#rs3rdyears

[ruralstudiofarm]

The Final Stretch

After Thanksgiving Break, there is only two weeks left for construction. Team Dogtrot is hitting the site full force to get each project completed! We have started the framing for the bench, countertop, and cabinets in the Kitchen Dogtrot and have started charring the wood for the cladding. Electrical for the lighting in each dogtrot is being installed very soon so we can move forward with building the structure for the ceiling. Details to keep the rope in tension for the screen are being tested. A combination of a turnbuckle or spring with steel cable and eye hooks is being considered. 

11 days until completion. Here we go!

[ruralstudiofarm]

Construction Begins!

After the annual Rural Studio Halloween Reviews, the design for the dogtrots and screen have been decided! Following the concept of contrast, we are starting out with painting the rafters and existing ceiling in both dogtrots black to not distract from the charred cladding that will later be installed. The wood for the framing and furring strips are going to be painted black for the same reason. 

The sink and faucet for the wash-station have been ordered and the custom stainless steel counter top is currently being quoted for the wash-station. It’s going to be a busy rest of the semester but, we can finish all three projects by December 12th with full days of focus and hard work!     

[ruralstudiofarm]

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!

[ruralstudiofarm]

Greenhouse Team accomplishments since last week:

1. Halloween Reviews - Our team dressed up as Little Bo Peep & her Sheep and gave our presentation in costume on Friday. We got some good feedback and some new ways to think about our design from our reviewers.

2. Removal of the gravel in the large work space - Tuesday was spent shoveling tons of gravel out of our building space so we could begin to level the ground for our concrete foundation.

3. Digging the two ground drains - Even though it rained a lot last week, that didn’t stop our team from working hard in the swamp-like condition of our site. We learned how to use the Bobcat to drill holes in the ground for our two water drains and connected our pipes into those spaces.

4. Installing the spigot (!) - We are very excited (top photo) that we have installed our tool-wash spigot successfully. This involved using the bobcat to dig a trench in the spigot area, draining that trench, connecting the spigot to the water line we placed below, then filling that trench with the gravel from the work space to create a ground drain.

We have a lot of work left to do before December. We will fill you in on our progress next week!

[ruralstudiofarm]

Drill Here

Team Solar has been working on site a lot lately to finish the COW system. To connect the tank to the trough we had to hammer drill a hole in the bottom right side of the tank. To access this point in the tank, we dug down 6 feet in the rock-like clay. Our last step is connecting everything and setting up the tank!