natural ventilation

A Lesson on Multitasking

April 19, 2026

Multitasking: A word that is taking on a very real meaning for the group of four on the Dining House Team! As the construction for the Dining House is officially off the ground, we’re busy bees, juggling three huge jobs: on-site construction, work on the mock-up, and design tasks! Here are a few of our recent highlights from the large Dining House to-do list!

Snacking & working—multi-tasking at its finest

Progress During “Neckdown” Week

During Neckdown of Spring 2026, when we the Diners made some headway by organizing the Studio’s lumber inventory in barns around Newbern. In January, we completed milling all 28 4″ x 6″ pine timbers from on-site trees. These structural members will be used in the final design as tension columns. The largest pine tree available to the Studio was milled down to six 2″ x 18″s, which will be assembled into a ridge beam composite for the Dining House.

Unloading lumber with help from 3rd-year students

Tyler and his crew rerouting water drainage

On site, the team erected batter boards and mapped out the foundation trenches. We also provided guidance as a team of contractors rerouted major drainage lines, installed French drains, and ensured proper site water mitigation.

Once the footer was dug and underground utilities were prepared, the team went into action, preparing for the first concrete pour of the project. Over the span of a week and a half, the four of us divided and conquered in building rebar cages that were composed of eight sections, intending to support the concrete block wall and piers for the soon-to-come columns.

Rebar in its final spot for the footer pour

Leading up to the pour, we team worked hard preparing the wastewater line and readying the rebar for lowering into the trench. This process looked like unusually hot spring days spent shoveling, unloading, and tamping gravel into the footer.

Trench is ready — Rebar in its final spot for the footer pour

In comes the gravel — Rebar in its final spot for the footer pour

Moment of truth! Final touches included placing rebar cages, grade pins, and supports into the trench and gathering helpers and tools for the big pour! On the Friday morning of the pour, we were full of nerves and of excitement to get some concrete in the ground. Within an hour, the task was done and there was no going back!

The final pour all complete! — Checking the level of the concrete pour

Natural lighting options for the Dining House

Feeling great with a major item checked off the do-to list, the team worked through design and construction details, mainly addressing lighting strategies. An investigation into skylights led us down a path to explore daylighting strategies—gable roofs with and without skylights!

Using a series of skylight options, we explored how specific task lighting would move through the room, from sunrise to sunset, at different times of the year.

Examining models out in the sunshine to explore natural lighting

Looking into one of the models for natural lighting

The study helped us to uncover the specific function of light in the process. Thomas Patterson, our knowledgeable lighting consultant, listened to us present the many ideas we developed, our presentations aided by models, digital renderings, and 2-D drawings. We discussed overall goals of ambient light, specific task lighting for cooking, and how materials would be highlighted, landing on a design without specific skylight moments. Our design includes a typical gable, large eastern and western curtain walls, and French doors. We are excited about the amount of glowing and indirect light that these choices will allow into the Dining House.

Interior view of the Dining House kitchen with simple pendant lighting and lots of natural light from the east and west

Tags: #auburnarchitecture, designbuild, masstimber, natural ventilation, research project, rsleftovers

Turning a New Leaf 🍂🍃

November 24, 2025

With the fall season in full swing, the team has been busy-bees working away on two mock-ups for the project and some crucial site work to prepare to excavate the foundation for the building!

In September, the team met with Joe Burns, structural engineer for the Studio. After thoroughly analyzing the load paths of the building, the team realized the structure needed a ridge beam to evenly support the loads and span of the rafters. This meant that the team needed to re-analyze the aesthetic decisions and details, meaning it was time to do some mock-ups.

Ridge Beam Axon on Digital Model — Axon of our new ridge beam “drop-in” process

Firstly, the team jumped into a quick, one-day mockup. To understand the “noise” of structure in conjunction with the materials they’re using we created a small corner of the building with tongue-and-groove decking wrapping up the side and ceiling of the building–meeting the white oak leftover from the fabrication pavilion–which will play a crucial role in the building’s identity. As most of the white oak cladding is rough sawn and weathered, we tested a few different finishing processes to the wood: planning, sanding, and leaving rough. We were able to understand the details we have been imagining and working out what truly makes the space “noisy.”

White Oak Material Before Finishing — White oak before any finishing

White Oak Material After Finishing — White oak before any finishing

With great excitement, the team also tackled some site work. The first step was removing trees at the back of the foundation and relocating the water line. With the help of Mason, the team successfullylocated the old water line and redirected it in one day! Now, the site has begun to look like a real construction zone. Another element of the site’s progress has been the clearing of trees for the car park/driveway. Once the row of trees was taken out, it was an amazing site to see some of the designs come to fruition. Reactions have been positive thus far!

Excavation of Waterline around Dining House — New waterline around Dining House

Students Putting Together new Water Pipe — New waterline around Dining House

The next steps will be clearly defining the parking by infilling gravel and parking stops, as well as fixing irrigation on the site. With the helpfulness of these tasks being complete, we’ve been better able to visualize the building on the site, stringing out the porch, and finishing floor heights relative to the ground.

Excavators working to Clear Trees for Parking — The new view from parking!

Photo of Cut through in the forest for New Campus Parking — The new view from parking!

While we wait excitedly for more excavation work to take place, we are focusing our efforts on the mock-up of all mock-ups. This one will be a traditional Rural Studio “doghouse” type mock-up testing everything from structure to cladding to glazing techniques. We know that this test of the building will give the team the confidence to understand details we are unclear about. Overall it will be a 8’ x 6’ floorplan testing interior to exterior details and, most importantly, the sequencing we really plan to do in the future with the real Dining House!

Detail Axon Drawing of Dormer — Drawings & details of our mock-up of all mock-ups!

Drawings & details of our mock-up of all mock-ups!

Stay tuned for more updates on the G.M.O.A.T. (greatest mock-up of all time).

Tags: dininghouse, mockups, natural ventilation, reuseproject, rsleftovers

Let’s Commence!

May 28, 2025

Annnnnd they’re back!

The last time you checked in with the Dining House team, the students had begun to refine design decisions centered around site placement, thermal comfort, and material palettes. Since then, the “Diners” have been working tirelessly, preparing for the renowned Pig Roast, final Executive Review, and graduation (they said, “Somehow we made it”)!

In the last weeks of the school year, the Diners explored the appropriate structure of and thermal comfort levels for the Dining House. The team has been hard at work milling lumber from Rural Studio’s campus, so they believe that showcasing this lumber as part of the structural system of the Dining House would be an exciting statement of the ethos of the project. Currently, the Diners are exploring creating a “structural bent” system (a transverse rigid frame) made out of the milled and salvaged lumber from the Rural Studio’s “pile of stuff” located in the barns across Newbern. The structural bent would support the roof, creating the superstructure over the Dining House, much like a pole barn.

Underneath this superstructure two insulated cores would hold “hunker down” spaces, containing comfortable areas during the peaks of winter and summer, complying with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code. These “hunker down” spaces would cap the Dining House and allow for an open kitchen in the middle. This central kitchen would be opened up for light and air to augment the space. A porch would extend from the main dining room, stepping down into the western courtyard beside the Dining House. An operable wall of doors could be propped open, bridging the interior and exterior spaces 3rd-years enjoy.

As Pig Roast and the Executive Review approached, the Diners believed that a full-scale mock-up of space and structure would be a nice break from studio and give the team the hands-on tools to adjust scale and arrangement. In the days leading up to Pig Roast, the team moved to the site and constructed a full-scale mock-up of the bent system! Using 2x4s and plywood, the team built two bents that replicate the length, width, and thickness of the planned bents. The Diners, with the help of other teams, hoisted the bents into place, and clamped them to the scaffolding to test the scale of the Dining House. It was hard work, but the team had a great time building something with their own hands.

When Pig Roast had finally arrived, the group was ecstatic to show off their genius work to their friends and families. With a day full of presentations, bad jokes, and comical walk-throughs, the Diners couldn’t be happier with the progress they made, or more thankful for all the hands that have guided them along the way.

After Pig Roast, the Diners had a quick celebration and then got right back to work. A few days later, Executive Review II arrived. The team worked tirelessly again to have an effective meeting with the clients of the project. The review focused on the relationship of structure to envelope, and how to further the idea of a pavilion-like structure that protects the boxes underneath. Focusing on details and structural drawings, the Dining Team got helpful feedback and positive support for continuing the design of the Dining House.

Just a few of the great drawings and details the team is exploring!

Off to commencement!

After the team survived their final Executive Review, graduation time was here. The Diners drove back to Auburn. Celebration and reunion with old friends and classmates marked the end of one finish line, and the start of another.

The Diners finally made it to the finish line of their academic careers (so far), and they could not be happier!

Tags: designbuild, natural ventilation, reuseproject, rs5thyears

Graduate Team Completes Construction and Publishes Paper!

February 4, 2022

The Thermal Mass and Buoyancy Ventilation Research Project (TMBV) graduate students have concluded their work and time in Newbern, AL. In their wake, they leave a published, peer-reviewed paper and two research-ready buildings.

In the course of their graduate year, the TMBV project dove deep into the results of their initial small-scale experiments, culminating in a research paper published in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series as a part of the 2021 CISBAT Hybrid Scientific Conference. At the same time, the team designed and constructed two Test Buildings. The cooling and ventilation effects spurred by the optimized thermal mass will be studied throughout the next year, providing ground truth data for the system at a building scale.

The paper: A synopsis

The open-access research paper entitled, “Synchronized coupling of thermal mass and buoyancy ventilation: wood versus concrete” was published in November 2020 in the Journal of Physics Conference: Series. This was an effort involving the entire TMBV research team including Salmaan Craig, Remy Fortin, Sebastien Asselin, Kiel Moe, David Kennedy, and Andrew Freear. The paper describes small-scale experiments that test the accuracy of sizing parameters which suggest how to optimize the coupling of an internal thermal mass—which allows a building to store heat and thereby avoid major temperature fluctuations—with natural ventilation cycles, regardless of the material or the scale of the building. The results suggest the sizing parameters may be valid for early-stage design. They also show that biomaterials, such as wood, can perform as well as conventional thermal mass materials, such as concrete.

Why is this important? Typical, mechanical thermal comfort systems pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, raising the temperature even more. They also cannot perform in power outages during weather events caused by the ongoing climate crisis. Therefore, using regenerative materials, such as wood, to mitigate rising temperatures without reliance on the power grid suggests sustainable thermal comfort with less burden on the environment. That is an ongoing aim of the TMBV Research Project, and these initial results are an encouraging step. Before such lofty goals can be reached, the TMBV Test Buildings will provide more insight into the capabilities of the system.

The buildings: A summary

As stated above, the TMBV Test Buildings examine the coupling of thermal mass and buoyancy ventilation as a reliable thermal comfort system at the building scale. Currently, the buildings are set up for these first large-scale experiments and will later be fitted out for housing. The buildings are designed to be flexible spaces for ongoing experiments as well as dwellings for 3rd-year students. Therefore, the buildings balance valid experimental conditions, the realities of construction, and the basic needs of college students. One Test Building is powered by a plywood internal thermal mass and the other by concrete. Both buildings are designed to achieve the same performance parameters for temperature dampening and ventilation rate despite their material differences—i.e., the surface area and thickness of the material.

The buildings are the first Rural Studio buildings constructed primarily out of Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs). Towering over the Supershed on Morrisette Campus they hover 8′ off the ground. Underneath the buildings is a gathering space nicknamed the “Cooling Porch.” During the day it is meant to collect cool air flowing out of the buildings, providing a place to enjoy the systems en masse. Air travels here through the extended chimneys, which increase ventilation speed and denote the building’s function.

With such tight buildings, dependent on accuracy, the team showed out on all the details. From three-week welding sessions to mapping out patterns of old sidewalk scrap to calculating the discharge coefficient of rooftop vent caps, this team investigated every inch. Feel free to peruse the TMBV blog to see the process, but for now here are the results.

The mirrored buildings are connected to each other and the ground via a steel walkway and ship’s ladder.

The team obsessed over every detail from the spacing of the ventilated open-joint cladding system to the fit of the steel door frame.

The plywood Test Building is fitted from floor to ceiling in Southern Yellow Pine.

The team made more than 70 1-1/8 inch shiplap joined panels to cover the walls of the concrete Test Building.

Interior of test building with concrete panels — The team made more than 70 1-1/8 inch shiplap joined panels to cover the walls of the concrete Test Building.

The Cooling Porch is constructed from reclaimed concrete materials and fitted with integrated steel benches.

The team: An abridgement

What a journey! These kids, ready to learn how to craft a beautiful building, were not expecting a crash course in thermodynamics, experimental design, and scientific discourse. It was an incredible opportunity to do both. Blending design, construction, and scientific rigor was an extremely unique and fulfilling educational experience. And the TMBV team sharing that experience across North America!

Rowe, the TMBV team’s certified best and most patient construction instructor, has moved to Bozeman, Montana, to join Love | Schack Architecture.

Jeff, a master of power tools and 3D modeling, is taking time to further his coding and woodworking skills.

Cory, a most relaxed, renaissance man, is enjoying his stint at the Ghost Residency with MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects Limited, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Livia, the heart and volume of the operation, has settled in Austin, Texas, working with Rural Studio Alums at Thoughtbarn.

A huge thank you to the faculty and staff of Auburn University Rural Studio, the teams’ student colleagues, the project consultants (including Joe Farruggia!), the donors and teachers of Turnipseed International, and “Crane” Shane of Sweetwater Construction LLC for your time, knowledge, and support. Most obviously and ardently, thank you to the TMBV research conglomerate Salmaan Craig, Andrew Freear, Steve Long, David Kennedy, Kiel Moe, Sebastien Asselin, and Remy Fortin for the stellar work and dedication. It took a village!

This lot loves Rural Studio and all of its people. Hope to see y’all soon.

Tags: buoyancy, concrete, coolingporch, designbuild, graduateproject, natural ventilation, research project, thermal mass, Thermal Mass and Buoyancy Ventilation, ventiliation, wood

Bit by bit, day by day

December 15, 2021

Everything is officially clad! The plywood is cut! The benches are designed! The Cooling Porch is secured! The wiring is installed! The door is installed!

Rowe and Jeff are ticking big items off the Thermal Mass and Buoyancy Ventilation Research Project checklist. Let’s take a look at what the graduate research team has completed in the last month.

Clad

The Cooling Porch ceiling and Bottom Chimneys were clad last as they did not need the articulating man lift to reach. Now that the entire Test Building is clad with bleach-stained cypress, their form reads less like floating boxes and more like floating funnels. While the main function of the chimneys is to increase overall stack height and therefore air velocity within the system, they also signal movement to onlookers. Two wood-clad heat silos at your service!

Cut

Another TMBV jig on the books, this one helps break down large pieces of plywood with precise cuts. Jeff and Rowe designed and built the jig to make all the cuts necessary for creating the plywood thermal mass panels. Like the concrete panels, the plywood conforms to the slanted ceiling of the Test Building. There is also substantially more plywood panels as they cover the walls, floor, and ceiling of the interior.

Secured

Next up, the Cooling Porch finishing touches. Steel plates for future benches were installed in the construction of the Cooling Porch walls. However, the bench material was undecided. The team chose to use the same metal grate used on the stairs and walkway for these breezy benches. Over the next couple of weeks, the benches will be installed and reinforced with a bracket.

Last up for the Cooling Porch, a little tripping hazard prevention. The top course of the Cooling Porch walls were dry-stacked but untethered to the ground. To keep the course in place, the team used Tap Con masonry screws and small metal brackets to link the top course with the rest of the wall.

Powered

As future dwellings and experiments, the Test Buildings need power for people and sensors. The buildings are wired through chases in the SIP, accessible from floor outlets to keep the walls clear.