The Palisade Event Center (PEC) is located in Gateway, Colorado in a remote location known for its slick rock formations, solitude, and beauty. The PEC, one of a number of projects designed for the Gateway Canyons Resort by Centre Sky Architecture, is a beautiful and grand facility that offers an array of engaging spaces organized around a Grand Discovery Foyer. This 18,182 SF Corporate Conference and Learning Center is composed of two large divisible meeting areas, two classroom spaces, a Board Room, HD Theatre for 50 guests, restaurant and a large commercial kitchen to service the overall resort’s needs. Additional support spaces include an employee cafeteria and an Audio Video Control Room. With the site being in a high arid location there was an emphasis on exterior covered patios for protection from the elements. The PEC is built in tandem with the Dome Amphitheatre which will host bands, receptions and weddings designed with bermed seating for several hundred guests.
The PEC and Dome Amphitheatre were designed with the ideals of the Unaweep Style, which was created for the location. “Unaweep Style” which is named for the Unaweep Canyon located in southwestern Colorado. The designs recreate the monumentality, the ruggedness, and the color variations of the surrounding land. Massive exterior walls of plaster and indigenous stone characterize Unaweep structures. The use of colors, arches, courtyards with water elements, boulders and landscaping unite architecture with the local geography. The unevenness of the Unaweep Style, its rounded corners, smooth curves, and mass create a sense of belonging with its natural surroundings. The ease and simplicity of the structures show in the balanced proportions and compelling scale while the applications of recessed fenestration in the exterior wall and large amounts of natural and diffuse light characterize these structures by bringing the exterior into the interior. The Unaweep Style is a mixture of elements familiar to the Anasazi of Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, the Pueblo Revival Style of the 1920’s, and including Moorish & Roman-influenced architectural motifs with an ecological twist.
A sustainable building was a priority and was designed towards the goal of a LEED Silver rating with these unique elements: A campus geothermal systems was designed to service a majority of the campus facilities, use of indigenous stone to create a unique look and harvested within 1 mile of the building, comprehensive building lighting controls, site selection/site development, and native landscaping. The detailing and quality of the design is a team effort among the skilled design team and innovative owner. Unique among all the resorts in the world is Gateway Canyon’s offer of a “vacation for the mind” as well as retreat for the body and spirit.
This project all started with the client turning to us and saying, “Can you imagine a place…”
This project is LEED certificed.