The new music rehearsal space for Colorado Rocky Mountain School is a single room constructed of SIP panels with wall and ceiling surfaces of varying degrees of absorbency. The vertical striped panels slide across the window to modulate sound and light.

Rustic siding and muted stains were derived from materials on the barn, but the tall yellow steel column calls out to the campus like a single note from a French horn.

A double layer of greenhouse paneling makes the view of a state highway and strip development to the east look like a watercolor.

The roof structure is regular, while walls below angle to improve the acoustics inside. Above is a detail outside the greenhouse panel east wall.

We went back to see this house two years after completion. The soft native grasses and fruit trees in the front yard defy most sub-division covenants, but we think it looks great and saves water too!

Newspapers are displayed adjacent to the fireplace in the main reading room. Windows look out onto a public park, which is in the flood plain of the Roaring Fork River.

The Library is separated from the Community Room by a common entry that serves as a reception area for Community Room events and as a place for people to gather, chat, or have a coffee either before entering the Library itself.The Community Room, like the main reading room of the Library, is sheathed in regionally obtained aspen boards, variously spaced over absorbent backing for various acoustic requirements.

The north end of the reading room lifts up to afford a view of the top of Basalt Mountain across the river. Subdued light combined with comfortable seating and good work areas make this the most popular place in the Library.

The steel structure of the main reading room was inspired by trees in the flood plain just north of the building site. Daylight enters from clerestories, which are glazed with glass or translucent plastic panels depending on the solar orientation. Small alcoves are recessed into the sides of the large wood volume to accommodate reserve shelves, small meeting rooms and service areas.

Our Associated Architect, OZ Architecture, came up with this circle of aspens as a way to identify the children's library and to provide some separation between the younger and older users of this space. The gray patch of carpet was eventually replaced with plexi-glass to allow a view into the 18" tall underfloor plenum, which allows for low velocity air delivery and data and power modifications as technology or furniture layouts change.

]]> http://www.a4arc.com/pinboard/2010/05/274/feed/ 0 http://www.a4arc.com/pinboard/2010/05/basalt-regional-library-2/ http://www.a4arc.com/pinboard/2010/05/basalt-regional-library-2/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 17:40:28 +0000 Olivia Emery http://www.a4arc.com/pinboard/?p=263 Greg Watts took this photograph soon after the Library opened in January 2010. Library visits jumped from approximately 300 to 1000 per day soon after the new facility opened and have remained high ever since.

Aerial view of 3D model showing site and surrounding buildings in white

This project is currently in the public approvals proceess in Carbondale. The model and images within the site are key to helping planners, public commissions and the public understand densities, character and the relationship of the proposal to its surroundings.