March 26th, 2014 (Again): A Night Of Celebration!

To celebrate a job well done, the students joined together tonight to have the inaugural fire in the new gathering structure. The fire glowed from within the space, as the students sat together enjoying good food, good drinks, and good company. It was a spectacular night!

The night photographs of the structure turned out exactly, if not better, than the initial concept renders. And, more importantly, the community response to the finished structure has been overwhelmingly positive! The students couldn’t have wished for a better result!

Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported the students throughout the course of the project. From all of the baked goods, to the lending of tools, to the transfer of advice and knowledge – it has all been tremendously appreciated! Thank you!

The students are looking forward to utilizing the new gathering space with the village community over the coming days and to the final celebrations on Monday!

The warm glow of the fire coming through the perforations

The warm glow of the fire coming through the perforations

The completed structure glowing against the evening sky!

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March 26th, 2014: The Final Details – Landscape + Fire Pit + Oiling

It was an exciting day on site today – today marked the final day of the project! The students worked hard over the past weeks, putting in long hours and days, to finish in time. Luckily, the students finished 5 days ahead of schedule and now have a bit of time to enjoy the new gathering space with the community.

But to get to the point of completion today, the students had a busy day working on the final details of the project – landscaping, finishing off the fire pit, and giving the whole structure one final coat of oil.

The landscaping material selected for the gathering space is a Fleurieu dolomite, which is both a local material and the material that used on the pathway network throughout the village. It was for these two reasons, as well as its durability over time, that the students selected the dolomite as the material of choice for the landscaping.

And after lifting the fire pit into its final position at the center of the new gathering space, the students completed it with a layering of rocks and stones in between the two rusted steel rings. The rocks consist of a series of larger stones, a medium aggregate, and a finishing topping of multi-colored Tooperang river stones local to the area.Tooperang stones are an ancient river pebble and come from a sand quarry between Mount Compass and Goolwa on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The fire pit turned out beautifully, and will definitely be a central feature of the new space!

And as a last measure of detail, the students applied a final coat of water-based decking oil to the structure to ensure adequate protection over the coming months and years. The oil will have to be reapplied regularly over the course of the structure’s lifetime, but for now it is protected and ready to be passed over to the community.

The final day of construction is always a bittersweet one, filled with overwhelming elation to finish the project but also a little bit of natural sadness at knowing the project has come to an end – that must be a good sign of a positive project outcome! Whatever the case, the students are proud of their accomplishment and are looking forward to handing over the project to the community. The students will be assessed on their work on Monday, March 31st, 2014, and afterwards there will be a celebration with the village community. Everyone is welcome!

The Fleurieu dolomite arrives on site

Shoveling in the stones for the fire pit

Filling the fire pit with stones

 

Hannah removes the stake that is at the center of everything!

The completed project

The completed project – looking inside

The completed project – blending into the landscape

The completed project against the sky at sunset

March 25th, 2014: Take A Seat

For the past two days the students have been busy constructing the final element of the new gathering space – the bench seating. A simple, clean assembly of cypress pine decking slats and timbers were used for the construction of the bench, which ties in nicely with the material language and design quality of the rest of the structure.

The bench seating sits along the inside of four panels on both gestures, forming an offset, yet circular seating arrangement around the fire pit – a welcoming place for gathering!

The construction of the bench seating proved quite meticulous for the students, as all of the slats had to be individually mitered to the exact angle of the supports and panels, the edges beveled by hand, and the supports constructed and secured exactly in the right place. It was definitely an exercise in precision construction – but one that resulted in a beautiful, level, and most importantly sturdy bench!

The students also worked to level the ground in and around the gathering space, ensuring a comfortable level for seating, but also prepping the site for the landscape treatment to come.

Jesse testing the structural integrity of the bench supports

Bench seating- complete!

Close-up of the bench seating

Leveling the ground – an important element in comfortable seating!

The tried-and-tested ‘double man’ rolling technique – that, or an act in the circus!

 

March 23rd, 2014: The Walls Are Up!

Just keep building, just keep building, just keep building…..

After a busy day of construction, the last panels were screwed in to place completing the form of the two gestures. The sense of space is really becoming apparent now – and we love it!

In the coming days, we will be working hard towards building in the bench seating, placing the fire pit, and working on the landscaping. We’re on schedule for a wonderful celebration with the community on Monday, March 31st. Hope to see you all there!

 

The panels of the two gestures are all in!

March 20th, 2014: Leaving Our Mark

It’s been a busy week on site. Lots has been changing and happening, and now the gathering space is beginning to emerge as a proper and permanent space. Thank you to everyone for all of the support over the past weeks; from snacks every day, to tool lending, to words of advice and encouragement, it is all greatly appreciated!

Today the remaining posts were leveled, braced, and concreted in place. Over the next days, the concrete will dry and cure, fixing the structure permanently in place. Today also marked the last day of cutting panels on the CNC machine.

The students decided to leave their mark in the concrete, all signing their names into the concrete at the base of one of the posts. See if you can find it when you come visit the new gathering space!

 

Lifting a panel into place

Shoveling concrete into the post holes

Snack break!

 

The CNC machine working on the last panel

 

The last panel coming out of the CNC machine

March 19th, 2014: Ready, Set…First Panels Go In!

The new gathering space is beginning to come together – construction has officially started!

After one last thorough measure of the site, the bottom of each of the holes was leveled in preparation for the placement of the first panels. Three panels were placed on either end of the two sweeping gestures and were leveled and secured in place with a mixture of clamps and stakes.

The three end panels, which sit independent of one another, were placed first to allow for some ‘trial and error’ in the beginning stages of the construction process, as these panels afforded the most tolerance to slight deviations in placement. Luckily, the ‘trial’ process didn’t lead to a whole lot of ‘error’, and the panels were placed right on target.

With the panels placed, and everything checked over one last time, the first concrete was poured into the holes to secure the posts in place. As the concrete was being poured, the sense of reality of the project began to intensify for the students, and a general feeling of “it’s really happening now” ended up being the lasting memory of the day!

Measuring, measuring, and more measuring….one last time!

Placing the first panels; a process of leveling and bracing

March 17th, 2014: More Prepping + Sanding

A lot of work goes into properly preparing the materials used in the construction of a project. Despite the light rain showers, students still managed to finish oiling the wood and applying a layer of eco-friendly bitumen paint to the bases of the cypress timber posts. The bitumen paint will help to protect the posts from moisture and other damaging elements in the ground, while the oil on the surface woods will help to mitigate weather and sun damage over time.

Students also had a group sanding party in the afternoon, working together in the shed to clean up the edges of the newly cut panels coming out of the CNC machine. Team work really pays off!

Timber posts taped off for a coat of eco-friendly bitumen paint

Applying the eco-friendly bitumen paint to the bases of the timber posts

Group sanding party – cleaning up the newly cut plywood panels!

Team meeting in the shed

March 15th, 2014 (Again): Ring Of Fire

Saturday was such a productive day…so productive that we forgot to tell you about another important milestone in our project progress…the fire pit!

While some students were helping Steve drill the post holes on site, a few others were off on a fire pit adventure north of Adelaide. The students sourced a steel worker who was happy to spend his Saturday morning creating an elegant, custom-made, rusted-steel fire pit for the project. Thank goodness for “beer currency” and friendly Australian cheer!

The rusted steel was selected and cut to size, and after a few calculations and some discussion on forming strategies (and a lot of luck!) the rings of steel were rolled into beautifully curved ovals – exactly the way it was designed!

The fire pit design consists of a double-ring formation; the small ring will  fit inside the larger ring and will contain the fire, while the larger ring will act as a protective enclosure separated from the smaller ring by a layer of stones. It turned out beautifully – a defining feature of the new gathering space!

One steel ring of the fire pit, right before being rolled into an oval shape

Bringing the new fire pit to site…exciting!

March 15th, 2014: Breaking Ground

Breaking ground is always an exciting day on any project, but for many of the students it marked the first step in actualizing a design from conception to construction, and so it  became a much-anticipated and exciting day in the progress of the project!

Saturday saw the holes being augered out on site – 24 in total – through a combination of machine- and manual-power. Steve brought his hole-drilling machine and worked to dig out the holes to the desired depths, while the students worked behind him to remove the extra dirt. While digging Steve and the students came across a sample of of dirt, clay, and also a bit of limestone; the latter of which would have made hand digging nearly impossible! But with the help of the machine, the holes were dug out relatively quickly, and in only a few short hours everything was done!

The holes are needed to anchor in the cypress timber posts in concrete. These posts will act as the structural elements holding up the plywood panels in the new gathering space, and so it is important that they are anchored deeply into the ground.

Steve digging holes with his augering machine

Students work behind Steve to clear out the holes of remaining dirt

March 13th, 2014: CNC + Plywood Prep

Over the past days, students have been busy purchasing and bringing materials to site, as well as collecting tools and getting set up. They have also been busy prepping the plywood panels; applying a rich, dark oxidizing colour to one side of the panel and finishing them off with a coat of water-based decking oil. Today, the first panels were cut using the CNC machine in the workshop. Even with the strides of progress, the students are still managing to have a lot of fun along the way!

And thanks to everyone who has stopped by to see what we’re up to, or who has helped us along the way. The support is fantastic!

Getting the plywood ready – applying oxidizing colour and oil

The first cuts with the CNC machine

The firs panel is cut