Auburn University Rural Studio

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: #auburnarchitecture, auburn, Auburn University, Auburn University CADC, Auburn University Rural Studio, AuburnRuralStudio, auburnu, auburnuniversity, designbuild, leftovers, patrice'shome, patriceshome, patriece'shome, patriecehome, patrieceshome, rs5thyears, rsleftovers, ruralstudio

Fall 2021 Neckdown Week

August 31, 2021

three young people stand together smiling wearing hard hats and harneses

This semester, Neckdown Week was as productive as ever, with the sun shining on us all week long. Neckdown is a studio tradition, during which all students and faculty work together to mend, clean up, or push forward our past and current projects. This time around we worked on student projects in Newbern and sent teams all the way out to Perry Lakes Park in Marion, AL.

At Perry Lakes Park, we cleaned up debris from a big storm that hit the park last year. We also worked on the plumbing for the bathrooms, which included a lot of digging. And we mean A LOT. Up on the Perry Lakes Birding Tower, we finally completed our objective of replacing all the rotten boards that we began removing during Neckdown last year! We hope all of you will be able to come visit the beautiful park as soon as it reopens in the very near future.

six young people stand in mud holding shovels — Students who helped dig to find the water line at Perry Lakes

a woman smiling in an orange shirt and a man wearing a blue face mask stand in a big muddle hole — Students who helped dig to find the water line at Perry Lakes

a man and a woman in protective harnesses and hard hats look at a hand railing — Installing the final new boards on the Birding Tower

a scene of a walkway ending at lake, with two people sitting down and looking at the lake — Installing the final new boards on the Birding Tower

Back in good ole Newbern, teams of helpers working a several maintenance projects at our headquarters at Morrisette House. A few teams also worked alongside Eric at the Rural Studio Farm constructing raised garden beds. These beds, made from concrete blocks, are very time consuming to build correctly, and our helpers worked hard in the sun to make them look good and function well! We’d also like to give a shoutout and a big thank you to all of the Auburn University Landscape Architecture students and faculty who came out to Hale County to help us nourish Rural Studio’s outdoor spaces. The AULA cohort not only helped out at the Farm and Morrisette property, but they also worked in our courtyards in downtown Newbern and at Lion’s Park in Greensboro. Our plants and ground surfaces would not be as happy as they have been lately without you all. Thank you!

looking down from above, a pair of feet in work boots next to an angle of concrete blocks — Close-up of the new garden beds construction

a big plot of dirt with four raised concrete block farm beds and some bright yellow strings framing the beds — Close-up of the new garden beds construction

Our recent graduates also took advantage of a few Neckdown helpers this week to make some progress finishing up their projects! With assistance from new 3rd and 5th-year’s capable hands, our three “leftover” teams accomplished a huge amount of work! The Thermal Mass & Buoyancy Ventilation Research Project team constructed two sets of stairs that lead down into their cooling porch. They also worked on installing battens on the exterior of their Research Pods!

The Myers’ Home team installed tongue-and-groove cypress boards on their interior core walls, and they worked with their helpers to nail their exterior flashing in place. Siding is coming up next for these folks. At Rev. Walker’s Home site, the team completed a massive amount of earth work in order to prep their site for its final grading. This process also included creating an outdoor gravel patio for their client to create a smooth transition from concrete slab to the adjacent ground surface.

Thank you to all the students, staff, and faculty that made all of this work possible this week!

a woman wearing jeans and a white shirt uses a long hand-tamping tool on gravel — Tamping stairs under TMBV Test Building

three stairs lead down from a grassy yard into a concrete and gravel outdoor patio — Tamping stairs under TMBV Test Building

a woman in a red shirt and shorts measures the length between two tall 2x4 studs — Measuring the length of tongue-and-groove panels for Myers’ Home

a female student on a ladder applies flashing — Measuring the length of tongue-and-groove panels for Myers’ Home

a man and a woman look at each other while holding construction tools in a wooden-framed ground surface — New “patio” construction at Rev. Walker’s Home

a view of a woman standing far away in a large gravel-filled length of yard — New “patio” construction at Rev. Walker’s Home

Tags: Auburn University Rural Studio, auburnlandscapearchitecture, auburnuniversity, morrisettehouse, myershome, neckdown, neckdownweek, perrylakespark, revwalkershome, ruralstudio, ruralstudiofarm, tmbv

Week 3: Digging into Design

February 12, 2021

Welcome back!

The 3rd-Year students have been very busy! After a great, first week on-site, the 3rd-Years spent much of this week digging into several big design decisions remaining for 20K Ophelia’s Home. This includes the interior wall locations and exterior colors. To work through these decisions they held several different design “charettes,” or design sessions, in which they sketched through and discussed all of their ideas.

Keep reading to learn about the 3rd-Years very exciting week in both history and wood shop class as well!

Group of students around their charettes — Getting Sketchy with it

Studio Charrettes

Plan Charette

The first design charrette of the week focused on the floor plan for 20K Ophelia’s Home. While most of the interior walls are already in place, the 3rd-Year team looked to see if there were any changes that could improve the spaces. With this project having a strong focus on accessibility, they also double-checked FHA (Federal Housing Administration) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) clearances. Next, they began to propose an idealized floor plan that could possibly be used for future iterations of the home.

big group of students have design discussion with their professor — Students talk through the floor plan

Students have design discussion with professor — Students talk through the floor plan

Pinup of sketched floor plans for an idealized floor plan of Ms. Ophelia's home. — Our “Idealized Ophelia’s Home Floor Plans”

Exterior Design Charette

Also this week, the 3rd-Years focused on the design of 20K Ophelia’s Home exterior. While comparing the proportions and elevations of 20K Ophelia’s Home to 20K Joanne’s Home, the team began to notice some differences. This is due to the fact that Ophelia’s Home Plan was stretched in order to account for a larger bathroom with ADA/FHA clearances.

WW1 warship using the dazzle camoflauge technique — A “dazzled” American war ship

In an effort to try and regain order and proportion on the exterior of 20K Ophelia’s Home, the team began studying techniques such as “Dazzle Camouflage” to shift the eyes’ focus. This was used on war ships in World War I to change the perception of the ships. As a team, the 3rd-Years felt that “Dazzle Camouflage” could create the proportions they found more appealing, without changing the footprint of the home. It was an exploration in blurring lines and regaining proportions. They came up with visual categories and sketched through ideas in a design charette. These original sketches became the basis for several exterior design options.

History Class

For history class this week, the group ventured to the Moore-Webb-Holmes Plantation in Marion, Alabama. This site holds a wide variety of historical structures. A descendant of the original owner was actually able to give us a personal welcome and a great amount of information related to the history of the property. While touring fancy interiors is interesting, it is also very important to understand the realities of how these structures facilitated agriculture.

Professor talking to group of students outside a historical building — Learning about the seed house

buildings at Folsom Inn — Learning about the seed house

Wood Shop Class

In Wood Shop Class, the 3rd-Years focused on our first design assignment—a cutting board. After learning about all of the tools in the shop, they designed both the cutting board and fabrication process. They had to think about every single step of the process and the tools most appropriate to accomplish their designs. Also,they had limitations on the types and amount of wood they could use for the cutting boards. Howevere, nothing held them back from creating beautiful cutting boards. Stay tuned to our blog for the finished products!

student uses the table saw in wood shop — Kirby making a cut for his cutting board on the table saw

As you can tell, its been a very busy and exciting week. Thanks again for reading our blog! We appreciate ya’!

Tags: #3rd-years, 20K Ophelias Home, Auburn University Rural Studio, Newbern Alabama, rural studio

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

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!

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.

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 — From sheathing to interior walls, the 3rd-Years have sprung into acton.

Student drilling blocking into place — From sheathing to interior walls, the 3rd-Years have sprung into acton.

Tags: 20K Ophelias Home, Auburn University, Auburn University Rural Studio, historyclass, newbern, newbernalabama, rs3rdyears, rural studio, woodshop

Rural Studio and McGill University publishes the collaboration’s first research paper

January 11, 2021

The Breathing Wall Mass Timber Research Project Team, alongside collaborators and colleagues Sal Craig, Kiel Moe, David Kennedy and Rural Studio’s own Andrew Freear, have officially published their work! The original research paper, entitled “The Design of Mass Timber Panels as Heat-Exchangers (Dynamic Insulation)” was published in the Frontiers in Built Environment journal. A culmination of two years of investigation and experimentation (see the blog here for more info), the article shows how to optimize mass timber panels as heat-exchangers and suggests how to pair panels with buoyancy ventilation.

The Breathing Wall Mass Timber Team and Sal Craig; the wonderful collaboration

Why is that important? The building industry is currently responsible for roughly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with a significant portion originating from the production of construction materials like concrete and steel. Mitigating this climate crisis requires a fundamental shift in what and how we build. Mass timber heat-exchangers offer a potential alternative. Mass timber products are naturally carbon sequestering, and building responsibly with timber has the potential to store carbon in the global carbon sink of new building stocks. Designing panels to be multifunctional provides the opportunity to further multiply savings by suggesting how to eliminate fossil-intensive insulation while simplifying ventilation systems.

How the Mass Timber Breathing Wall works

Mass Timber heat exchangers aren’t the only alternative – thermal mass is another example of this ‘radical integration’ – but the Mass Breathers and Co are excited to contribute to the conversation, and hope you will too! The article and data are all in the Creative Commons (thank you to MSSI for funding the license), and research is ever ongoing!