by Stephen Eckert
Senior Architect, Caddis Collaborative

Above: Stephen Eckert is a senior architect at Caddis Collaborative.

Since 2010, my wife – architect Jade Polizzi – and I have led a service learning course at the University of Colorado Boulder. Jade is a faculty member at CU, and I assist her with the course and the service learning project.

In almost every summer since we started in 2010, we have taken a group of about 12 architecture students to New Mexico to work on a “design build” project for Lama Foundation. It is very rare to design and build a project, so it is a great opportunity for us and our students.

Located outside of Taos in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Lama Foundation is an ecumenical spiritual retreat center that embraces Buddhist, Sufi, Jewish, and other religious traditions. It was formed in the 1960s, with Ram Dass as one of the founders. 

The rustic facility is completely off the grid, utilizes solar-powered electricity, and includes outhouses.

There are about a dozen year-round residents, another dozen who come for the summer as “stewards,” and other people who come for targeted opportunities like writing workshops and other retreats.

Above: University of Colorado students pose outside the Heiwa Hut they built for Lama Foundation in 2014.

Our first project was the Buffalo Hut (after CU’s mascot, the Buffaloes). The 120-square-foot cabin includes a bedroom, a closet, and a built-in desk. This first project presented us with a big learning curve, but despite the challenges, we fell in love with Lama Foundation and couldn’t wait to go back.

Above: Stephen (second from left) with University of Colorado students who built the Buff Hut at Lama Foundation in 2013.

Since that time, we have also designed and built Sky Hut, Heiwa Hut, the Oogwey Hut, four tent platforms, and a shower house with solar hot water. The shower house was a particularly big hit with those who live at Lama Foundation – having the ability to take a hot shower is magical! And the Uguay Hut was significant in that, unlike the other structures that are designed for two- or three-season living, it is a permanent residence for people who live at Lama Foundation year-round. This was an especially ambitious project: it utilized a timber frame structure, and at 220 square feet, it is larger than the other huts we designed and built.

Above: Stephen (second from left) with University of Colorado students who built the Buff Hut at Lama Foundation in 2013.

The process is approximately the same each time regardless of what we are building. We raise some money, Lama Foundation raises some money, and CU contributes some funds. We buy materials in Boulder and build some of the components here, and then we transport everything down to New Mexico. 

One thing that makes the experience work is that we and the students live together at Lama Foundation for about three weeks. This gives us and the students the opportunity to participate in the life of the community, including daily rituals such as “heart tuning.” Many of the students are still in touch with us, some still go down to Lama Foundation, and there have even been a couple of marriages among those former students! One former student was a steward this past summer and will probably stay on as a resident for a year.

Above: University of Colorado students pose with their framing project for the Heiwa Hut at Lama Foundation in 2014.

Lama Foundation as a spiritual retreat center brings us back again and again. Though it is ever-changing, the Lama community brings us back. And certainly the amazing setting in New Mexico brings us back, with its gorgeous views and its great vantage point for watching storms and taking dramatic photos of lightning. Jade and I count ourselves fortunate indeed to contribute to Lama Foundation.

Above: Senior architect Stephen Eckert working on the shower house at Lama Foundation in 2016.