Designed for Success | Drewett Works Architecture Wins With Passion

Architect C.P. Drewett, president and founder of Drewett Works, was inspired by his father who taught him a lot about home projects at a young age.

Jeff Zaruba / The Crusader Home

“My dad was in the military, so we moved frequently,” said Drewett. “We’d buy the worst house in the best neighborhood, and my dad was the original “fix and flip” guy. I was hands-on at an early age. I attribute a lot of my career to my father teaching me critical thinking and the importance of details.”

Drewett joined the Louisiana Army National Guard when he was 17. “I was exposed to engineers and a remarkable amount of construction including building roads and bridges,” he said.

After graduating from Louisiana State University’s College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, C.P. Drewett moved to Phoenix and the Drewett Works story begins.

Paul Moore / ICONIC HAUS

“A college professor advised me to work for a small, medium and large firm. I did that and I learned a lot,” said Drewett. “I worked at some great local firms and decided to go out on my own. It was a clear path, and it’s been a blessed path.”

Drewett Works, a boutique architecture firm specializing in luxury residential, hospitality and commercial projects, opened in 2001. The firm’s work has been featured in magazines such as Luxe Interiors + Design, Phoenix Home & Garden and, of course, ICONIC LIFE.

And that leads us to the luxury architecture awards streak Drewett Works has been on for the past few years, most recently a trio of Grand Awards and an Award of Merit in the Gold Nugget Awards 2020, which honors architectural design and planning excellence and draws entries from throughout the United States and internationally.

Steve Thompson / Seven Club House

Drewett Works’ Grand Awards were Seven Desert Mountain, honored for Best Recreational Use Facility/Amenity; Tonal Harmony honored for Best Indoor/Outdoor Lifestyle for a Home; and Tonal Harmony honored for Best Interior Design of a One of a Kind or Custom Home. An Award of Merit went to The Crusader, honored in the Best Custom Home Over 8,000 sq. ft.

“Gold Nugget Award winners reflect our industry’s best, brightest, and most innovative architects, planners and builder/developers,” said Judging Chairman and Gold Nugget ceremonies administrator Lisa Parrish. “We applaud them all.”

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Steve Thompson / Seven Club House

Seven Desert Mountain rewrites the playbook of community clubhouses designed by this residential luxury architecture firm with free-flowing indoor-outdoor experiences created by extensive overhangs, walls of pocketing glass, and natural material which flow from indoors out. The state-of-the-art 8,900 sq. ft. clubhouse is a stunning sculpture of stone, masonry, and pocketing glass, a true departure from the existing clubhouses at this internationally acclaimed community.

The project team included M3 Companies, Newman Commercial Builders, Greey | Pickett and Ownby Design.

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Dino Tonn / Tonal Harmony Home

Tonal Harmony is a tranquil Paradise Valley retreat for a new-to-the-Valley family who was seeking the modernism they loved though had never lived in. The luxury architecture’s interior loftiness is created with overlapping, undulating planes of plaster, glass, and steel. The woven nature of horizontal planes throughout the living spaces provides an uplifting sense, inviting a symphony of light to enter the space.

The more voluminous public spaces are comprised of stone-clad massing elements which C.P. Drewett used to create a desert pavilion embracing the outdoor spaces. Every room opens to exterior spaces providing a dramatic embrace of home to natural environment. The project team included Argue Custom Homes, Ownby Design and Refined Gardens.

Jeff Zaruba / The Crusader Home

The Crusader, located at The Estancia Club in Scottsdale, AZ, takes inspiration from an F8 Crusader plane, wings folded, on a carrier deck, the plane flown by the architect’s father while serving in the Marine Corps. The roof form folds and angles were the genesis of the design. A spinal column runs through providing circulation and illumination by sky lights and clerestories, penetrating the core of the house with natural light. The resulting roof forms open up to the Sonoran Desert and southward towards local landmark Pinnacle Peak. The project team included Peak Ventures, Ownby Design and High Desert Designs.

In 2019, C.P. Drewett’s residential luxury architecture firm, Drewett Works, won seven “Best in American Living Awards,” the building industry’s premier residential awards program, by the National Association of Homebuilders including ”In Plane Sight’s” Room of the Year, and a Platinum Award for Community Facility for the clubhouse at Seven at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale.

Indoor living spaces enveloped by pocketing glass doors open to an outdoor, three-level paradise designed by C.P. Drewett.

The raised peninsula pool, which seemingly levitates above the ground floor plane, becomes a centerpiece for the outdoor living environment and the connection point between lower-level entertainment spaces and upper outdoor spaces.

Suffice to say, Drewett Works won five Best in American Living Awards in 2018.

Steve Thompson / Seven Golf Course

“It was exciting for us to win the award for the clubhouse that we designed for Seven at Desert Mountain,” said C.P. Drewett. “It was our inaugural run with a golf clubhouse. It’s more of a gastropub than a standard clubhouse. I think its openness, texture and marriage to the desert work really well. It was a labor of love and we’re really proud of it,” said the luxury architect, talking of working with Newman Commercial Builders.

Collaboration is key to Drewett’s success. “Everything we design is a direct result of careful collaboration with our clients. We have a shared vision with our clients, and we listen carefully. I really love learning how people live and work, and then providing them with great space.”

Jeff Zaruba / The Crusader Home

Drewett has a vison and process for his work. “I’ve always said architecture is a series of marriages. It’s the marriage of art, science and building. When I walk on a site, there is an instinct and an innate vision that comes to me. I run to my desk, and I usually can’t stop until it’s done. I’m able to navigate through lots of ideas in rapid fashion, and it’s sort of an adrenaline rush for me.”

C.P. Drewett is excited about the projects that Drewett Works is working on in Arizona, around the country and in international destinations.

“There are so many great architects here in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area, and we’re in a fortunate position because I think some really exciting changes are coming, especially in Old Town Scottsdale,” he said. “I think more partnerships with developers are going to present themselves. In addition to great local opportunities, this year we have projects in Vancouver, Mexico, Georgia, Texas and more in the works.”

Paul Moore / ICONIC HAUS

Drewett Works designed the luxury architecture for Iconic Haus earlier this year, a luxury design showcase featuring beautiful rooms and outdoor spaces created by 19 of the Phoenix area’s most creative design teams located at Cameldale Estates in Paradise Valley to benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

In addition to architecture, C.P. Drewett has many other passions including cooking, singing in the church choir, health and fitness, and his family, including Elizabeth, his wife of 26 years, and their two children. He loves sharing his design and passion on social media including Pinterest and Instagram.

Drewett truly loves his work and his team. “I can’t wait to come into work every day and I believe the team feels the same. We try so hard to make not just special luxury architecture, but a really special culture,” he said. “My driving force is a pencil in my hand. I can’t wait to pick it up.”