Auburn University CADC

I’m Floored

December 15, 2022

It’s been a minute since you’ve heard from the Patriece’s Home team.

A perspective view of a the house's exteror that is comvered in green sheet panels and black windows.

We last left them in the middle of their window installation, and since then they’ve finished! The fenestrations definitely gave the home its facial features and the wonderful Pella-donated windows filled the interior with beautiful light. 

a male student uses a screw driver in a door frame
a female student used a saw in the wooden frame of a door
barrel with a fire inside of it

The team also installed the Pella-donated exterior doors. The doors have integrated windows to give the home even more exterior daylight and now the team can lock up the house when they leave for the day. 

With such lovely natural light, the team met with designer Thomas Paterson of Lux Populi again to finalize a complementary artificial lighting plan. The group selected fixtures and bulbs that won’t attempt to replicate daytime light but give a different type of warm cast and task light for differing interior program.

three students stand in three corners of a room. two students opposite of each other hold a light above thair heads
two students stand in a dark hallway. one student holds a light above the corner of a wall.

With the stairs complete, it was easier for the team to bring tongue-and-groove plywood to lay the subfloor within their attic truss. 

plywood sheets are being laid down on the floor of an open attic space.
two students lay down plywood sheets on the floor of an open attic space.
all plywood sheets are laid down on the floor of an open attic space.

Once the subfloor was complete, the team could then finally finish their interior framing! The upstairs rooms have taken shape, and the team got very excited about the possibilities for flexible room at the top of the stairs. 

a perspective view of stud walls in the upstairs attic space.
a student frames stud walls in the upstairs attic space.
a student frames stud walls in the upstairs attic space.
a perspective view of stud walls in the upstairs attic space.

They also put half-inch plywood along the interior walls of the stairs to later attach a durable layer of tongue-and-groove cypress boards. With a surface to cast light on, the team got even more excited about the exterior light from the windows at the top and bottom of the stairs. 

a view down the stairs
a view of a window at the stair landing

With all the walls established, the group began looking toward wall fillers in preparation to enclose them with drywall (and with endless miscellaneous blocking). 

a man sledgehammers the base of a shower into place
a student puts batt insulation into a wall
a student screws in concrete sheets on the walls around a shower base
a veiw from the home's trusses, of two students standing next to a shower

We enjoyed installing the downstairs shower and upstairs bathtub base. From there, the team began fitting together the PVC drain, water, and vent system to the stub outs connections from the main drain in the concrete slab. 

a student puts adhesive on the upstairs subfloor
a student spreads out adheisive
a male student poses next to a foam on the studs around a bathtub
a student points to a shower wall while two other students can be seen working on the stair railing behind
a student works from within the tub

With the chunky PCV filling the walls, the group began routing flexible PEX tubing through the house. These water supply lines connect to their various fixture stub outs in the bathrooms and kitchen. 

a student and instructor discuss drawings pinned to a wall
PVC pipe fittings are arranged on the ground
PVC pipe is arranged in a wall
a student in a dark room works on an electrical box with a single light on their work
an electrical outlet is nailed into the exterior wall between a window and a door
a student nails in an electrical outlet box

Then it was time for electrical boxes and outlets to find their place in the wall. With the supervision of some expert help, the team installed the two electrical units. These separate outlet boxes offer the opportunity for power to be individually accessed and maintained. With all the wire strung, the house is ready to be plugged into the meter on the temporary power pole outside. Just like decorating for the holidays. We might as well: the house is already green. 

a student works next to plumbing fixtures in a wall
a student works overhead on plumbing fixtures
a student stands next to rough plumbing in the upstairs walls
plumbing running through a stud wall
two students sit behind a plumbed stud wall.

Speaking of holidays, Soup Roast snuck up on the team so fast! The four tidied up for the visitors and started the special day’s project tour with a quick presentation of their home. The crowd got to wander around the home. It’s safe to say it was well received! 

a crowd in costumes watches students give a presentation indoors
two people discuss drawings on a table with a light overhead. other figures walk upstairs in the background
four students are hanging out on the stair landing
a crowd wanders around the home's interior
a crowd wanders around the home's exterior

The team has a lot to be thankful for in their second holiday season at Rural Studio. The opportunity to build, the wonderful community that supports them, delicious food, and a home now ready for insulation and drywall! Check back here in the new year for more big updates on Patriece’s Home!

a crowd is clapping around the front exterior of the home.
four students wave from the front porch of the home
a perspective image of the back corner of the home
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1st-Year Students Visit Rural Studio to Construct ‘Things for Sitting’

March 28, 2021

Auburn University 1st-Year architecture students graced Rural Studio with fresh faces and eager spirits. Main campus professors Alyssa Kuhns and Gorham Bird organized a wonderful project for the students which culminated in a drive to Newbern and a day of fabrication at the Morrisette Campus. The experience was a blast for Rural Studio faculty and students. Let’s get into how the 1st-Years studied, designed, and made their, ‘Things for Sitting’.

an aerial view of students and faculty using power tools together under a large wooden pavilion
Mid-day construction madness

In Studio Preparation

The 1st-year students began the ‘A Thing for Sitting’ project by studying iconic benches, chairs, and stools. Next, they developed highly crafted 1:5 models and rendered drawings of their assigned iconic ‘thing for sitting’. After this study, in groups, they developed their own ‘thing for sitting’ inspired by what they studied. First, each student individually developed joinery studies connecting planar or linear elements. Those studies were combined to create a group assembly.

1st-Year Studio work studying and designing ‘Things for Sitting’

The joints and resulting assembly or ‘thing for sitting’ were developed through full-scale cardboard mock-ups, 1:1 drawings, and storyboards to ensure students were working within the material, tool, and process limitations. With approved designs and drawings, they piled into cars for a Saturday caravan to the Rural Studio Morrisette Campus.

a large group of students watch as a male professor demonstrates how to use a table saw
Steve Long demonstrates how to safely use power tools

Welcome to Newbern

The 1st-Years have arrived! The day started with a thorough introduction to the proper use and safety precautions of basic power tools. Steve Long taught the lesson with demonstrations from the ongoing projects’ tool trailers. That’s right, these 1st-Years took on the task of making beautiful objects, not in the illustrious Rural Studio woodshop. Instead, they worked “on-site” at the Fabrication Pavilion with construction-grade tools. With safety training completed, the 1st-Years began practicing with several faculty members and students to keep watchful eyes and dole out advice.

  • a 5th-year and a 1st-year student claps some pieces of wood to a table
  • a 1st-year and a 3d-year student discuss a small white plastic joint
  • students work together to scribe a line onto a 2x4
  • a graduate student looks on as two 1st-year students use a table saw and a sled
  • a graduate student shows a 1st-year student how to use a jig saw
  • a male professor demonstrates to a student the proper use of a table saw
Faculty and students hard at work on the 1st-year’s ‘Things for Sitting’ Project

After a little power tool practice and a big lunch from Chef Catherine, the 1st-Years began making their objects. First, they fabricated their pre-designed joints using 2″ x 4″ Southern Yellow Pine lumber and plywood. They also had access to all the tools the trailers have to offer and their own personal Rural Studio student.

  • a graduate student watches on as a 1st-year student uses a jig saw
  • students clamp a small plastic joint to two 2x4 pieces of wood
  • a female professor shows two students how to use a jigsaw
  • a female student watches a male professor place two pieces of 2x4s together
  • a male professor discusses a rasp tool with a male student
  • a female professor points out to two students something on a small 2x4 piece

Making a ‘Thing for Sitting’

When the students completed their own joint, it was time to fit it together with the rest of their teams’ pieces to create the full ‘Thing for Sitting’. To make the parts come together as one took adjustments to the individual joints and sometimes the entire design. Thankfully, Faculty members Chelsea Elcott, Steve Long, Emily McGlohn, and even Andrew Freear joined in to right all the wrongs and problem solve. In just 5 hours of intense work, every single 1st-year team created a ‘Thing to Sit’ which stood entirely on its own. Even more impressive, every single object was sit-able! No splintering under pressure here.

The day ended with a gathering of students and fabricated objects on the Great Hall. Each student team spoke about their objects’ inspiration and aspirations. Mostly, they spoke of what they learned. Everything from communicating with team members to how difficult it was to take it from drawing to reality. “Things don’t just fit together as you drew them!” Learning typical design-build lessons early. Overall, everyone gained confidence in using tools and fabrication. Hopefully, some of them caught the Rural Studio bug!

  • one student sits in a hand built chair while three stand behind him
  • one student sits in a handmade chair while another stands behind her
  • three students stand behind their handmade bench
  • two students stand behind their hand built bench
  • one student sits in a handmade chair while two students stand behind
  • three students kneel behind their handmade chair
  • four students stand together behind a hand-built bench
Students’ final projects

Rural Studio faculty and students were impressed and proud of the 1st-Year students’ final product as well as their journey to it. Check out their lovely ‘Things for Sitting’ above! A big thanks to professors Alyssa Kuhns, Gorham Bird, and David Kennedy for planning the day and bringing the 1st-Years over to Hale County. Come back and visit soon!

Tags: , , , , , ,