Onwards and Upwards! - Rural Studio

The last time we saw you, we were gearing up for the greatest mock-up, and boy, do we have updates for you.

The first step in creating the “greatest mock-up” was testing the design and construction of the piers for the dining house. The team augured footings and built formwork for four piers and two concrete pours that would eventually be the first step toward understanding the implications of our design.

After completing the piers for the Dining House’s mock-up, we attacked the main foundation for the mock-up. Starting with trenching for the foundation footing, the team enlisted some help from friendly Welsh student visitors to the studio.

Students looking over strings with rebar cages in the ground, preparing for a concrete pour — Ensuring alignements inbetween metal structure

Students placing tarp over foundation pier formwork for a mockup. — Ensuring alignements inbetween metal structure

Shortly after the trench for the elevated slab was dug and poured, the block mason came out and did an excellent job laying out the block in its elaborate design.

Following the block mason’s help on the Dining “House’s mock-up”, the team worked quickly to finish up the elevated slab. We filled in the block perimeter with insulation, soil, and waterproofing so we could finish the last concrete pour of the mock-up when we get back from Christmas break.

Image of the mockup foundation prior to preparing the slab — Foundation infill prior to preparing slab

Image of the Mockup Slab tamping the gravel flat before pouring the concrete — Foundation infill prior to preparing slab

Students preparing to pour the concrete for the mockup slab with the lining and rebar in place — Rebar layed over top

3 students working to pour the concrete for the mockup slab with a concrete mixer and wheel barrels — Rebar layed over top

After some much-needed time off and with families, the team got right back to work with the last concrete pour. Once we smoothed out the concrete floor, the Dining House finally had a finished floor to begin testing the construction of the building we designed.

After the week of Neckdown and the subsequent completion of the mock-up foundation, our team jumped right into one of the initial layers of a building: flashing. The initial test explored a galvanized steel flashing profile that will hold in the white oak cladding.

Photo of student cutting the flashing for the slab — Cutting flashing

Two students setting the flashing in place for the slab — Cutting flashing

Step 4: Framing:

Student working on the framing for the mockup walls. — Measuring framing

Student taking care to infill the column base plates with grout — Measuring framing

Bonus round.

The team built a second mockup to refine the oak cladding. The walls are white oak exterior boards, salvaged from the Supershed. On the exterior of the building, the weathered wood is displayed, while 1″ white strips are turned on their end grain, giving a different texture on the interior walls. Behind these 1″ panels, black acoustic material will give the wall a baffle-like function in the dining and kitchen room.

Students laying out patterns for the white oak pieces. — Laying out pattern

Two students working with a table saw to cut down the white oak pieces. — Laying out pattern

Students pausing to examine the battens they put together for the mockup. — Studying framing

Student setting in place the white oak board on the zip sheathing — Studying framing

Many more updates to come soon. We have continued experimenting and tweaking material and form. Meanwhile, major action is taking place on the north end of the campus at Rural Studio. The Dining House is taking off with the beginning steps to fixing parking and drainage infrastructure, while also preparing the groundwork for a foundation! More on this later!