Packard Hall at Colorado College
Packard Hall fosters the arts at Colorado College. The building, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, opened in 1976. ARO’s design reinforces Packard Hall’s clear internal organization and massing, increases program space for both departments and provides a new public identity for the building. The project began with a program study that defined space needs and explored alternatives for renovating and adding to the building in the most effective manner. This established overall goals, addressed functional conflicts between music and art spaces and proposed shared gathering spaces.
To create a cohesive composition of old and new, the addition’s form, material, and details are conceived in response to the volumetric, stucco-clad masonry of the original building. The façade’s angled, perforated zinc panels and rhythmic window pattern address the Colorado College quadrangle diagonally across the street. At night, a linear glass block skylight washes the main facade with light borrowed from the rooms below. A new two-story common area in the addition caps the existing circulation spine. The space brings daylight to below-grade areas and connects the first and second floors with a new staircase.
