Colorado Outward Bound Micro Cabins

Project Details

Project Name
Colorado Outward Bound Micro Cabins
Location
LeadvilleCO
Project Types
Student Housing
Shared By
Symone
Project Status
Built
Year Completed
2015
Team
Student: Derek Ackley
Student: Sidney Aulds
Maymester Student: Becca Barenblat
Student: Brent Beicker
Student: Matthew Breen
Student: Andrew Brown
Maymester Student: Jeff D'Addario
Student: John Giddens
Student: Brandon Gossard
Student: Aaron Gray
Student: Dane Hardy
Student: Chad Holmes
Student: Casandra Huff
Student: Mark Hurni
Student: Timo Jyrinki
Student: Rachel Koleski
Faculty: Scott Lawrence
Student: Kate Lucas
Student: Nathan Moore
Student: Matt Ollmann
Maymester Student: Sam Palmer-Dwore
Student: Aleka Pappas
Student: Holly Paris
Student: Nathan Pepper
Student: Kit Piane
Student: Ken Roberts
Student: Louisa Sanford
Faculty: Rick Sommerfeld
Faculty: JD Signom
Student: Joe Stainbrook
Student: Brandon Sweeney
Student: Phil Stuen
Student: Amanda Tharp
Faculty: Jordan Vaughn
Student: Elliott Watenpaugh

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Located on a steep hillside in a lodgepole pine forest, these cabins were designed as micro dormitories for the Colorado Outward Bound School. The cabins sit lightly on the landscape, directing views from private spaces towards trees, rock outcroppings and distant mountain views of the Mosquito Range. More public “community” views are directed into social spaces that develop from the organization of the cabins in relationship to one another. These community spaces are made up of front porches and the negative spaces between cabins.

To satisfy clients’ lodging and storage requirements, and to facilitate completion in three weeks of on-site construction, the cabins were conceived as two separate elements, a “box” and a “frame”. The “frame” acts as a storage device for the educators’ large gear (bikes, skis, kayaks, etc.) while simultaneously housing the cabin “box” and covered porches. The prefabricated cabin “box” rests in the frame under the protection of a “snow roof” designed to keep the winter snow load off the waterproofed roof below. Hot rolled steel provides a low maintenance rain screen for the box. This steel cladding and the vertical columns blend with the lodgepole forest minimizing the visual impact of the cabins. Structural taped glazing on the windows eliminates mullions and connects the occupants directly with natural views.

The interior of the cabin is skinned in CNC’d birch plywood bringing warmth to the interior and evoking a connection with the trees surrounding the site. The plywood is specifically milled to accommodate desks, beds and storage for each user. The walls and CNC’d plywood were prefabricated in Denver, flat packed onto trucks and shipped to Leadville to shorten the on-site construction timeline.

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