Crested Butte Center for the Arts

This historic mountain community signaled its support for the arts when it built the Center, a vibrant and inviting public arts facility. The intimate character and excellent acoustics of the Center's 320-seat theater are primarily due to the extensive use of wood. Curved and faceted acoustical wood reflectors direct sound and can be custom-tuned for music and spoken-word performances. A gallery, art studios, and rehearsal rooms surround a double-height lobby that combines massive wood structural members, textured copper, and floor-to-ceiling glass walls to create a warm and welcoming space. The design team made creative use of wood structural systems, including glulam columns, LVL rafters, the lobby's unique wood-and-steel 3D space-truss system, and an entry canopy with skewed glulam columns. The blue-stained cedar exterior cladding makes the Center for the Arts one of the most recognizable buildings in town.  


Watch a short one-minute video of this project, which was selected as a 2023 Wood Design Awards winner. View the full award gallery here.