Ben Wilde Designer | Craftsman
Ben Wilde (b. 1990) is a graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin School of Architecture. Ben earned a Bachelors of Environmental Design (Highest Honors, 2013) from Texas A&M University. He has co led a team of designers as a project manager for the design and construction of a home in Colorado with A-Team Architecture. He is an accomplished woodworker, having grown up in the trade and apprenticed during high school, and is currently a research assistant for digital fabrication technologies at UT. He earned the 2013 Integrated Studio Best Project Award, the O’Neil Ford Traveling Fellowship, and the Thomas S. Gathright Academic Excellence Award for the top performing senior in the college of architecture at Texas A&M University.
Contents Academic Religion in Transition 4 Studio Subterrainea 20 Owen Bircher Park Pavilion 30 Solid to Strand 38 The Link 44 Bryan Fitness Lab 52
Other Work Woodworks 68 Field Constructs Exhibition 76 Colorado Design/Build 80
Religion in Transition Year 2015 Duration 12 Weeks Professor Kevin Alter The aim of this project was to investigate how a church, which has served the city for 50 years, could continue to stay relevant in a neighborhood that has rapidly changed around it. St. Luke United Methodist has long partnered with secular nonprofits to do good in the world. Lending out their church offices has given rise to a rape crisis center, an AIDS clinic, several hunger initiatives, and a daycare that served working mothers at a deep discount. This partnership with secular organizations connected the greater community to the church and became the thesis for my project. The design intent is to provide a scaffold for the mixing of sacred and secular programs, blurring the lines between faith and service through architecture. I was particularly interested in creating a flexible space, even within this seemingly rigorous program of a sanctuary. This not only frees up the site for public uses, but creates an opportunity for outsiders to faith to inhabit a holy space, while at the same time providing insiders the opportunity to be more inclusive. A singular sanctuary and fellowship hall nimbly pivots spatially and can be entered from two different main entries depending on the use: one for Sundays, and one for community meetings and other secular gatherings. Large iron pivot doors mark these entries and appear mute when closed, but beckon entry when open. Flexible seating replaces the standard pew, and allows for further reconfiguration. In the spirit of Alvaro Siza and Carhillo de Graca, the buildings are mute and abstract. This allows certain moments of articulation and material specificity at the entry points and acts as a blank canvas for the manipulation of light on the white plaster as the day passes.
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The corner is given over to the city as a public park. A grove of trees provides a public refuge.
The Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall is manipulated to mediate between the two green spaces at human scale.
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A community garden is placed on the street. It gently slopes upward from the street, buildings pushed to the perimeter
A ramp provides access to underground program, articulating the garden and creating secluded circulation zone away from the street.
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Section A 1/16” = 1’ orth Elevation
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Section B 1/16” = 1’
th Elevation 1/16” = 1’
North Elevation
Site Section Through Ramp
Green Spaces Facilitate Community Engagement The long site is largely given over to public green space, while the buildings are situated along the perimeter. This allows the sanctuary and fellowship hall (one building) to interact and mediate the outdoor spaces. One the one hand, the urban grove is a symbol that all are welcome. On the other, the community garden represents the practical efforts of the church to serve the community. The two spaces also give rise to two main points of entry, one from the urban grove, and one along the street next to the sloping community garden. The garden anchors the back half of the site and includes programs below it at its high point.
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Plan: Ground Level 1. Sanctuary/ Fellowship Hall 2. Urban Grove 3. St. Luke Community Garden 4. Kitchen 8
5. Classroom 6. Outdoor Playspace 7. Non-Profit Office (Above) 8. Pastors Residence
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Garden Near the Education Wing
Sanctuary Window Lounge
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Level -1 Classrooms below the garden and church offices are accessed by gentle ramp.
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Level +1 Non-profit offices look over the garden. Upstairs window lounge is among the trees of the grove.
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Garden Classroom Materiality Study - Floating Concrete 13
Grand Hall Light flows in over the pulpit through a massive light scoop and into the main space from slits above. Ceiling height modulation such as aisle conditions and this scoop allow for smaller spaces to be created within the larger volume, providing comfortable meeting space for larger and smaller groups.
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Community Meeting The chairs are set up facing the grove, entry is from the street.
Movie Night Stemming from tradition in the neighborhood, chairs can be set up in a clearing in the grove and a movie projected onto the facade for the whole community.
Small Group The space used for the alter and preacher on Sunday can be transformed into a well lit meeting space, comfortable for about 20 people.
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Flexibility Diagrams
Sunday Worship The Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall are combined into one space. The tone of the space can be changed completely by varied entry sequences. Axial entry from the grove sets up a spiritual atmosphere, while entering from sidewalk is more casual. Massive steel pivot doors at these two entries open and close to indicate to all who pass which “mode� the building is in. 4/40 stacking chairs facilitate multiple room setups and translucent curtains along the glass turn the space from one of inward to outward focus.
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Street Entry Visitors enter the Grand Hall along the garden and experience the space in its role as a community hub, rather than a religious meeting space.
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Studio Subterrainea Year 2015 Duration 6 weeks Professor Murray Legge This project is about creating a sequence that curates the often hastened experience of the above ground terrain surrounding a cave entrance. Caves are unreal spaces. The varied scale, texture, and the effects of light make them primary destinations. However, for every cave there is evidence of its creation above ground. This cave was created by the flow of water from rain events over millions of years. This water flows into a dry wash and then finds its way underground, eroding limestone in the path that it takes. This geographic feature became the subject of the visitor center. A tectonic path establishes a datum against which the dry wash can be read. This path bridges the dry wash, and buildings are placed along it to create thresholds and act as landscape walls. Visitors take the path to a threshold between buildings, and upon crossing the threshold, they are turned to view the cave entry and can comprehend and become part of the path that water has taken by moving down the landscaped steps. The anchoring mass that creates the pivot point is an abstraction of the anti-chamber, the zone where darkness and light meet in the cave, and is utilized for exhibitions and park educational programs. On the opposite side of the dry wash, a cafĂŠ and gift shop are accessed upon exit and a loop of circulation is formed, with the dry wash at the heart of the experience.
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Initial path and building configurations and their relationship to the existing dry wash.
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A. Cavern Entrance B. Administration Building C. Exhibit Hall D. Cafe, Gift Shop, Camping Services E. Camping Loop
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South Elevation
Section Exhibit Hall and Anti -Chamber
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Top Left - Cafe and Gift Shop are on the path out of the cave. Bottom Left - Administration Building has views of the cave, but is secluded from public use. Above - Exhibition hall and landscape stairs anchor the project and turn users to the cave.
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Threshold The entry path leads to a threshold between buildings, and then opens up to views of the cave and the greater landscape beyond from an elevated platform
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Owen Bircher Park Pavilion Year Location Program Directors Design Team
2011 Wilson, Wyoming Lori Ryker and Meg Hanson 7 Students The Artemis Institute encourages students to think more broadly about the context into which they place architecture and the relationship that their architecture forms with the natural world. We were challenged to considerthe posture the building takes, it’s materiality, and the way it will serve the community. Students are able to put these ideas into practice through a design-build project. In addition, the semester academic work includes readings and discussions, creating smaller scale works called vessels, and numerous backpacking and camping trips. Our project, a pavilion for 85 people, replaced an existing structure that had fallen into disrepair. The project aimed to solve practical goals of snowshed and provide a protective barrier with the wetlands through a simple shed roof and an expressive structure to hold it up. Two fire pits anchor smaller gathering spaces, while the main gathering space with picnic tables is flanked by a boardwalk and bench for individual reflection. The old pavilion was deconstructed, and components were reused. Most notably, the rectangular slab was appended and the 2x6 trusses were used in the slats and boardwalk.
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Owen Bircher Park
Wilson, Wyoming
Restrooms/ Storage
Field (Soccer, Picnics, Weddings)
Sand Volleyball Courts Playground
Park Pavilion
Boardwalk to Town Wetlands and Creek
Old Pavilion
Deconstructed (Slab left intact)
Columns Reused in the Boardwalk
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New Slab New Hard-scape New Boardwalk
Site Plan Pavilion, Boardwalk, Hard-scape, and Fire pits
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Truss members used as slats 33
Reflected Ceiling Plan
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Axis Beam The design sought to reconcile multiple intersecting grids, making the structure unclear. The solution was to use a beam that ran the full length of the project on an axis created by the fire pits. The beam gives the interior complexity and links the two exterior spaces together visually.
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Section (Bent 2 of 5)
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Bent Composition The section is formulated materially and formally to provide a barrier to the wetlands while opening up to the greater park. Steel was used on the park side to reduce the bulk of the columns while glue-lam and timber construction was used in the rest of the project. The fire pits are cast in concrete and trimmed in steel.
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Solid to Strand Year Duration Professor Teammate
2015 12 Weeks Igor Sidiqqui Phil Richardson Design Excellence Nominee: Fabrication Category (UTSOA) This project was an investigation of digital fabrication techniques through the design of table legs. Our approach was to use grasshopper and 3d printing to generate plastic inserts and templates for inserting them into generic leg forms. Store bought leg forms can be operated upon to create a product that calls into question the solidity of wood and introduces surprise and delight into a clean and modern table form. I built a 3d printer from parts sourced around the internet and we decided to investigate the viability of this technology not only as a rapid prototyper, but as the generator of finished products. The height constraints of the 3d printer informed the notion that the printed portion must be a part of a larger whole. Mass customization through parametric design allows for the inserts to be generated at any height within the leg form and with infinite possibilities of strand numbers and thickness. Structural stability is achieved through strand intersection, which is programmed into the grasshopper definition.
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Structural and conceptual models (3d Printed)
COLLIDING STRANDS, VARYING PIPES Grasshopper
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LOFTED STRANDS, VARIABLE PIPES Grasshopper + 3D Print Prototyping
Strands
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Void Space Generates Tiers
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Tiers Generate Points
Points Generate Curves
Curves Generate Tubes
Tubes Thicken (Optional)
Tiers
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Pipes
Insertion
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Print inserts on homemade 3d printer
Generate leg forms through traditional techniques
Leg Typologies (Right) Seamless Round insertion Sleeve Square Insertion Cut and drill along digitally created templates to combine the two worlds 42
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The Link Year 2011 Duration 6 weeks Professor Craig Babe The Link is a connection of three academic architecture buildings each with its own type of user and function. Using auditory and visual transparency, The Link is designed to encourage chance encounters and the discovery of new ideas between those studying architecture, construction science, and visualization. The key issue this building addressed is how to effectively create spaces for gathering that include major circulation paths. The project is conceived as a path that runs though spaces of varying character with plenty of room for exploration, should a model or a studio mate catch your eye. Architectural community is created around a gallery for both models and printed work, a review space, and a cafe. The building is hung from each of the three buildings with minimal ground contact. Using the airspace above existing circulation paths, the open air walking path that many students take to classes outside of the Architecture buildings stayed intact. The double height gallery is located in the narrowest piece of real estate, while the review space and cafe project out into the larger voids between buildings.
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Context Plan
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Building C
The Link
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Building A
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Cafe
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Circulation Paths
Kitchen
Review Space
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1. Gallery 2. Transport Tubes 3. Kitchen 4. Cafe
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5. Review Space 6. Building A 7. Building B 8. Building C PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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Cafe
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1. Catwalk Gallery 2. Gallery 3. Review Space 4. Cafe 5. Circulation Tubes
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Bryan Fitness Lab Year Duration Professor Teammate
Fall 2012 12 Weeks Marcel Erminy Sam Florance This project focused on activating public space through the program of fitness. While the original brief was interested in a comprehensive design for a fitness center, our aim quickly became to facilitate use of outdoor recreation areas, improving the wellbeing of all citizens of Bryan, Texas. Downtown Bryan has gone through a revival of sorts in the past few years and is now a walkable district full of shops and bars. The site is located at the terminus of the walkable downtown area. As we observed the actions of the public during evenings and weekends, it became clear that this site was the location where people turned around and headed back toward the central downtown district. After a program and climate analysis, we determined that instead of privatizing the entire site for an interior fitness center, generating public outdoor zones of fitness and recreation would free up the interior for programs that truly need to be conditioned. The footprint of the building would be drastically reduced. Further footprint reduction was achieved by pushing the program down into the site one level and creating a protected sunken courtyard. The building is planned around a route the allowed users to turn around using the site thereby interacting with the multiple indoor and outdoor fitness areas.
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Process 1. Site Intersected by Road 2. Build Vertical, not Horizontal, for Protection from Road 3. Relocate Earth to Sloping Park 4. Sloping Park Influences Indoor Fitness Area Form 5. Running Track and Pedestrian Bridge Over the Road
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Earth Removal for Courtyard and Basement
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Relocated to create the Burm Indoor Recreation Spaces Relocated to create the Burm ement
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Running Track & Bridge connect Burm and Indoor Recreation Spaces Running Track & Bridge connect Burm and Indoor space Indoor space
Site Organization A U shaped building creates a monumental end to downtown. The building facilitates a circulation path that allows pedestrians to turn around using the site, while also interacting with the outdoor public spaces.
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1. Sloped Park 2. Main Street 3. Cafe/ Retail
4. Court (Exterior) 5. Sunken Courtyard 6. Locker Rooms
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Sports By Level Yoga Multipurpose
Running Track (Exterior)
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Weights Pool Rock Climbing Wall Court Sports 57
Sloping Park
Main Street
Sunken Courtyard
Site Section By raising the park, lowering the courtyard, and crossing the track over the road, all fitness areas are disengaged from the activity of the road and multiple layers of circulation and fitness can coexist at the same time.
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Indoor Fitness
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Roof Assembly Model
Roof Beams Exploded Diagram
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1. Parapet 2. Window 3. Corner Turn-down 4. Cantilever Support 5. Floor to Wall Connection 6. Basement Wall Section 7. Pier Connection
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Supply
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Structural Integration The structural grid was expressed throughout the project as a vehicle for proportion and rhythm. Mechanical systems operate in three zones: Pool, Main Exercise Area, and Cafe/Retail.
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Curtain wall structure
Concrete shear wall/elevator shaft/mechanical tower
Special beams: 3’-4’ depth X-bracing 32’-0”
W16x26 under 3” metal decking 16’-0” Concrete shear wall 12” Standard truss: 3.5’ depth 0’-0” 25’x25’ structural grid
Retaining walls
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Operable Facade The pool area spills into the sunken courtyard and the building facade is retracted to allow for a full sun or shaded swimming experience. In the cooler months the pool area is enclosed allowing for independent heating of the space.
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Other Work
Furniture Works Years: 2007-2016 I believe that when architects make, and especially when they take the time to become experts in the tools and technology used by fabricators and in other industries, new possibilities emerge within our profession. I believe in designs rooted in materiality and method. As the grandson of a carpenter, I’ve had power tools in my hands from a young age. In high school, I worked for furniture maker Dan Pheiffer as an apprentice. I learned my way around a shop and became very comfortable taking on any problem, designing the solution, and then making it. I gained a keen sense of materiality. The tactile and perfomative qualities of materials and the way they are connected provide a rich framework for building, and is something I feel is best understood by working with these materials with your own hands. In my undergradate years, I developed an interest in digital fabrication and worked as a technician in the school CNC fabrication shop. Currently, my position at the Robotics Lab in the school of architecture allows for even more experimentation with technologies whose contributions to architecture aren’t yet known. I am excited about the opportunity to help to link industrial robots to the practice of architecture. My desire is to never lose touch with the process of making whether its by hand, or by translating digital processes to a machine.
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Gemsbok Table Ben Wilde (2009)
This table was built as an entry to the Texas State SkillsUSA furniture competition The design was focused on distilling and recalling the natural horn geometry with a decidedly geometric carving pattern on the surface. The top is zebrawood with a hand carved walnut border. The base is a tripod of gemsbok horns. All horns were gathered from naturally deceased animals. A silversmith created the silver caps to protect the horn tips from breaking; they also provide a contrast where the legs meet the floor.
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Spiral Coffee Table Ben Wilde (2011)
The goal for this project was to make finish grade furniture from a single sheet of plywood with as little waste as possible. Each piece is built from components nested inside each other. Each nested component was cut with 1/4 inch holes that corresponded to the pieces above and below it in the sequence. Dowels were used to secure the pieces together. When the lights and the glass are installed, a spiral pattern of light is projected to both the floor and ceiling, providing a focal point in the room in the same way a campfire focuses space around it.
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Selected Woodworks: Apprenticeship With Dan Pfeiffer Gallery 1. Detail: Horn leg to Apron 2. Gemsbok Night Stand 3. Pecan V-Table 4. Semicircle Pergola
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Field Constructs Exhibition Year 2015 Location Mebane Gallery (UTSOA) Teammates Professor Igor Siddiqui, Philip Richardson The Field Constructs Design Competition sought to bring recognition to a remedated dump site through architectural installations. Organized by one of my professors, this exhibition of the entries was on display for 2 weeks in the School of Architecture’s Mebane Gallery, while the four winners were built and exhibited on site. I worked on scripting a layout in grasshopper that brought logic to the height, tilt and diameter of the display disks and fabricated the steel stands. Each disk held one image from each of the jury-selected finalists. The size and tilt of the disks is proportional to their final placement in the contest with the winners being largest.
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Colorado Home Design / Build Years 2013 - Current Client Ted and Sue Osowski Team Sam Florance, Ben Wilde, Josh Cristy, Daniel Kelly, Dustin Adler My friend asked me to join him in generating some plans for a retired Air Force colonel and his wife. The 35-acre site on the flank of Mt. Harvard in Buena Vista, Colorado is in a Lodgepole Pine forrest with expansive views of the mountain and down the valley. We worked with the couple to draw up plans for their dream home, giving design input and doing building code research along the way. As the project progressed, we asked for more responsibility and were given the job to act as the general contractor for the project. Stepping into the unknown, we finalized the plans, worked with a Colorado engineer, created a permit packet, received the building permit, and moved to Colorado to build the first phase of the house. Living on site, we managed the flow of materials and personnel. We acted as labor, calling in local tradesmen and family and friends to train us in many aspects of the construction. The project allowed me a chance to assume a leadership role right out of college and to see implications of our design in real scale. I was in charge of drafting the structural set and working with the engineer and co-led the build phase with the help of the client and Sam Florance. It was a foundational experience and one that has really broadened my understanding of what it takes to bring a building into the world.
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2x12 roof
2x12 @ 24” O.C.
Timber Framing 8x15 and 10x15 Amish Oak Beams Natural Jointery only
Framing, Second floor walls 2x6 @ 16” O.C. 2x6 columns accept timberframe roof structure Framing, Second floor Main Beams: W18x40x36’ Minor Joists: 14” TJI +110’ - 6” Framing, First Floor Walls 2x6 @ 16” O.C
Slab and Mechanical room cieling 3500 PSI concrete 16” floor trusses +100’ - 0” Foundation Walls 8” and 10” ICF Forms 3500 PSI concrete
Footers Traditionally formed 3500 PSI concrete
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A-Team Architecture After our experience at the Artemis Institute, we decided to pursue the design and construction of this project in lieu of our 8th studio. We set ourselves up as a firm with drafting standards and regular hours. After the design was complete, we moved into a house with the client and walked up the road daily to the construction site. We performed virtually all construction activities on this job including setting forms, tying rebar, laying baseplates, and craning in massive timbers. The project is ongoing with phase one, the garage apartment, being completed by the client with some help from us over two summers. The main house is scheduled to be built by a local contractor in the coming years.
South Elevation - Phase 1 Marked (built)
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Roof Detail
Foundation Detail
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Ground Level
Level 2
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