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Stress Test

At the end of the spring, every rural studio thesis project undergoes what we have affectionately dubbed the Stress Test. This involves proving to David Hinson (School Head),  Rusty Smith (Associate RS Director and Program Chair), and Andrew Freear (RS Director) that we understand the feasibility of the Newbern Library project. We presented our design progress, construction timeline, proposed budget, and building code analysis. As a design team with our resources and those of the AU Rural Studio, we believe we can bring this project to fruition. We sincerely thank the Auburn University Rural Studio administration, faculty, staff, and the community of Newbern for giving us this opportunity. Time to “proceed and be bold!” 

Pig Roast 2013

For the 19th annual Pig Roast, we gathered our friends, families, and colleagues to celebrate our progress so far (and pause before all of the work that still needs to be done). Here’s a few of the drawings we presented. More sections to follow!

Pig Roast 2013 continued…

In section, we walked people through the building from front to back, looking at the spatial adjacencies between the “big room” and alcoves. We’ve begun to think about the bookshelf as wrapping both walls (higher on the south and lower on the north) and carving out special spaces with the books. On the south wall, this implies carving a window seat adjacent to an existing window. Within the north wall, we can carve out spaces for study or storage. 

Ready for the Roast!

We’ve got the sign in the storefront window and a collage of our design process draping the walls. Tomorrow is the big day! Thanks again, everyone, for your interest.

Client Meeting III

With this meeting, we responded to the board’s previous suggestions of focusing on a secondary entry and connection to exterior space(s), as seen in these sexy section sketches. 

“ But I hope I will never have a life that is not surrounded by books, by books that are bound in paper and cloth and glue, such perishable things for ideas have lasted thousands of years—I hope I am always walled in by the very weight and breadth and clumsy, inefficient, antiquated bulk of them, hope that I spend my last days on this Earth arranging and rearranging them on thrones of good, honest pine, oak, and mahogany, because I just like to look at their covers, and dream of the promise of the great stories inside. ”

Rick Bragg

All in a day’s work, we…

  1. detached plumbing fixtures and gas heaters
  2. moved the teller cage etc. safely to storage (Thanks for the help, Steve!)
  3. protected the heart pine flooring with layers of contractor’s paper, plastic sheeting, and plywood
  4. demolished the partition wall (Special thanks to Johnny Parker!)
  5. imploded the vault walls to be continued…

Artifacts

While removing the teller cage, we found some special remnants of Newbern history: including bank notes, writing utensils, and maybe a business love note or two. We’re looking forward to designing a system to display this evidence of the building’s past. 

So long for now, Bank of Newbern teller cage!

Don’t worry. We’ll see that the old partition system returns to the bank building in some form or function appropriate for use in the Newbern Library. In order to get to work on the necessary foundation and floor structure repair, we’ve begun the process of removing some of the interior features. We carefully catalogued every piece of paneling, trim, glass, and metalwork before taking apart the casework in order to store it in a safe place while the bank building becomes a library.

Book|space

Just a few quick studies to help us determine the relationship between books and civic space that might be appropriate for the Newbern Library.