Ski & Racquet Club Remodel, Breckenridge, CO
Architect of Record: BHH Partners, Breckenridge, CO Sub-contracting design work: Motus Design Group,llc/Yvonne C. Bryant, Greater Denver Area Contractor: DeVigne Developing, Breckenridge, COAbout:
The Ski and Racquet Club is located off Highway 9, just south of Boreas Pass Road in Breckenridge, Colorado. They are within walking distance of the base of Peak 9 and Main Street, with access to public transportation, hiking and biking trails. The complex consists of three condominium buildings, each containg 24 units, plus a Recreation building that has meeting rooms, pool and hot tub.
Background:
BEFORE: Ski & Racquet Club, Breckenridge, CO
Over the last 20 years, the Home Owner’s Association (HOA) worked with local architects developing multiple facade renovation studies. In 2011, they worked with BHH Partners to develop a new look for the facilities (facade renovation) while addressing roof drainage issues, drainage issues on the exterior walkways, emergency exit identification, exterior lighting issues, and accessibility issues from improvements done on the unit walkways.
I had the opportunity to work with the HOA through my sub-contract work with BHH Partners to guiding the new design and reviewing challeges they were facing.
Concept:
We developed a series of sketches based on the Homeowners input. These were presented to the building committee and they then selected the scheme that was further developed.
The style selected was a Mountain Modern style architecture. A new fiber-cement facade with metal siding accents was added to the buildings to cut down on maintenance costs, but to add an aesthetic texture to the building also. The Town of Breckenridge requires a certain percentage of building facades to look like natural materials and to be natural materials. Accordingly, dark trim engineered wood accents was used on all three buildings.
As you noticed in the above video, the original architecture was a ‘lovely’ shade of putty. We selected a neutral shade to use on all three buildings to tie the community together. Each building then got a unique accent color to help with guest wayfinding.
One of the unique features of the Ski & Racquet club is it’s amazing views. To better take advantage of these views, the old wood railing systems off of the walkways and decks was removed when the new walkway work was being done. New open railing systems were added to maximize the views. (A little aesthetic value didn’t hurt either!)
Inspiration Images & Concept sketches coming January 30 (being scanned!)
Challenges:
Remodels always have a series a challenges and this one was no different.
- The property management company had to bore holes in the end walls of the units so that we could find out what type of materials had been use in their construction and whether there was insulation in the walls.
- Breckenridge has extreme cold temperatures and the walkways to the units are all exposed to the weather. This was a challenge because all new emergency lighting had to be installed for paths of egress. There are not many emergency light kits available for climates that experience negative degree temperatures.
- These buildings were built prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act being adopted in 1996. This presented some challenges since we could not rebuild certain aspects of the structure. All of the access walkways were built up and sloped away from the doorways to create positive drainage (you don’t want water flowing towards your doors!) This caused a ledge at each door that did not meet accessibility standards. We identified this potential problem during Design Development and budgeted to raise the door frame heights and we found two products that could be installed inside the units to meet door threshold accessibility requirements.
- On the accessibility side again, all of the existing exterior light fixtures extended over 4″ into the emergency egress routes for the units. These again had the challenges of the extreme cold temperatures and the fact that Breckenridge requires dark sky compliant fixtures. (There were not many to select from to fit this situation, but we did find one after A LOT of searching.)
- Roof Access. I must admit that after having to climb on top of these three roofs, a roof clause will be implemented on ALL future contracts that may involve me accessing the roof. We’ll leave it at that since the recommended access improvements were value engineered out.
- The floor and roof/ceiling structures of the buildings were constructed of cast concrete T’s. These structural elements extended beyond the units to form the walkways and patios. Over the years, the freeze thaw cycle along with the artificial extensions added to these members had caused spalling. While not deemed a structural risk, the structural consultant made recommendations to fix the these elements before they did. In addition to the new walking surfaces for better drainage and accessibility access, the artificial extensions were removed and new glulam edges and guardrail systems were bolted on.
- There were additional challenges but these were just a few of the highlights…
The Final Product:
After photos from the Ski & Racquet Club: Slideshow (Note: this link takes you to their site.)
(More pictures coming soon! It’s been snowing up here in the High Country…)