Surroundings Studio

Steamboat Mountain School, nestled in the stunning Rocky Mountains of Colorado, is embarking on a transformative journey to reimagine its two campuses. In collaboration with , Surroundings lead the landscape master planning effort, where we created a regionally inspired campus that elevates the student experience with outdoor learning and sports.⁠
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Drawing inspiration from the natural streams and aspens running through the campus, we’ve designed a circulation network that better flows between buildings and dorms, with the goal to have as much accessibility (with over 70 feet of grade change!) as possible for the students. At the heart of the campus, students will enjoy a new level playing field due to proposed amphitheater seating and a boulder wall that retain the hillside. Around Lake Flato's proposed multi-use building, which houses a gym, fitness center, ski-tuning room, and cafeteria, a bar-top study/dining area provides an active view to the field beyond. New bioswales, mimicking the streams that run through campus, were designed to efficiently move snowmelt and stormwater, while also provide support for the subalpine landscape.⁠
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Client: Steamboat Mountain School⁠
PIC: Kenneth Francis ⁠
PM: Joseph Charles ⁠
PA: Whitney Couchoud ⁠
Architects: ⁠
Civil: ⁠
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Surroundings has been working closely with The Santa Fe Children’s Museum over the past couple of years to help create a master plan and realize the first phase renovation of the Children's Backyard. It has finally reopened to the public this summer and has been a huge success.

The first phase of the project includes a new music / pollinator garden, a loose parts play area, a new accessible primary loop path, new bathrooms, a new amphitheater, and our favorite part… a sand and water play area that reuses salvaged runnels from the original site. The overall design reflects the mission of the Museum to foster learning, creativity, and a sense of wonder through unstructured play.

Client: Santa Fe Children’s Museum

Design Team:
PIC: Kenneth Francis
PM: Abby Feldman
Landscape contractor:
Contractor:

Photographer: