MONARCH

BULVERDE OAKS NATURE PRESERVE SAN ANTONIO, TX

CLASS DESIGN BUILD STUDIO

28’-4” X 27’-8” X 14’-6”

The project’s design was inspired by the monarch butterflies that can be found throughout the site. The studio aimed to design a structure that is open to the nature around it but also provides a space that is shaded and protected from the elements. It appears to “lift up” like a butterfly taking off, while the roof was designed to be a butterfly roof to help achieve this effect.

“The Monarch” is made up of three steel and wooden structure frames that are symmetrically identical, aligned, and connected. The frames were designed with modularity in mind to help ease construction and to keep costs down.

Wooden girders are cross-axial and supported by two steel columns on parallel ends of the structure. To provide shading, the top of the girders are covered by corrugated roofing panels while the bottom girder utilizes trellis panels to shade the east and west sides. Corrugated metal roofing provides complete shade and protects the classroom space from inclement weather, while the trellis panels provide fifty percent shading and are transparent enough to give an unobstructed view of the trees. The roofing panels slope downward to direct rainwater into a gutter located on the central axis of the structure, which drains water to the back of the structure and into a water tank so it can be collected. A closet was built on the south side to hold trail tools and classroom supplies with a whiteboard in front.

STEEL COLUMNS WITH CONCRETE FOOTINGS

X GIRDERS

GUTTER

FURNITURE DESIGN: Jo-’gak-bo

ThistableisinspiredbyKoreanJo-’gak-bo.

Jogakbois a style of patchwork made by connecting scrap pieces of fabrics in Korea.

When creating a work of art, it is customary to think about the work and select materials suitable for it. However, Jogakbois made with limited materials. Various insignificant pieces that were destined to be thrown away were integrated into one beautiful piece of work.

Following this traditional approach, this table is composed only of scrap pieces of wood.

There was no exact shop drawing to build this table. It was designed by organizing scraps by different sizes, grain patterns, and colours to create one harmonious piece.

The top of the table responds close to the traditional Jogakbo cloths, which are 2-dimensional, and the bottom responds to the 3-dimensional nature of the table by extruding those patterns to different lengths.