woodshop

The First Month: 3rd-Year Edition

September 20, 2022

Rural Studio welcomed eleven new 3rd-year students to campus this Fall. Before we could begin this semester’s work on Rosie’s Home, we partook in Rural Studio’s bi-annual Neckdown Week.

the gorgeous third year class of Fall 2022
the gorgeous third year class
Students preparing the foundation at the C.H.O.I.C.E. House Project
C.H.O.I.C.E. House

Among several projects around the area, we helped lay the foundation for the C.H.O.I.C.E. House project, provided maintenance on the Newbern Firehouse, helped with upkeep of our own campus and home, and power-washed and weeded the Safe House Black History Museum in Greensboro. Neckdown was the crash course in Rural Studio and Newbern.

Students washing the siding at the Safehouse Black History Museum
cleaning siding at the Safe House Black History Museum
Students digging trenches to lay electrical wiring
in the trenches!

Now that us 3rd-years have gotten thrown into the deep end of the goings on at Rural Studio, we can officially start our project: Rosie’s Home.

Welcome to Red Barn!

The 3rd-year class had a busy first few weeks in the Red Barn Studio. We started by getting to know our clients Rosie and Frankie. We created collages after meeting them to explore specific locations of the home.

Rosie viewing last semesters drawings
Rosie was able to see the drawings of her home from Spring semester
Third years greeting Rosie and Frankie
Paxtyn's collage of front exterior with plants
Trica's collage of front exterior with gardening and yard activities
Elizabeth's collage of side exterior with plan view of the site
Jenna's collage of side exterior with grilling and gardening
Amanda'a collage of front porch with cooking, potting plants, and relaxing
Rachel's collage of front porch with abundant plant life
John's collage of the living room highlighting the movement and heavily used furniture in the room
Gabe's collage of the living room emphasizing the pictures on walls and furniture
Eric's collage of the kitchen shows the accessibility of the appliances and storage
Alex's collage of Rosie and Frankies bedroom shows their daily routines, storage and comfort in the room
Ellis's collage of the kitchen highlighting the cooking, memories, and routines

While we were getting to know the clients, we had another project. We went to dollar stores and second-hand shops to pick up a variety of materials. Then we weaved, layered, and meshed the materials, and the result was funky–even for Rural Studio–and we’ve been known to do some weird stuff.

Pin-up of materials study in Red Barn

This project was a collaboration with the 4th-year Interior Architecture studio that is back on main campus in Auburn. In a Zoom meeting, we shared work from both studios including the materials, as well as our collages. Using all of the information and materials we previously organized, we teamed up (2-3 Rural Studio students and 2-3 main campus Interiors students) to explore how different materials might affect the atmosphere of Rosie’s Home.

Presenting to the Interiors Studio in Auburn from the Red Barn

Most recently, we began a study of all the previous 20K Homes. Looking at all the materials that make up the walls, we began to research their qualities, such as healthfulness, energy efficiency, and cost. We then presented our research and our work from previous weeks to visiting architects Cheryl Noel and Ravi Ricker of Wrap Architecture in Chicago.

visit to Ree's 20K home
visit to the fifth year's site at Patriece's Home
review with Andrew, Cheryl, and Ravi

Our reviewers offered a lot of great feedback on our presentation, graphics, and research and we are excited to continue to progress our design for the interior of Rosie’s Home!

Woodshop Class

Along with our studio course, we take a Woodshop course and a History Seminar here at Rural Studio. Our Woodshop class will focus on creating cabinetry for Rosie’s Home. The first assignment was to study cabinetry, focusing on function, space, and material of typical cabinetry, as well as cabinetry and storage in past Rural Studio projects. The course instructors Steve Long and Judith Seaman began an introduction to the workspace consisting of rules and regulations, and how to use the equipment and tools in the shop. They also gave us a presentation on the history of wood in the state of Alabama and in the local area of Hale County. Finally, we are excited to start our first woodworking project: a cutting board!

Group of students in wood shop listening to instructors.
Group of students gathered around a wood planer.
Learning about the planers!
Group of students listening to instructor.

History Seminar

The History Seminar is on Monday afternoons with our instructor, Dick Hudgens. We travel around the local area and surrounding counties to study the vernacular architecture in West Alabama with an emphasis on wood constructed Antebellum homes. In the most recent class, we visited Glencairn in Greensboro. It was completed in 1837 and the original owner was John Erwin. During the tour, we learned about almost every detail of the home from the handcrafted cornices to the scrolls on the furniture. In order to study the intricate details of the home, we sketched the interior of the front door and surrounding trim work and the exterior elevation of the building. 

White Antebellum style home front elevation.
Glencairn Exterior
Two students sitting, sketching, and getting proportions.
Proportions are key!
White Antebellum home with group of students gathered sketching.
Group of students sitting on the floor while sketching.
Hard at work!

Stay tuned this semester!

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The Stakes are High

March 29, 2022

Things have really gotten rolling with our 3rd-year class! Scroll down to see what we’ve been working on in woodshop, history, and Rosie’s Home.

Mocking It Up

Our main project in woodshop is to create a chair. However, before we could begin recreating our chair precedents, each team was tasked with crafting a mock-up that tested all of the most difficult aspects of their chair’s construction. We learned so much about joints, jigs, lamination, and even steam-bending!

Grant and Sarah display steam-bent chair legs with a thumbs up.
Steam-bent legs for the Alto Stool
Anna displays a mock-up of the Zig Zag Chair with a thumbs up.
Finished section of the Zig Zag Chair
Will and Jon Hunt examine their mock-up folding chair.
Test of joints for the folding Frei Egidio Chair
Julia displays a mock-up of the zig zag chair.
Jon Hunt tests out the Zig Zag Chair mock up.

Our testing phase is coming to a close, but we have learned from both our mistakes and successes and can apply that knowledge to our final chair.

Historical Visits and Tomfoolery

This month, we visited Gaineswood in Demopolis, AL, along with Magnolia Grove and The Oaks (Happel-Stickney Home) in Greensboro, AL. These houses were beautifully constructed and provided opportunities for fun photo ops between sketches.

Students approach the Gainswood House in Demopolis.
Two students dance in the ballroom of Gainswood House.
Ballroom Dancing
The Gainswood Ballroom
Students overlook the city on a rooftop balcony.
View off the Gaineswood Rooftop
Students discuss the entrance to the underground storage tunnel at Gainswood.
Students examine a historic bookshelf.

1st-Year Frenzy

The 2021-2022 Foundation Unit students came to visit Rural Studio! We had a great time showing them around Newbern. On Saturday, we helped them build a variety of model stands for their latest project. The stands turned out wonderfully!

View of first-year model stands.
A class of first years sits next to their newly-built model stands.

That’s the Plan!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve created many iterations of floor plans for Rosie’s Home, gradually improving the design. We also went on site to examine the post-frame construction and discuss the building’s corner details.

Students discuss methods of corner detailing on site.
Students discuss methods of corner detailing on site.
Anna pets the site cat, Crunch.
A wall of possible floor plans and details.

This week, we finalized our floor plan and slab details and decided on a new elevation scheme. We taped out our floorplan at full scale on the floor of our studio. Next, we staked out the footprint of the building and began setting up our batter boards!

Plan Mock Up to test living space and accessibility sizes
Testing Kitchen Layout Possibilities
Putting Up the Batter Boards
Using the Site Level

After marking out the floor plan under the roof structure, we brought our clients Rosie and Frank out to show them our progress and present our projections for what the home will look like in the future. It was a great meeting, and we can’t wait to see what they think of the house when it is complete!

Check back in soon to see our progress on the foundation and framing plans!

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Soup Roast!

December 17, 2021

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!

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Week 2: Hit the Ground Runnin’

February 2, 2021

This week, the 3rd-years arrived on site, ready to work! They are excited to continue construction on Ophelia’s Home. They have also been introduced to their elective Woodworking and Historical Design Electives. Let’s check in to see how it’s all starting off.

Students meeting with professor and looking at drawings
Morning talks with Professor Emily McGlohn before site work starts

Wood Shop Class

This semester, the 3rd-Year students will continue the cabinetry class with Steve Long. This week, Steve taught the students how to use the tools safely. They also received an assignment to create a cutting board, so keep an eye out for the finished products! This assignment introduces students to the tools in the wood shop before they begin cabinetry.

Next, the students will be researching, designing, and handcrafting cabinetry for Ophelia’s Home. The 2020 Spring semester 3rd-Years laid a great foundation by designing and planning CNC routed millwork for the home. Past projects such as the Fausndale Community Center have used CNC routing for their millwork. CNC routing is a computer-based cutting machine available on Auburn University’s Main Campus, but not at Rural Studio. Therefore, the new group decided to handcraft the cabinets using the tools available on the Rural Studio campus here in Newbern. Throughout the semester, professionals will come and teach the students the basics of millwork so they can hit the ground running.

History Class

Professor Dick Hudgens teaches historic, regional design elective, referred to as “History Class”, here at Rural Studio. The 3rd-Year students take field trips to amazing buildings in the area, which Dick has great knowledge and experience with. Along with learning the history of the buildings through tours, the students sketch the buildings in order to understand them to a greater degree.

front elevation of Magnolia Grove
Magnolia Grove Main House
  • Kitchen quarters of Magnolia Grove
    The kitchen
  • Dick telling students about the history of the back porch.

For their first class, the 3rd-Years travelled to Magnolia Grove in Greensboro. After touring the site, They sketched the main house and kitchen.

On Site

Everyone was excited to begin work on site.

The interior team spent the week counting inventory and beginning the framework. After a lot of headaches, math, and some rocks in the studs, they built and raised three interior walls!

  • students raise interior wall
  • students sit down and take a break
  • students raise interior wall

The enclosures team completed sheathing, which is a flat layer of fiber board used to help strengthen the structure of a building and serve as an extra weatherproofing layer. Ophelia’s Home uses ZIP sheathing which also requires the joints to be sealed with ZIP tape.

  • Students cut pieces of sheathing
  • Student cutting piece of Sheathing
  • assistant professor supervises student using reciprocator saw
  • Students lifting piece of sheathing onto exterior wall
  • Two students on scaffolding
  • Two students attaching sheathing onto exterior
  • Student applying zip taping to exterior walls

The MEP team installed blocking in the rafters to seal ventilation from the attic space. This meant applying 2 “x 4” lumber in between the studs and vertical batons to cover any gaps caused by the exterior sheathing when the two elements meet.

  • student stands on rafters while drilling blocking on walls
  • Student drilling blocking into place
From sheathing to interior walls, the 3rd-Years have sprung into acton.

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Divide and Conquer

October 24, 2020

Woodshop Class

This week in woodshop class, the 3rd-years were able to finish their first project; Cutting Boards! Even with a less than normal Rural STudio experience, the students utilized this project as an introduction to woodworking. They gained confidence in using woodworking tools. The next two projects will be at an accelerated pace, but now the 3rd-years now have the skills to woodwork with more independence. Here is a look at each 3rd-year’s individual cutting board!

Matt Repsher
“It’s a cutting board for people”
Ethan Mejia
“Random Quadrilaterals”
DeLiang Chen
“Beverage Tray”
Ben Willcockson
“It doubles as a paddle board”
Christina Devries
“The Art of the End Grain”
Ann Sheldon
“Cheese”
Carla Slabber
“Puzzle pieces that double as coasters”

History Class

In history, students were able to visit Thornhill, a 19th century home atop a hill with a spectacular view. What makes Thornhill unique from previous tours is the people that inhabit it. The older architectural styles of the house have been maintained by its owners while new additions have been made to complement the existing structures. All of the modern spaces are designed to respect the older ones. It was very interesting for the students to see a successful and modern addition to an older home.

Images from Thornhill

Ophelia’s Home

As the semester continues, 3rd-years have split into three different groups: Framing, Enclosures, and Roof. The Framing team is constructing the final wall for the home and planning Ophelia’s porch construction. The Roof team is planning the truss installation process, the purchasing of materials, and what additional construction drawings are needed. The Enclosures team finished cutting and installing the sheathing on the walls and aided the Framing Team in the installation of the final wall. 

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