000–$110,000 annually, commensurate with experience

Studio James is seeking a talented and highly detail-oriented Architectural Designer to join our team. This role sits at the intersection of interior design, interior architecture, technical documentation, and construction coordination.

We are looking for someone who can take a developed design vision and translate it into a thoughtful, accurate, highly detailed Interior Design Set for Construction. The ideal candidate understands that exceptional design requires equally exceptional documentation and that the smallest architectural details can have a significant impact on the finished space.

This person will work closely with the Principal Designer and Studio James design team to develop and document the highly customized architectural details found within luxury residential projects. The level of thought, coordination, and precision in our drawing sets must reflect the caliber of the homes we design.

Produce, develop, coordinate, and maintain comprehensive Interior Design Sets for Construction for high-end luxury custom residential projects.

Drawing sets may include:

• Dimensioned floor plans
• Interior architectural plans
• Furniture and space plans
• Interior elevations
• Reflected ceiling plans
• Decorative and architectural lighting plans
• Switching and electrical coordination
• Plumbing fixture and valve locations
• Bathroom elevations and construction details
• Tile layouts, grout alignment, terminations, and transitions
• Shower elevations and details
• Shower niches, benches, curbs, drains, and thresholds
• Millwork and custom cabinetry elevations and details
• Fireplace elevations, sections, surrounds, and hearth details
• Ceiling plans and architectural ceiling details
• Cove lighting and concealed LED details
• Recessed light channel and linear lighting details
• Ceiling transitions, reveals, shadow lines, and trimless conditions
• Wall paneling and specialty wall treatment details
• Flooring layouts, patterns, transitions, and thresholds
• Stone slab layouts and architectural stone details
• Stair, railing, and specialty metal details as applicable
• Door, casing, jamb, and hardware coordination
• Appliance and equipment coordination
• Closet and built-in coordination
• Architectural sections and enlarged details
• Custom details required to communicate unique design conditions

Develop construction details at the appropriate scale necessary for contractors and fabricators to clearly understand the design intent.

Ensure drawings are accurate, dimensionally complete, coordinated, and ready for use by contractors, architects, fabricators, and trades.

Think beyond the elevation itself. Details should address how materials meet, terminate, align, transition, and are illuminated, and are actually constructed.

Our projects regularly involve conditions that cannot be resolved through standard construction details.

The Architectural Designer will help develop and document custom solutions including:

• Integrated architectural lighting
• Light coves and concealed LED illumination
• Trimless lighting and recessed channels
• Integrated lighting within cabinetry, shelving, stone, and architectural elements
• Custom millwork and furniture-like cabinetry
• Flush and concealed conditions
• Integrated baseboards and reveals
• Specialty plaster and wall finishes
• Custom stone fabrication and slab conditions
• Detailed tile installations and transitions
• Integrated mirrors and lighting
• Custom fireplace assemblies
• Concealed hardware and access panels
• Specialty metalwork and decorative architectural elements
• Complex material intersections and transitions

Details should consider both the visual result and how the contractor or fabricator will successfully execute the design in the field.

Coordinate Studio James’ Interior Design Set for Construction with architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, cabinetry, and consultant drawings.

Review architectural and consultant sets to identify conflicts with the interior design intent.

Verify critical dimensions, ceiling conditions, wall assemblies, openings, fixture locations, cabinetry clearances, lighting relationships, plumbing locations, appliance requirements, and other conditions affecting the interiors.

Maintain coordination across plans, elevations, sections, details, and schedules when revisions occur.

Proactively identify discrepancies, missing information, or unresolved conditions before drawings are issued.

Thoroughly review shop drawings, submittals, and fabrication drawings against Studio James’ approved design intent and Interior Design Set for Construction.

Reviews may include:

• Custom cabinetry and millwork
• Stone fabrication and slab layouts
• Metalwork
• Glass and shower enclosures
• Doors and specialty hardware
• Plumbing fixtures and installation requirements
• Decorative and architectural lighting
• Custom furniture and built‑ins
• Specialty architectural elements

Provide clear, detailed redlines identifying discrepancies, dimensional issues, alignment concerns, missing information, incorrect materials or finishes, and deviations from the approved design.

Shop drawing review should not be treated as a cursory approval process. The expectation is to carefully compare submittals against the complete design documentation and understand what is being fabricated before approving it to move forward.

Track revisions and confirm that previous redlines have been incorporated into subsequent shop drawing submissions.

Work alongside the Principal Designer to translate design concepts into technically resolved and buildable solutions.

Develop architectural details that support the overall interior design vision rather than designing in isolation from it.

Think critically about proportion, symmetry, sightlines, alignment, material transitions, ceiling conditions, lighting placement, cabinetry, plumbing, stone, tile, furniture relationships, and how architectural elements connect throughout a space.

Identify potential conflicts or unresolved conditions before they reach construction.

Coordinate directly with architects, general contractors, cabinetmakers, fabricators, lighting consultants, electricians, plumbers, tile installers, stone fabricators, and other project partners.

Participate in project and construction meetings as required.

Respond to drawing‑related RFIs and help resolve field conditions while protecting the approved design intent.

Incorporate field dimensions, redlines, consultant information, and Principal Designer feedback accurately and completely.

Proactively communicate when information is missing or when a design condition requires clarification rather than making assumptions.

Studio James projects require an exceptional level of precision.

This role is responsible for thoroughly reviewing work before it is presented internally or issued externally.

Interior Design Sets for Construction should be:

• Fully dimensioned
• Technically detailed
• Internally coordinated
• Consistent between plans, elevations, sections, and details
• Coordinated with current architectural and consultant backgrounds
• Clearly annotated
• Constructible and understandable to the field
• Reflective of all previous feedback and revisions
• Thoughtfully resolved rather than simply drafted

The expectation is not simply to draw what is requested. It is to understand what is being drawn, think through how it will be constructed, and identify issues before they become field problems.

The ideal candidate has:

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in architecture, interior architecture, or high‑end residential interior design
• Minimum 3 years of direct experience producing detailed construction document sets for custom residential projects
• High‑end luxury custom residential experience strongly preferred
• Degree in Architecture, Interior Architecture, Interior Design, or a related field
• Strong understanding of residential construction and interior architectural detailing
• Demonstrated experience developing custom millwork, cabinetry, bathrooms, fireplaces, ceiling conditions, integrated lighting, light coves, material transitions, stone, tile, and other custom construction details
• Proven experience reviewing and redlining shop drawings for cabinetry, millwork, stone, metalwork, glass, lighting, and other custom fabricated elements
• Experience coordinating drawings with architects, contractors, fabricators, consultants, and trades
• Strong working knowledge of residential construction methods and the ability to understand how custom design details will actually be constructed in the field
• Advanced proficiency in SketchUp and LayOut
• Experience with Enscape or similar visualization software
• Strong understanding of cabinetry and millwork construction
• Knowledge of architectural and decorative lighting integration
• Knowledge of plumbing, tile, stone, flooring, wall finishes, and finish coordination
• Ability to develop enlarged construction details and sections
• Excellent spatial reasoning and ability to resolve complex architectural conditions
• Strong dimensioning and documentation skills
• Ability to read and interpret architectural, structural, MEP, and consultant drawings
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Ability to manage multiple projects, drawing sets, and deadlines simultaneously

Preferred: 7+ years of experience with significant responsibility for construction documentation and detailing on luxury custom residential projects.

Candidates should be prepared to provide samples of construction document sets and architectural details demonstrating their technical documentation capabilities.

You take ownership of your work.

You don’t wait for someone else to identify every problem. If dimensions don’t align, a detail doesn’t make sense, information is missing, or you see a potential construction conflict, you raise it.

You execute feedback completely. You understand that one revision may affect multiple plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules, and shop drawings, and you make sure those changes are coordinated throughout the entire set.

You ask questions when something is unclear rather than making assumptions about design intent.

You review your own work prior to submittal.

You understand construction well enough to think beyond what something looks like and consider how it will actually be built.

You are comfortable working quickly when a project requires it without sacrificing accuracy.

You understand that high‑end custom residential design requires a different level of documentation. Details matter, from where a grout joint lands, to how an LED channel disappears into millwork, to how two materials terminate against one another, to what a client sees when they enter a room.

Success in this role means the Principal Designer can provide design direction, markups, and feedback and trust that you will carry that information through the project accurately, completely, and thoughtfully.

Contractors can build from the Interior Design Set for Construction, along with completing a pricing set.

Fabricators understand the design intent.

Shop drawings are thoroughly reviewed before mistakes make it into fabrication.

Custom architectural details are resolved before they become field questions.

The design team spends less time correcting documentation and more time designing.

And when something doesn’t make sense, you catch it before it becomes an expensive field problem.

Studio James is a luxury residential interior design studio creating highly customized homes with a focus on thoughtful design, exceptional materials, and meticulous execution.

Our projects require close collaboration between interior design, architecture, construction, fabrication, and procurement. We value people who care deeply about their craft, take ownership of their responsibilities, communicate proactively, and understand the level of detail required to execute exceptional residential interiors.