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In the Walls & On the Roof!

March 15, 2023

A perspective view of the back of the house shows a row of scaffolding at the base of the roof and rectangles of insulation stacked halfway up the roof deck.

A new year and a reinvigorated energy for the Patriece’s Home team! In 2023, the home will all come together! The team was so eager to get back to work, they settled back into Hale County weeks before the semester started.

Two students pose with their tools while on scaffolding.
two students are ollking into a truck bed with pipe and sheet metal in the trucks bed. one student smiles at the camera.
An exterior perspective of the house during a pink sunset. thwo students stand on scaffolding along the side of the house.
a student nails in flashing
A student smiles down from scaffolding.

Plus, their insulation arrived. Thanks to a generous donation from Rockwool, Patriece’s Home, Rosie’s Home, and the C.H.O.I.C.E House will be filled with Rockwool fire and sound-proof insulation. These products are made from basalt rocks that have been melted down and whipped like cotton candy, and provide a more healthful insulation alternative. 

A student balances on two stacks of packages insulation
A panorama view from above of stacks of packaged insulation
a student pretends to be stuck between two stacks of packaged insulation
A student smiles and gives a thumbs up next to a stack of package
A bobcat removes stacks of insulation from a truck

Because the trusses on Patreice’s Home are designed for 5 1/2” of spray foam insulation, the team developed a strategy to use 4 inches of Rockwool Comfortboard 110 on the exterior of the roof deck and Comfortbatt on the interior of the roof deck to achieve the necessary insulation R value. They also drilled holes in the roof purlins of the six-foot gap between the trusses so that vapor can diffuse across the underside of the roof deck through the port in the ridge. Thank you, Rural Studio 5th-,years for helping install interior insulation! The team edited the eave and rake details for this change and once the comfort board was stacked on the roof, they covered it in a waterproof plastic, purlins to screw the roof metal into and sandwiched all the layers together with 7” screw into the attic trusses! 

a student holds up a long screw while another student in a harness is on the roof driving a similar screw into wood along the edge of the building
two students work on scaffolding to put a plastic sheet over insulation on the outside of the roof
and exterior view of the house with scaffolding up the side and exterior insulation on the top of its roof duck.
a student leans of of a window and rests their elbows on the scaffolding and is looking around.
a student in a harness stands on the plastic and wood along the outside of the roof
a student in a harness is on the roof and is stapling plastic onto wood on the edge of the roof
a student standing on scaffolding checks the edge of the roof
a student at the base of the roof screws in a wood board on top of plastic while a student in a harness at the top of the roof points to toward his right.

After the insulation was secure, the team finished placing the corrugated ash grey roof metal on the house in one afternoon! The first finish layer of the home is complete! 

a student cuts sheet metal
a student in a harness sits on the roof and nails in flashing along the roof rake

Before they finish the other side of the roof, the team is going to duct three rooms upstairs to whirly bird vents on the roof to help ventilate the home in the hot Alabama summers. The students will have to drill though all layers of the roof sandwich and built hatches to the ducts, which can be closed in the winter and opened when it heats up. Team member Daniel built a mockup of the hatches and the team had another detail design meeting with their consultant Dan Wheeler!

two stutents look up at something in the idstnace
the exterior of the house with scaffolding along the side. four people ore working on the right side of the roof.
the exterior of the house with scaffolding along the side. four people ore working on the left side of the roof. one holds sheet metal
two people are in harnesses working on the roof while one person helps them from the scaffolding.
one student in a harness passes something from the roof to another student at the base of the roof

Adam and Laurel also ran around the house installing an exterior hose bib, the hot water heater, and the shower controls to finally finish the plumbing. They installed two ERVs—one for each unit in the dividable home—to circulate fresh air and installed ducts the bathroom fans and kitchen range hood They cut the ZIP below the tall windows to secure the home’s through-wall unit sleeves.

a student measures the a white metal box sticking out from the house
a hole cut through the side of the house a student working inside.
A whit metal box sticks out from the house directly below a window.

Meanwhile, Lauren and Daniel have been tangled in the wires! Boxes were placed, holes drilled, and wire pulled to electrify the whole home. The electrical system is designed on two breaker boxes; when the home is devised into two units, the second unit can be hooked up to a second preinstalled meter box. These little details are part of the team’s adaptable design to allow the home to flex with as little effort as possible. Rural Studio’s own Mason Hinton helped them design and test the circuits and hook them up to the breakers and meter box outside. The team is also installing conduit to a low voltage box inside, so if the homeowner decides to change their internet or cable television service provider, the new cables can easily be routed into the home. 

a student works hard to pull a yellow wire through a hole in the stud wall
a student hammers a bracket into a stud
a student works hard to pull a yellow wire through a hole in the stud wall
three hands work on an electrical breaker box.

With the last of the roof metal coming soon and final checks on the guts of house’s walls being done, we’re all ready to see this space filled with insulation and transformed by drywall! Read Patriece’s Home’s blog next time to see their spring progress in Greensboro!

two students and a dog sit around a fire.
horizontal pieces of wood line the in therior of the porches
a puppy stands behind a student outside of the house

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Pomp and Staircumstance

May 10, 2022

Now that the Patriece’s Home team has a chance to catch their breath, let us tell you about the exciting last few weeks! Pigs have been roasted, mock-ups have gone up, executives have reviewed, so get ready, because we’ve got a full story!

A sketched perspective sits behind a tree on Patriece's site

Site Design Time! The students began investigating details of the site, including the existing trailer, driveway, and a beautiful, healthy Water Oak tree. The team met with David Hill (professor and graduate chair of Auburn University School of Landscape Architecture) to get some advice on how to draw and diagram zones of different uses on the site, such as play areas and parking. He advised the group to use simple but powerful landscaping tools, like subtle berms and trees that will last and grow over the home’s long lifetime.

An axonometric drawing of a section of the site indicates the types of existing trees
a collage of photos make a panoramic image of a cluster of pine trees with a blue car between them.
A screenshot of a Zoom meeting shows three boxes of participants and a site plan drawn over in digital marker

The team did a charrette to learn how programmatic zones and natural elements could inform where the house sits, instead of the other way around!

a man directs a student driving a Bobcat that is carrying a flat of quickcrete
four students pose infront of a drying concrete slab
one female student shovels dirt into concrete formwork
three shovels move wet concrete from a wheelbarrow to the formwork in the ground

The team also began making mock-ups of many of their home’s unique details!

a student aligns wood while a bucket of screws sits next to him
a student holds together pieces of their mock up framing
three student in conversation lean on their mockup framing

At the SAME time, the student team was preparing for the Studio’s annual Pig Roast weekend. The students mocked-up their most recent landscape plan on the site and created a scrolled slideshow to present their design of an adaptable two story home to the Studio’s families, friends, and alumni.

a diagram showing the circular timeline where a home changed interior color based on what figures are indicated to occupy it at a given time.
a drawing of a home illustrates the descriptive words surrounding it.
a cropped image of a students hands holding a model of the homes first floor
four students stand in front of large boards while one reads from a notebook
student surround a truckbed that displays their drawings using a cranked scroll
four students pose with their client in front of their presentation boards

And at the same time (are you sensing a theme here?), the Patriece’s Home team prepared for the Executive Review 2.0! The guest reviewers suggested the team use an elevated slab to mitigate their site’s slope, order materials and windows, and get in the ground as soon as possible. YAY!

four students stand on the amphitheater stage durning a nighttime ceremony
Fireworks above the chantilly ampitheater
confetti above the chantilly house

After Pig Roast and the Executive Reviews, the team rushed over to Auburn to graduate! They’ve worked hard on their research the last two semesters, but when they come back to Hale County next week, as leftovers, the real design-build work begins!

four students stand in the auburn football field, smiling in graduation caps and gowns
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A Site in Site

March 8, 2022

The Patriece’s Home team continues to present, question, revise, and present again their designs and research for an adaptable, two-story home. Visiting architects from across the country helped the team see opportunities to make an even better design!

A sketched perspective of the upstairs flexible room from the corner opposite of the window.
A sketched plan of Patriece's Second floor
A sketched perspective of the flexible from the top of Patriece's home stair.

The team decided to keep a defined room for living on the first floor that is open to the entryway and kitchen. This led to establishing two closed off rooms upstairs for bedrooms and an open space at the top of the stairs for more nuanced uses. For example, a desk could make it a study or office space, or a twin bed could turn it into a fifth bedroom. The team also realized that there is a 6-foot tributary area between the doubled-up trusses for the stairs, so they widened the dormer so that the open space can benefit from its light and the nook it creates.

However, when the team mocked up the dormer flashing detail, they began to question whether the benefits of the dormer could be achieved without the complexities created by breaking the roof plane.

A collage of the skylight diffusing light with polygal, and a wide window underneath it.
A collage of the clear box skylight and a tall window underneath.
A sketched perspective of the home's exterior with a skylight

That’s when help arrived from Mike Newman of SHED Studio and Katrina Van Valkenburgh of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CS), both based in Chicago, IL. Mike suggested using a skylight to bring light upstairs without breaking the line of the roof. Katrina also suggested the team spend more time looking closer at the kitchenette and entryway to add opportunities for more storage in this home’s tight design. The visitors stayed a second day to host a mini workshop with the team and mock-up the skylight and storage. The outcome was the idea of having the skylight and window next to each other on the second floor—one for light and the other for framing the view as someone ascends the stairs.

Team members pose as scale figures in the blue tape mock up under the fabrication pavilion
Mike, Katrine, and Andrew Pose in front of the kitchennette mocked up in blue tape on the side of the fabrication pavilion shear wall.
Team members pose as scale figures in the blue tape mock up under the fabrication pavilion

Immediately after Mike and Katrina left, the team began preparing for the Studio’s go-to guy for masterful details, Dan Wheeler of Wheeler Kearns Architects in Chicago, IL, “Detail Dan”. The team showed him 1:1 detail drawings for the dormer and skylights, then drawings on how those changes might affect the cladding strategies for the house. They also discussed possible ways the interior stairs can be finished with a heftier material to show their significance to the home and to combat wear on this heavily used surface. Dan reviewed the team’s eave details and gave advice about the construction and expression of home’s exterior. Dan also suggested that the team streamline their window strategy by using the same few windows throughout the home, aggregating them in different ways to create repeatable details.

Team member gather around white paper and individually sketch a charrette
Dan Wheeler sketches on a drawing during their review under the Fabrication Pavilion. The team is watching him and a dog is seated watching the team.
A image of the details pinned to the fabrication pavilion that the team has hung for their review.
An interior elevation of the kitchen looking toward the dining room window.
an interior elevation of the stair wall

After all this helpful discussion, the team concluded that a low, wide window without a dormer already gives the upstairs significant light and excellent sitting views in the nook space.

Adam looks through the site level
on the right a student records infromation, in the middle a student hold the story pole, and on the right a student looks through the story pole

As an appreciated change of pace, the team lugged out their equipment and spent a day surveying their home’s site! They found out that the slopes drain well and that it is located on a road with lots of other houses nearby (good for the corner porch and a gable end approach).

Now there’s always more to do for the upcoming Executive Review in mid-March! We will get see where the home is best placed on the site and how the team is designing the foundation. They will keep drawing those 1:1 details and fine tuning the home’s systems to get the house to its best thermal performance come summer or winter! Thanks for the read, and come back soon!

three students pose in front of their drawings pinned up for review
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Freear Elected Into the National Academy of Design

September 28, 2021

Rural Studio Director Andrew Freear has been selected as a member of the National Academy of Design in recognition of his contributions to arts and architecture.

As the oldest artist-run organization in the United States, the National Academy of Design advocates for the value of arts and architecture. Since their founding in 1825, nearly 2,400 members have been elected. Freear joins more than 400 living members, including architects Marlon Blackwell, Elizabeth Diller, Billie Tsien, Tod Williams, David Adjaye, and Renzo Piano, as well as artists Richard Serra, Robert Irwin, Yoko Ono, and Claes Oldenburg. He is the only architect elected this year along with seven visual artists. He will be inducted as a National Academician in October at a ceremony in New York.

Meet all of the newly elected National Academicians here, including Andrew Freear and artists Joanne Greenbaum, Peter Halley, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Rashid Johnson, Julie Mehretu, Joanna Pousette-Dart, and Gary Simmons.

Andrew Freear sitting in Newbern Firehouse

On behalf of Auburn University and Rural Studio, I am very proud to receive this honor, particularly given the roll call of academicians and the history of the National Academy of Design. This truly acknowledges and legitimizes the quality of the design work that Rural Studio has undertaken in our rural community over the last 30 years.

Read the full press release here.

Photo by Rob Culpepper

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Another Stud in the Wall

February 21, 2021

As promised, the big reveal.

Following the holiday season, Myers’ Home team returned to Newbern. After the annual Spring semester Neckdown week, the students took a look back at the projects’ goals and methods. What is Myers’ Home Project achieving through design and how can it be brought to life?

  • Weedin’ and chin waggin’ at the Lions Park Shade Project
  • Pods got a hip new look and fresh coat of paint
  • Hope you like red, Third Years!

Generational Flexibility

Above all, Myers’ Home design aims to serve a family over generations by providing means of expansion within a protected shell. The team is also prioritizing material efficiency, buildability, and affordability as they evaluate how to build.

Originally, Myers’ Home implemented a post-frame structural system to create the protective shell essential to generational flexibility. The post-frame method is a simple structure – poles embedded in the ground or a footing with trusses and a simple roof system spanning between. However, the team needed to change aspects of the structural system for it to become sturdy enough for a longlasting, enclosed home.

Personalized Post-Frame

To achieve the desired decade-spanning design, the team customized the poles, trusses, and roofing. The poles were set in above-ground brackets rather than driven into the soil, bolstering longevity. The trusses had become inherently more complex with the addition of an attic. And, the roof system was designed in layers for thermal comfort and durability.

  • Roof assembly for longevity and efficiency
  • Ridge allows vapor to leave attic peak
post-frame vs. stud wall construction sequencing

Subsequently, the team diagramed the whole process of construction to understand efficiency and method. As seen above, the team mapped out each step and considered the building timeline implications. As the team reflected on the more complex system and the steps to build, they reached a new conclusion. Post-frame is a fabulous typology, however, it isn’t what Myers’ Home needs.

A New Structure Ahead

But it’s not all over, in fact, it’s just begun! The four students made a quick turn, forget whiplash, and are on their way to Stud Framing City.

Discussing new detailing in Red Barn
  • A rousing weekend pinup at the Fabrication Pavilion
  • Basking for a moment at a chilly review

Most importantly, the new method is, for the enclosed attic home, quicker than the original post-frame system to build. Scrapping the footings and columns, the home sits on a simple turndown slab allowing the stud walls to be quickly erected on top. Furthermore, and in line with the previous concept of the flexible model home, the only interior walls are for the home’s core.

  • Only outer and core walls are framed initially
  • The contained core, or, “Mothership”

Also, a quick maneuver with the trusses is underway! The new truss has the same pitch but the entire porch segment is sliced off, creating a heal. A heel? That’s right, and they aren’t talking about feet.

The new and improved attic truss system

Free Porch

Without the rafters or posts to dictate its volume, the porch can boldly go where no porch has gone before. In short, the porch is now free from the overall structure of the home. Now, there is no part of the integral structure which breaks the enclosed protective shell. The porch is no longer a weak point for the generational home. This is more in line with the intentions and goals of the design.

The Zip System shell wraps and shelters the home’s interior

The team is certainly enthusiastic about the new porch design challenge. The porch could touch the house lightly, tie in with a separate system, or stand entirely independent of the home structure. With all these options, the team is narrowing their infinity to perhaps a universe or two.

One of Hale County’s windiest pin-ups on record!

To inform the porch, the house must begin to speak a language. But what part speaks? Some might say it’s the details that do all the talking. The team dove into drawing details to determine which voice should be heard loudest and followed.

Beginning to define the porch’s language
  • Checking out eave details in Downtown Newbern
  • Newbern Town Hall, always an example

And that’s where they are now, up in Red Barn drawing details, details, details. 1:1, markers-on-the-floor, shred-‘em-‘til-they’re-right details. They’ve run all around Newbern looking at past projects and local precedents for inspiration. Research in your own backyard!

So keep an eye out, these four can’t wait to show you their corners.

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