Doorway to Construction

3/26/12:
Today, we added a steel brace to the door frame and connected it to the existing walls. Only one more panel to go! While installing the bolts that connect the wall panels, we routed out the sides so that the door can fit flush against the frame. For our current donors, we sent out all of our cards today so expect a little "Thank You" in the mail soon.
See you next time!

Just the girls

3-24

The three girls of the studio came in Saturday to close the door gap to make it closer to the right dimension. Using the crane and winches, the gap for the door moved from the almost twelve feet gap, to the 8 foot gap that it is suppose to be. The door pieces will be put together and then put into place on Monday. This is the last work day of the spring break. We also got quotes for our ilevel beams, giving us a better idea of how much construction costs in just materials.

completed walls

We finished building all the walls, door area included. We connected all but the last two, which is where the door is placed. While connecting the panels, we were off a very small amount in the angle from one panel to another, causing the less than 1 degree difference to be multiplied by the twenty sides, and so the last few panels can't connect right now. We are closing the circle tomorrow by taking a winch to the building sides till they are the right angle.

return air walls

3/22

We finished building the large column walls, and moved back to the other 6 walls. We changed our plans a bit, due to the return aid ducts that we are placing in the walls. We now have 3 different types of wall elements, return air walls, standard walls, and beam support walls. The return air walls won't look different once we are done, but we have to construct them differently due to needing to remove the plywood later from them. It's better for us to change it all now, then to do in on site.

building in MandM

3/21

We built the next two walls today. These are different from the regular walls, as they still have the support column for the large beam. We had a ilevel person come in to talk to us about our floor and roof construction. We have the large beams bigger than the rest of the construction, and so we have to take that into the account when we are building the walls. Wee also learned that although this is the final, it is much easier to learn at the shop where we can fix our mistakes and use the shop tools. Below you can see the detail area for the large beam and column.

more walls

3/20

We on building more walls. We added the one that is next to the door wall, and the walls parallel to it. We also had some cameramen take photos of us for the brochures with iit. The new walls have 3 boards in each side, totaling six with the two sides creating a single column. This will be supporting the ilevel or manufactured beam  versus the other walls.

wall framing

3-19
Today we built the walls. We are putting them up as we go along, and adding bolts so that it will be easier to put on site. We got the first 6 walls done today.  If you want to see our progress, we are at M and M, and will be occupying the south bay as we continue the construction. Our form-work from earlier is stacked in a corner waiting to be transported to the site. Tomorrow we will be working on the walls that have the main supports in them.

St. Patrick construction

3-17

We took the wood we got yesterday and started building. We will be building over spring break, his coming week, as break from other classes gives us a perfect chance to get lots done. We have cut the top and bottom plates for the eighteen walls, the other two are doors. We have also cut the studs for twelve of the walls. The other six walls are going to be constructed differently from these twelve. We have set up the template for these twelve walls and will continue construction this Monday.

We also took time to cook our own lunch and enjoy the beautiful weather we had today. Hopefully it continues.

Finalizing thank you cards

3/16
We finished cutting the cards. We would like all who have donated to please remember to send us your address so we can mail you your thank you card. We had a signing card day as we signed all of the thank you cards and finish customizing them all.

We also bought all of the wood for the walls, we will be building it all tomorrow. Thank you all who have helped us get to this stage.

Thank you all

Our Kickstarter page has met it's goal. With only 36 hours left in the project, we have made it. I want to thank you all for making this project a success. We will be starting to build on Monday, and will be finishing out the designs for the awards as well.

We will still be taking donations through our construction process if people want to help out and missed the kickstarter deadline. The information to donate to us is here.

We thank you all again for helping make this work, and we are looking forward to construction from here till may.

47 hours left

We have 47 hours left to our kickstarter page. We are still looking for money, we have $1,200 to earn over the next 2 days. please help.

In other great news, we got our permit drawings back, and stamped. The foundation form work is done, and is occupying the south bay of Mineral and Metals building at IIT.

Thank you everyone who has donated already, we are very thankful to have this opportunity.

Form-work

5 Days Left on Kickstarter

Up to date, we have been featured on ArchDaily: http://www.archdaily.com/213811/barnsworth-exhibition-center-by-iit-design-build-studio/ and Dwell: http://www.dwell.com/articles/kickstarter-project-barnsworth-exhibition-center.html. We are over halfway to our goal but with only 5 days left,we still need more donations. Please help contribute!
 Currently we have completed our form-work: