Sanjay Gangal Sanjay Gangal is the President of IBSystems, the parent company of AECCafe.com, MCADCafe, EDACafe.Com, GISCafe.Com, and ShareCG.Com.
Camp Paint Rock in Hyattville, Wyoming by Charles Rose Architects Inc.
December 2nd, 2011 by Sanjay Gangal
Article source: Charles Rose Architects Inc.
The dramatic setting for this unusual project is a 110,000-acre private ranch in north-central Wyoming, replete with steep canyons, tall mesas, rushing streams. The Alm Foundation, a private Los Angeles charity, commissioned Charles Rose Architects to build a camp in this rugged terrain for teen-agers from inner-city Los Angeles. There are 16 buildings in all “clustered around the mouth of a canyon” including boys and girls cabins, a dining hall, director’s house, counselors lodge and stable.
View of Dining Hall at dusk revealing its timber frame construction, looking northeast
View of Boys’ Cabin #2 demonstrating the elevation of the east cabins over the canyon wall, looking northeast
Paint Rock’s design seeks to harness the dramatic scale, power and beauty of the Western landscape. Building forms echo the geology and natural forms of the landscape. The roof of the dining hall, for example, is partly inspired by geologic fault lines; the fissures create openings for views up the canyon walls and allow in natural light. Many of the structures were built on steel platforms and stilts that burrow into the canyon’s steep walls. Decks, lookouts and sliding barnlike doors open these light, primitive buildings to the skies and sweeping views. The buildings, with their metal roofs, appear as glinting shards in the bright western sun. Together, they create a kind of neatly fractured community. Each building stands independently but connects through a series of pathways and bridges, which in turn reinforces through design the campus philosophy of self-reliance and leadership within an interdependent community.
View of campers’ utilizing the cabins’ viewing platforms and decks, Boys’ Cabin #3 in foreground
Writing in All American: Innovation in American Architecture (Thames & Hudson), Brian Carter and Annette Lecuyer say of Paint Rock: “Sensitive to the differing ground patterns, it recalls the camp established by Frank Lloyd Wright at Ocotillo, successfully capturing the sense of those first moments of settlement and a tentative occupation of the land.” Completed in 2001, Paint Rock has received several other tributes, including an American Architecture Award, Boston Society of Architects Honor Award for Design Excellence, American Wood Council National Honor Award and an ID Magazine Design Award.
View of Girls’ Cabin #3 and nearby stream utilized for passive cooling of the north cabins
View of Girls’ Cabin #3 showing sliding doors and ladder to elevated roof deck for gathering and viewing
View of Boys’ Cabin #2 with sliding doors retracted, demonstrating the versatility of the structures and the campers’ ability to alter the enclosure
View of north cabins and Counselors’ Lodge, looking southwest
View of complex with Dining Hall in foreground, looking north to the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains
View of the Dining Hall’s deck hovering over the landscape with view of Boys’ Cabin #3 beyond
Looking southwest at Counselors’ Lodge and footbridge (at left) which incorporates a bench along its length
South facade of Horse Barn, looking west
View from the roof deck at Girls’ Cabin #3, looking southeast at other cabins and Dining Hall at far right
View of Boys’ Cabin #2 demonstrating the elevation of the east cabins over the canyon wall, looking northeast
Site Model
View of campers’ utilizing the cabins’ viewing platforms and decks, Boys’ Cabin #3 in foreground
View of Girls’ Cabin #3 and nearby stream utilized for passive cooling of the north cabins
View of Girls’ Cabin #3 showing sliding doors and ladder to elevated roof deck for gathering and viewing
View of Boys’ Cabin #2 with sliding doors retracted, demonstrating the versatility of the structures and the campers’ ability to alter the enclosure
View of Dining Hall at dusk revealing its timber frame construction, looking northeast
View of north cabins and Counselors’ Lodge, looking southwest
View of complex with Dining Hall in foreground, looking north to the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains
View of the Dining Hall’s deck hovering over the landscape with view of Boys’ Cabin #3 beyond
Site Plan
Looking southwest at Counselors’ Lodge and footbridge (at left) which incorporates a bench along its length
South facade of Horse Barn, looking west
View from the roof deck at Girls’ Cabin #3, looking southeast at other cabins and Dining Hall at far right
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