Extreme Makeover: Pod Edition / Pod 01
Halloween reviews were a critical moment for Team Solar. We unveiled our main project...renovating the pods! In the beginning, we were focused strictly on solar energy. Once we started to ask ourselves questions about ethics and large scale application, we decided to look into energy usage at Rural Studio as a whole. The pods seemed like the best place to start in terms of scale and testability.
The pods were student designed and built between 1999-2001. They were used to experiment with different construction methods and materials. Many of these tests resulted in a variety of problems.
We decided to start with pod 01, because it was in critical condition. Pod 01 was made out of bales of shredded cardboard. Even the slab rests on a cardboard foundation. One issue that we found with the pod’s function was that the material had aged poorly. There are areas in the walls where holes have formed and the wall is shedding. On the east face the window was hanging against the wall. The pod was also missing the back of the slab in the north end of the pod. We sealed up all of the windows and poured a concrete slab in the back of the pod. Pod 02 comes next!
