The Bar Fork is the heart of campus life at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School. A4’s addition and renovations comprise an expanded dining hall, extensive student study and lounge areas, gallery space for the art department, a student bookstore, coll
After 60 years of hard use, the original Bar Fork building was undersized, had a leaky roof, and seemed forlorn after years of expedient maintenance that obscured its 60’s mountain-modern style and sophistication.
The new Bar Fork has opened to happy reviews from students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni and donors, bringing the building up to a standard befitting the hub of campus life.
The new dining hall offers a wide variety of spaces, nooks, study areas, and seating arrangements that can accommodate many different types of activities simultaneously. The goal is to make the space as inviting and useful to as many different types
Before the renovation, the dining hall was dark and acoustics made conversation nearly impossible when the whole community was gathered for lunch.
Looking in the same direction as the prior shot, one can see the original flagstone floor and exposed ceiling framing. The stone feature wall is re-purposed from an existing fireplace and everything above the first floor is a new addition.
A4’s design approach respected the existing plan and spirit of the original structure, restoring and reusing elements such as windows and stone from the original fireplace, seen at right. The result preserves elements of comforting familiarity while
A4 reconfigured the south entrance to accommodate an elevator tower and better ease of access. Climbing vines will ultimately adorn the tower’s south face. New covered outdoor classroom spaces are at left.
The prior entrance slid into a grim space behind the two horizontal windows in this photo. A new vertical element, which houses an elevator and vertical circulation, makes the side entry clearly visible from the interior core of the campus.
Additional covered outdoor gathering space was an important goal of this project. On the second story A4 delivered that and more with great views of Mt. Sopris and the campus from a generous new wraparound balcony.
The new balcony is a particular favorite with students and adults alike.
Subtle shifts to select wall planes on the ground floor of the dining hall and built-in seating banks allow the space to efficiently seat many more diners while also improving indoor-outdoor connection and expanding bike parking.
The west end of the Bar Fork underwent a less drastic renovation which was in many ways a restoration of the original design. Previous interventions had managed to both clutter and waste large amounts of space with an inefficient layout. Tacky and d
Main entry hall before opening up the crossing.
The main stair to the second story mezzanine repurposed glu-lam beams from the original roof structure as stair treads. A cleaned up and restored central hallway offers ample walls for student artwork. Opposite, new storefront windows connect the ha
A4 was honored to work with master British furniture-maker Luke Hughes on the Bar Fork project. Hughes, whose previous clients include Westminster Abbey and Oxford University, supplied beautiful oak tables and chairs that elevate the design quality
Original wood glu-lam roof beams were retained in the renovation, but were not up to the task of carrying the new load of the mezzanine and roof. A4 turned this engineering challenge into a design opportunity by using a rod detail that hangs the cen
Another view of the steel hanging rods in the context of the overall space. A similar design language carries into the new roof structure, which carries an extensive solar array. The symmetry of the original space was retained but reoriented towards
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