A group of architecture students from the Colorado Building Workshop recently constructed 14 attractive small cabins near Leadville, Colorado. The prefabricated dwellings offer bare-bones accommodation for visitors to an Outward Bound center.
The Colorado Outward Bound Micro Cabins, as they are dubbed, are located on a steep hill within a Lodgepole Pine forest and serve as dormitories for visitors to the Colorado Outward Bound School. To ensure quick on-site construction, they were prefabricated in Denver before being shipped to location and assembled within three weeks.
Each cabin sits atop concrete piles and is surrounded by a frame that offers a semi-outdoor space for storing gear such as bikes and kayaks. In addition, the frame sports a secondary roof that's designed to withstand heavy winter snow loads. The cabins are clad in hot-rolled steel and intended to require little maintenance.
![Inside one of the cabins](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/7b42d16/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1619x1080+0+0/resize/1439x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Farchive%2Fcolorado-micro-cabins-17.jpg)
Inside, the cabins measure 140 to 200 sq ft (13 to 18 sq m) and are finished in birch plywood. The layouts vary, but include storage units, pull-down beds and under-storage. There's no toilet or cooking facilities though, and guests must make use of a nearby bathhouse.
A Colorado Building Workshop representative told Gizmag that the long-term plan is to build seven more cabins (construction on these is currently ongoing). In addition, a new staff lodge with bathrooms, laundry, dining hall and communal space will be designed by a local architecture firm. The entire project is expected to be completed within two years.
Source: Colorado Building Workshop via Arch Daily