Appalachian Mountain Club, Highland Welcome Center

The Highland Center site plan incorporates existing historic structures: the Shapleigh studio (circa 1885), Crawford Notch Railroad Depot (circa 1875), and a former carriage house (circa 1905) that was transformed into office, dormitory, and conference spaces for the AMC. Although the existing timber-frame was preserved at Thayer Hall, structural reinforcing (recycled steel), new MEP systems, and new interior and exterior finishes were required.

The lodge takes inspiration from the AMC’s motto, “walk lightly on the land” by minimizing its’ environmental footprint. The Highland Center has an ultra-high performance exterior envelope wrapping the building structure in 6” to 8” insulated panels and triple pane glazing. The building is cooled exclusively with natural ventilation and heated by a central wood fired bio-mass boiler. The final design ensured that construction and paving would disturb less than 2.5% of the proposed site. The design was an effort to show that sustainably designed buildings can respond in a compatible manner to their context – built and natural – as well as literally express the technologies involved in their construction & operations.