2022 ASLA Merit Award | Pikes Peak

At 14,115’ the summit’s harsh and high-altitude conditions deteriorated the facilities to the point where the team was tasked with re-envisioning the entire summit complex to be a sustainable, well-functioning campus that hosts more than half a million annual visitors, scientific research facilities, and large events throughout the summer. The final design strives to meet the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard, the Living Building Challenge, that mimics nature’s model: cleanly, beautifully and efficiently – the first of its kind at this elevation. The subalpine-alpine region provides critical habitat for wildlife and birds and necessitated delicate solutions to protect and restore the ecosystem that takes decades to establish and thrive. Ultimately, the planning and site design balanced these many goals to guide and disperse crowds of multimodal arrivals and provide singular visitation experiences that honor the historical and tribal stories of its grandeur.⁠
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