Located on a 2,000-acre mountain site that previously had no utilities or services, this retreat for leaders in the educational community includes 20 buildings totaling 60,000 sq ft. The centerpiece lodge building features a distinctive clamshell silhouette with a cantilevered roof created by a curved steel frame as well as Colorado’s largest rammed earth wall.
The building’s three standing-seam metal roofs were installed in a clockwise pattern, with the pieces seamed by hand. The curved roof was put on like scales, explains Doug Thompson, Hyder Construction project executive, with zinc-coated copper panels affixed to hundreds of support stanchions installed to the roof surface. A grid of the roof was created during the design phase, and each stanchion was individually placed and sized, further complicating assembly.