Colorado State University Mountain Campus Research and Education Building

Saunders completed The Donald and Esther Harbison Research and Education Building at Colorado State University's (CSU) Mountain Campus.

The building is a new, 6,950-square-foot building on the Mountain Campus in the Pingree Valley, approximately 24 miles northwest of CSU’s main campus in Fort Collins, Colo.

Due to its remote location, fire mitigation measures are in place on the campus. The building was designed with fire considerations in mind with a standing seam metal roof to mitigate the risk of flying embers. The use of fiber cement board siding was used in lieu of wood siding, which was the standard on the campus. The lowest portions of the basement walls were left as exposed and waterproofed CMU on the exterior (with no siding) not only to limit the risk of burning, but also to protect the building from water infiltration during the prolonged presence of snow drifts over the winter months. The building also has a mass timber roof construction in lieu of dimensional framing and a buffer zone of landscape around the building.