Architecture firm Peter Rose + Partners has completed the Kripalu Annex, the first step in the firm’s master plan to reshape the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. The project has recently been declared a winner of the prestigious AIA National Housing Award in the category of Specialized Housing.

Tucked into 300 acres of dense forest in the Berkshire Mountains, Kripalu is the largest and most established yoga retreat in North America. For over 30 years, Kripalu has been teaching skills for optimal living through experiential education for mind, body, and spirit, and this holistic approach was the starting point for the innovative plan that secured Peter Rose the Kripalu commission in 2004.

Using simple, robust materials integrated into a streamlined design, the building does its work with efficiency and a quiet, lasting beauty, then slips out of the way to give a cherished landscape center stage.

A similar ethic imbues the entire Peter Rose + Partners’ Kripalu master plan. Proposed changes include renovations to existing campus buildings, landscape improvements, and new buildings to increase capacity, and together create a serene, ecologically sensitive environment and a model of environmental responsibility.

[Photos: Matthew Snyder]