Colorado House - ARO Architecture Research Office

Situated on a 120-acre parcel of land, Colorado House is a frame that directly engages the panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains.

home in open field surrounded by yellow forest

Each room bears a direct connection with the landscape. Bedroom windows feature intimate views while more dramatic vistas are reserved for the living room and dining room. Two principal views—one towards the Sneffels range in the northeast, another towards the Ophir Needles to the southeast—make up the house’s principal axis. At the heart of the house is the kitchen, around which the bedroom suites are organized.

corten steel wall runs along path up to front door after rain

Entry.

Simply detailed interiors support the notion of the house as a frame for the landscape. Interior walls are covered in white plaster while the floors are a continuous surface of polished concrete. To clad the exterior walls that frame these views, we devised a shingle system using canted parallelograms of Cor-Ten steel, which develops a rust-colored patina. In color, shape, and the asymmetrical pattern of their placement, these shingles relate to the surrounding mountains and aspen trees.

walls extend from a living area through a large window overlooking a valley and colorado mountains

At select moments in the design these shingle-clad walls slip inside the house, dissolving the perceived boundary between natural and built environments.

dining room, table, and chandelier near stone wall and views to the surrounding mountains

Dining area.

Kitchen.

Bathroom.

hats, jackets, and shoes in aligned before a patterned steel wall

Cor-Ten steel walls protruding into landscape

Corten steel shingled walls.

Writing

Seven Homes, 2008