Learning by doing

Social Consciousness

Clifton Forge, Virginia is repre­sen­ta­tive of many previously prospe­rous American towns, strugg­ling to survive as the indus­tries, which fueled their growth, continue to abandon them. Tucked within a small valley along the Jackson River, this rural Appa­la­chian rail town faces severe urban chal­lenges. Deserted store­fronts, empty houses and decaying infra­struc­ture contri­bute to an under­lying sense of aban­don­ment. With a combined median house­hold income of ‚000 annu­ally, Clifton Forge is in need of recrea­tional and cultural faci­li­ties to expand oppor­tu­ni­ties for its own future.

The Sharon Fieldhouse­ was an all-volun­teer design and cons­truc­tion under­ta­king for a non-profit little league. It was led by 15 under­gra­duate archi­tec­ture students who orga­nized them­selves, a team of profes­sional consul­tants and a team of commu­nity volun­teers, all with the aspi­ra­tion of engen­de­ring a renewed sense of place by intro­duce vibrant civic archi­tec­ture.

From a student educa­tion perspec­tive, the project strives to rein­force the know­ledge and skills neces­sary to the successful and meaningful prac­tice of Archi­tec­ture by addres­sing issues of social conscious­ness, commu­nity leader­ship, colla­bo­ra­tion, consensus buil­ding, and envi­ron­mental sustaina­bi­lity.

From an economic deve­lo­p­ment perspec­tive, the project demons­trates the poten­tials of locally available resources. By part­ne­ring with fled­gling local indus­tries to fabri­cate rela­tively complex buil­ding compon­ents, steel shops have expanded into CNC produc­tion, truss manu­fac­tu­rers have realized that their exis­ting produc­tion lines allow for mass-custo­miza­tion and sawmills have found new markets in Appa­la­chian hard­wood mill­work.

From a commu­nity deve­lo­p­ment perspec­tive, the energy, crea­ti­vity, and commit­ment demons­trated by the students replaces despair with valor and caused people to get involved in revi­ta­li­zing their own commu­nity. Among the many bene­fits of this commu­nity-class­room is affir­ma­tion of design thin­king in place making: the educa­tion of Archi­tects about the value of the public and the educa­tion of the public about the value of Archi­tec­ture.

Prefabrication

Prefa­bri­ca­tion is central to the design/buildLAB’s educa­tional approach, because it allows a single group of students to lead a project from concep­tion to realiza­tion, and expe­ri­ence the enti­rety of the process of making archi­tec­ture. The students prefa­bri­cated the large majo­rity of the Fieldhouse’s buil­ding compon­ents at VA Tech, while local contrac­tors conducted the site work. This allowed for phases of cons­truc­tion, which usually happen in sequence, to happen simul­ta­neously. The effi­ci­ency of working in a controlled envi­ron­ment is essen­tial in achie­ving the sche­dule of one academic year. The prefa­bri­cated buil­ding compon­ents were assem­bled on site with a crane. In total, the students prefa­bri­cated and assem­bled the struc­ture in less than five months.

The project is cons­tructed from 4 primary compon­ents, each in a distinct mate­rial: concrete plinth, carbon steel screens, wood roof panels and white lami­nated glass enve­lopes. Shop drawings for all members of each compo­nent were extra­cted from a computer model, faci­li­ta­ting precise and effi­cient off-site prefa­bri­ca­tion.

All concrete form­work was prefa­bri­cated and trans­ported to the site to pour the porch terraces, knee walls, stairs, and slabs. The struc­tural steel bents and screens were pre-welded using a series of jigs and bolted into place on site, allo­wing the frame to be easily and effi­ci­ently assem­bled. Drop from major struc­tural elements was used to fabri­cate furni­ture such as picnic tables and a kitchen island. The trape­zo­idal wood roof panels were shop-built, craned into place and bolted to the steel struc­ture. The trans­lu­cent glass enve­lope was panelized, nested, coded and factory cut to mini­mize waste and expe­dite on-site instal­la­tion.