Workforce & Student Housing

The multi-site Workforce & Student Housing project is extremely important for Colorado Mountain College (CMC) and the surrounding communities in Breckenridge, Steamboat Springs, Edwards, and Spring Valley (Glenwood Springs). The core issue is the shortage of affordable rental properties in the mountain communities, which have dramatically shifted from long-term to short-term rentals in response to increased tourism in recent years. This affordable housing crisis directly impacts CMC's ability to recruit students and support the completion of their degree programs. CMC has also struggled to attract new staff due to housing availability and price points.

The project's primary design goal was to develop a housing concept that could be easily applied and adapted to four campuses with unique topography, site constraints, and climatic considerations. The resulting design concept embraces an ethic of economy and pragmatism, assuming a form that is efficient and repeatable, both from the idea of a repeated design across multiple campuses and in phasing should a campus look to provide additional housing stock in the future. The buildings' palettes were conceived with some flexibility of color selection to fit within the mountain housing vernacular across campuses while also asserting a branding vision for the College.