Sustainable Home in the Mountains of Colorado
Construction that emphasizes sustainability and livability while keeping to a tight budget is foundational to this mining-town community.
Creede America is a small community of modest-sized houses nestled in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. In homage to the town of Creede’s mining history, the architecture nods to the regional vernacular while bringing a definite freshness and modernity to the homes, which range in size between 850 sq. ft. and 3000 sq. ft.
Construction that emphasizes sustainability and livability while keeping to a tight budget is foundational to the community. Windows afford natural cross ventilation, and since the cold winters require tightly insulated houses, there is a heat-recovery ventilator (HRV)—common to every Creede America residence—that moves fresh air through the house when doors and windows are closed.
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Design-wise, each house has special elements that set it apart from the others. This project, a builder-owner design collaboration, uses plywood for the interior paneling, kitchen, ceiling, and window popout. Instead of full 4×8 sheets for the ceiling, a size that would have been off-scale for the house, the pieces were cut in quarters, and to accentuate the space between the sheets of plywood there is a consistent 1 ⁄ 4-in. gap. As proof that economy can be fun, bathroom vanities are stock IKEA cabinets, one custom-painted authentic taxi-cab yellow, the other bright red.
Architect/Builder: Avery Augur and Jaimi Baer, Caldera Design Build
Location: Creede, Colo.
Photography: Charles Davis Smith, FAIA
Learn more about the homes in this community at creedeamerica.com
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Nice use of plywood for a unique ceiling and wall finish. More details on sustainability would be nice to note besides the HRV. Passive house design principles used? Heating system? Apparently no PV or SHWH wonder why? Neighboring San Luis Valley is home to Colorados first Solar Energy Assoc where passive and active solar thermal heating has been used in many homes here for past 40 years. Why not here?