Designing a passive/solar house in Colorado requires one to pay attention to many details and site conditions; including, wind and snow loads, sun angles during the summer and winter months, and how to trap and store heat with certain materials. The site of the house is located in Vail, Colorado, a town that is well known for its ski resort and shops, on the south facing side of a mountain. The clients are the world renowned gymnast, Simone Biles, and her sister, Adria Biles, who is also a gymnast.
Since gymnasts live very complex lives between their training schedules and competitions, the house should provide spaces that are peaceful which is accomplished through the repetitive windows and the horizontality of the building. The house follows a simple floor plan of two shifted rectangles with the entrance in the center. The entrance has a significantly lower, flat ceiling that enables it to separate the more private areas from the public spaces. The workout room has a tall ceiling that allows plenty of room for one to comfortably move around. The back wall has two Murphy beds that fold out allowing the workout room to serve as the bedroom during the night. The bathroom is located towards the back across from the entrance providing easy access from both the bedroom and the living space. The concept of simplicity balances out the complexity of not only the flips and twirls, but the lives of a gymnast.
All windows are operable and have shutters and shades that protect it from the eastern and western sun during the day and heat loss at night. On the Southern façade, the windows are larger allowing more sun to enter the house during the winter and protected from the summer sun by an overhang. The windows on the North side of the house are small slits that allow for daylighting.
The building is constructed precast concrete that allows for easy construction and can be recycled and potentially reused in the future. The exterior wall surface is stone that is produced near the site. The concrete walls surrounding the bathroom serve as a thermal mass that stores heat during the day and releases it during the night. The concrete provides a smooth surface to that adds to the simplicity of the house and the stone exterior makes the building blend in with its surrounding environment.
