Colorado Outward Bound School Micro Cabins

Located on a steep hillside in a pine forest, the Micro-Cabins in Leadville, Colorado, were designed as micro dormitories for the Colorado Outward Bound School. The cabins sit lightly on the landscape, elevated above the winter snow pack on steel columns. The client brief called for 21 cabins, seven senior staff insulated cabins for year-round use and 14 seasonal cabins to meet the housing needs during peak season. In the spring of 2016, a second group of 28 students designed and built seven insulated cabins for year-round use. These structures were required to meet the standards of the International Energy Conservation Code climate zone 7&8 (the coldest zone in the United States). Inspired by quinzees, a snow shelter made from a hollowed out pile of snow, the students adapted the logic of "snow insulation" for their structures. The cabins employ structurally insulated panels (SIPs) for the walls and flat roofs. The roofs are designed to hold the snow in the winter, providing an additional R-20 to R-30 of insulation depending on the depth of the snow. A single electrical circuit powers each structure. This is accomplished by the small cabin footprints, LED lighting, and the superinsulation of the SIPs combined with the snow's natural insulation. This efficiency represents the school's commitment to the environment. The orientation and articulation of each of the seven cabins react individually to the immediate site conditions present in the landscape. No two cabins are alike. Hot rolled steel cladding provides a low maintenance rain screen for the structure. This cladding and the vertical columns of the moment frame below blend with the pine forest, minimizing the visual impact. The cabin interiors are skinned in birch plywood bringing warmth to the structure and evoking a connection with the trees surrounding the site.