H+L Architecture’s design for Colorado Mountain College’s Alpine Campus Center will help establish the school as an international learning center for a form of renewable energy known as geoexchange. The Alpine Campus Center is sited on a mountain that overlooks downtown Steamboat Springs. One of the challenges for this project was to make the Alpine Campus more accessible and easier to navigate. The new building design will include a bridge element that connects an upper terrace to a lower terrace, providing covered vertical circulation between key buildings on a campus that receives 400 inches of snow annually every winter. In addition the curved south facade offers panoramic views of Steamboat Springs. The design also incorporates outdoor plazas and decks to create outdoor gathering spaces for students and staff. The design character of this new building is critical to the campus. It serves as a visible landmark to draw attention to the identity of the campus. It also provides stunning views to the natural beauty of the area. The use of native stone and glass provides a fit within the landscape of the mountain community while maintaining the tight budget. The building design represents a natural but modern look.
