A Home for America’s Heroes

The barracks at Fort Carson, designed to maximise energy efficiency by preparing to adapt to net-zero energy use, will create a livable military residential community for nearly 1,000 soldiers. Different spatial arrangements encourage soldiers’ social interaction, provide a variety of spaces for gatherings and activities attended by either small or large groups.

The complex is comprised of three H-shaped apartment buildings; each consists of two north/south facing, parallel four-story barracks wings linked by a one-story entry pavilion that contains the main entry, mud room, recycling space and public restroom. The main building entrance is centralised, which allows soldiers to enter the building from both the parking lot and courtyard.

The complex is distinguished with these elements:

• The loft-like glass lobby offers a visual connection between the formal landscaped entrance plaza in the front and the sports and activity landscape courtyard in the back.
• Each apartment building utilises a standard 1+1 bedroom module, consisting of two one-person combination living room/bedrooms, one bedroom, two personal closets, and one shared kitchen.
• Natural daylighting is abundant in all living areas. Occupancy sensors control the HVAC operations depending on whether or not someone is in their room.
• An informal landscaped zone with bioswales, native trees and shrubs planted in-between each building where emergency access road and jogging path passes.
• Solar walls in the building façade harvest solar energy, solar hot water panels provide 30% of domestic hot water consumption and solar PV arrays offset 24.8% of the annual energy consumption of a baseline building through onsite generation.
• Energy-efficient radiant floor heat and cooling system supplement with chilled beam cooling system for all apartment units, sunshades for all window openings and a highly efficient MEP system.