historyclass

The 3rd Month: 3rd-Year Edition

As the semester is beginning to wind down, the 3rd-year class has been very busy! We worked hard to finalize drawings and begin construction for Rosie’s Home. In our Woodshop Class, we spent lots of time in the shop finalizing ideas with our mock-up and getting started on Rosie’s kitchen cabinets. With our history seminar ending, we finished up our watercolors and visited some of our final houses.

Rosie’s Home

Since our last post, Rosie’s House has made a lot of progress. At the Halloween Reviews, visiting architects came to critique and help improve our design. It was not all business though, everyone came dressed up in their Halloween costumes (even the reviewers)!

With Halloween Reviews over and designs complete, we were ready to begin construction! We started construction by re-framing some of the exterior walls, windows, and doors. After the walls were nailed together, we raised and set them in place.

After our walls were up, we began to measure and place our ZIP System sheathing. The sheathing helped brace our walls to keep them nice and square during construction.

With our walls up and sheathing in place, we then turned our attention to the ceiling! First, we set up temporary supports to lift up our ridge beam. Next, we climbed up the scaffolding to nail the ridge pieces together. Soon the ceiling will be completely framed!

Woodshop Class

During our first week back from Fall break, we spent each night in the Woodshop cutting pieces, making jigs, and gluing and assembling to have our cabinet mock-up done by the following week. Our mock-up consisted of three drawers and two shelves. We divided up jobs and worked together to make the construction process go as quickly and smoothly as possible.

The following week, we met with our instructors, Steve Long and Judith Seaman, to review our mock-up process and design. From the mock-up, we decided to narrow our focus on the kitchen cabinets for this semester and noted ways to improve our construction process. We revised our drawings and made a weekly schedule to prepare for the final weeks of the semester.

Finally, in the last few weeks, we started by ordering, processing, and organizing our woods and materials. We have been working hard to plan, cut, and begin assembly on Rosie’s final kitchen cabinets. With most of our pieces cut out and three cabinet boxes assembled, we are excited to continue work on some wonderful cabinets for Rosie’s kitchen.

History Class

Recently in history class, we continued to tour historic Antebellum homes every week. Our focus has been shifting from sketching towards our final watercolor. This watercolor is 24″ x 30″ and depicts an elevation of different architectural details.

In October, we had the chance to tour Tasso Plantation in Orrville, AL. This house has an incredibly rare and intact wooden block wallpaper print. This print, “Banks of the Bosphorus,” depicts a panoramic view of minarets and waterways around the entire room.

The next week, we visited Carlisle Hall near Marion, AL. This grand house was designed by Richard Upjohn in the asymmetrical Italianate style.

The following week, we visited Old Cahawba, AL. On the site, some buildings remain of the abandoned town and foundations outline where others once stood. Outlined in steel is the original courthouse that once stood at the center of town. Rural Studio students disassembled and moved St. Luke’s Church back in the park many years ago.

We also visited Thornhill Plantation in Forkland, AL. This Greek revival house was once one of the largest plantations in the area. It sits atop a hill with 360-degree views of the property.

Stay tuned for next month’s blog to see our final class field trip to Mississippi!

Post-Frame Lovers

This Spring has been busy for our 3rd-year team! Scroll down to see what we’ve been up to with Rosie’s Home, Woodshop, and History!

Studio

First off, our team has begun our study of Rosie’s current home with interviews and a series of empathetic drawings that we will continue to work on throughout the semester. Each of us has chosen an element of the home to study that will help us to make informed choices about the design of the new home.

We are using our findings from these drawings to begin the process of adapting the floor plan of 20K Turner’s Home to Rosie’s needs.

As we continue to create iterations of these plans, the team has also begun our foray into creating full-scale wall section details.

Construction Progress!

Recently, construction began on our post-frame structure. Our team helped bolt together the truss system while the sub-contractors implanted the posts and lifted the trusses into place. Afterwards, they attached the purlins to the truss system in preparation for the metal roofing to come.

My First Woodshop

For our first adventure in carpentry, each member of our team was tasked with designing and making a cutting board from a set amount of wood. In the span of a couple weeks, we learned a lot about woodworking, sanding, and staining, and ended up with a striking variety of cutting boards.

Our next goal is to begin the process of testing ways to build our chair precedents. For the next few weeks, we’ll be testing out different methods for the construction of their components.

History and Watercolor

We have visited several historic homes in the past month, such as the (pictured below) Carlisle Hall, Bluff Hall, Lyon Hall, and Tasso House. It is so interesting to learn about the details of these buildings and the reasoning behind their construction, along with developing our sketching skills on site.

We also just completed our first watercolor assignment, a study of light and shadow in a monochromatic painting.

Check back soon to see how we’re makings strides on floor plans and post-frame home details!

Soup Roast!

As the semester came to a close, Laura and Peter worked hard to prepare for this year’s Soup Roast, which is Rural Studio’s final review event to conclude the fall semester. While Laura worked on the drawings, Peter created a ½-inch scale model of the post-frame roof design.

For their Soup Roast presentation, Laura and Peter presented at Rosie’s site with the model, construction documents, and actual dimensions marked out on site to show where the roof is going.

The team received feedback on the roof placement, dimensions, and how to move forward with the project from the visiting guest reviewers. Peter and Laura had the privilege of having Kim Clements, Joe Schneider, and Nicole Abercrombie of JAS Design Build and Jake LaBarre of BuildingWork, who all traveled from Seattle, WA. The Studio was also joined by several Auburn CADC faculty: David Hinson, Rusty Smith, Mackenzie Stagg, and Betsy Farrell Garcia. Their insight on Rosie’s Home was useful, and will impact how the 3rd-year studio continues in upcoming spring semester.

Electives Come to a Close

The wooden library carts and children’s table built in the Woodshop class project with Steve Long were completed, and the finished products look fantastic!

For the final History class with Dick Hudgens, the students visited the Thornhill Plantation home in Greene County, AL.

At Soup Roast, Peter and Laura showed off their sketches and the watercolors they completed in history class.

This semester’s electives have greatly helped the students look at details more carefully, whether in sketching, painting, or woodworking.

Passing the Torch

The 3rd-year team recently had some of the trees removed on site, clearing the way for earthwork, engineered soil, and post-frame roof to be put into place. For now, the roof structure is on track to be built in early January, right before the next group of 3rd-year students arrive for the spring semester. Their job will be to develop the floor plan and start building.

Thanks to the great leadership by Emily McGlohn and Chelsea Elcott. Stay tuned until next semester!

Rounding the Corner

The 3rd-year team is in the last stage of the semester, and Laura and Peter are hard at work finalizing decisions for the post-frame roof size and pitch. After testing scale by creating one-to-one scale drawings and hanging them at the fabrication pavilion, the team finally determined a height and pitch of a roof structure appropriate for Rosie’s site.

Next, the 3rd-years prepared a presentation for clients, Rosie and Frankie, to provide an update on the selected post-frame dimensions. With approval from clients, the team can finally get started on site prep!

With a final roof design, the 3rd-years went to work finalizing the construction documents to send to their contractors. The team is currently awaiting quotes for tree removal, dirt excavation, and truss design.

Breaking Ground

Third-years finally broke ground on Rosie’s site! With help from Mason Hinton, the 3rd-year crew transported tools and supplies from Ophelia’s Home site to the new job site.

Mason drove the Bobcat over to Rosie’s site to install temporary power. With power on site, they are now waiting to get the trees removed in order to get to work!

Electives Continue

While studio work marches on, so do history classes and field trips with Dick Hudgens. Most recently, the 3rd-years took a short trip out to Greensboro to visit our neighbor Ian Crawford’s home, “The Oaks.”

Before Thanksgiving Break, the class also visited the Molette Bend Plantation Home, where Dick was the head architect of the designs for historical preservation and adaptive reuse.

Woodshop Class also continues, and the students have just about wrapped up work on the library carts. Peter and Laura are in the final stages of adding wood finish and wax to their finished product.

While finishing the carts, they are also working on designs for their third and final project, a small wooden lamp.

The semester will wrap up soon! Stay tuned for one last blog post before our current 3rd-years head out of Newbern and back to Auburn!

That’s a Wrap

Our spring 2021 3rd-year students finished off their time at Rural Studio with a bang! The last couple of months in Hale flew on by, taking nine students away with them.

History Class

As the semester wrapped up, so did the seminar with their professor, Dick Hudgens. Students toured a few more pre-civil-war homes and Dick held final reviews for the students’ work. Out on the Spencer House front porch, each member of the class presented three months’ worth of sketches from house tours, watercolor work, and historic housing “Design Problems.” Thanks to Ian Crawford for attending the review and providing his wise-as-ever advice and expertise!

Shop Class

Students worked diligently until the very last hour, oiling and installing cabinets. Plywood cabinets finished with tung oil and paste wax were designed and built this semester for the following spaces in Ophelia’s new home: the kitchen, nook, utility room, bathroom, and bedroom. That’s a lot of cabinets! Nineteen, to be exact.

Cabinets are nearly ready for use!

Yes, they also built a house!

During the past few months, a lot happened at Ophelia’s Home. The remaining pieces of ZIP System sheathing were nailed into place by the Enclosures Team; Ashley, Juyeon, and Logan. Then windows, doors, and joints were meticulously taped.

After Ophelia chose a siding color—burgundy—the team got to work installing the corrugated metal cladding. By the end of the semester, these three students of the Enclosures Team were mastered cutting and installing metal panels.

a group of people gather to watch a woman present some color options
Pick a color, any color.

Remember those funky exterior design charrettes? The ones considering tricks-of-the-eye and optical illusions? Well, those design discussions came to fruition during siding installation. The metal corrugation runs in two directions, which helps enhance a new proportion on the front faces while disrupting the front corner of the house.

a view of a burgundy house in a big yard with a green-colored house in the background
Where does the porch wall terminate? You may never know.

The MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) Team—James, Kirby, and Wendy—spent their days putting together the many parts and pieces that give a house running water and power. These three students installed the entire MEP system for Ophelia’s Home from scratch! Because there’s so much that goes into these systems, they spent a whole lot of time driving to Lowe’s and back… and to Lowe’s and back again.

two students load a cart with pvc pipe in a hardware store
Gotta have plenty of pipe

While MEP and Enclosures Teams were working away, the Interiors/Rough Framing Team–Austin, Drew Haley, and Sadie–was steadily constructing the back stoop and front entrance to the house. They also put the finishing touches on the inside of the house. First, they tackled the back stoop: digging holes for three posts, constructing a platform, decking the platform, and building the stairs.

a set of wooden stairs lead to the door of a partially-clad house
Dang, that’s a nice lookin’ stoop.

The team then moved inside and recruited help from members of the MEP Team to paint the walls and ceiling and install laminate flooring.

a woman kneels over flooring boards while she hammers the pieces together
Tap, tap, tap

For Ophelia’s front entrance, this team built the formwork for and poured the concrete ramp! Many thanks are due to Andrew and Steve for helping with the ramp’s design and construction.

Ophelia’s Home: All Ramped Up

Pig Roast

The semester concluded with an “in-house” celebration of the Studio and the incredible body of work accomplished this year. We’ll miss these students dearly, and hope they return to Hale again soon (5th-year, perhaps?). Once a part of Rural Studio, always a part of Rural Studio.

Bye for now!