Horizontal Anti-gravity Multi-use Surface: Design, Build, Install

By: Scott Bales

Seeing a table in its natural environment is rarer and rarer these days - Below we see a 4'x8' Walnut surface on a steel frame. Notice how it grazes - peacefully unaware of its surroundings. Oh! look there - some chairs have joined the table...ah! its amazing how well they get along together in the wild.

Up close we can see the natural grain of the wild Walnut table surface.  Look how its shiny
surface glistens in the sun light.

Lets look at the reproductive cycle of the table. Here we can see the table coming together...Shhhh.. lets watch and see what happens.

The pieces of wood join together making a larger surface - this ability to self assemble is 

only seen in a few species - fascinating what rubbing two sticks together can do.

capturing a table in the wild is a real challenge (above we can see
the restraints required to hold the table in place) 

properly restraining a table is
for our safety and the table's safety

Table surgical tools

The complex surface is reinforced by an integral lattice work.
The lattice makes the table lighter and more maneuverable.

Installing a steel collar in the table protects it
from damage - giving the table a much
longer life-span.

The steel collar is attached using a non-corrosive
Phillips head screw.

Scott and Christian attaching a steel frame to the table - this must
be done quickly before the table comes out of sedation. 

Here we see Francisco putting on the finishing touches and taking
a core sample from the table. "Be careful Francisco...the table is about to
wake up"

Ahhhh....beautiful  - the table is awake and happily grazing in its natural environment.

 Table design, build and install by the Building Workshop.

Holes...What are they really up to?

by Scott Bales

Site prep: A how to guide on digging holes (exposing the gas line)

Step one: make sure you gather the necessary tools and supplies - Shovel, gloves, proper footwear, sun screen and a good attitude.

Step two: define what motivates a hole and how to best approach the role of a hole digger (also known as a "trench motivator"). In the picture above we see the hole emerging from hibernation. Also notice improper foot ware - a proper work boot will make the work safer and easier. 

Step three: As a trench motivator one must always remember what they are looking for - remember that half a hole only shows you what you want to see. As the hole gets deeper dig slowly and methodically so as not to damage the gas line.

Step four: Success! the hole has emerged as a whole and is ready to come out into the world as a functioning member of society - also celebrate the treasure you have found, the gas line is there and safe.

Step five: Properly denote the location of the hole to prevent accidents. In the image above a road sign marks the location - potential victims of the hole are distracted by the promise of an open house to the left.

It's Not Easy Being Green

By Chovy Frohlich

As we prepare to break ground on our new construction project, we are getting bids from various haulers for debris removal.

Lots of our demolition material can be recycled.  Concrete gets turned into gravel for roads, wood gets shredded into mulch (which is FREE for residents to take by the way!), and organic materials like soil and plants gets turned into fertilizer.

The City of San Diego has an incentive program to encourage recycling by charging builders like us a $1000 refundable deposit if we can prove that we recycled at least 50% of our debris.  Sounds like a GREAT system right?  Well not exactly . . .

Turns out that the haulers can't take more than one type of material at a time, so if you divide your trash into wood, concrete, cardboard, etc, you have to pay the haulers the full rate ($250) for each trip they take.  Also, the waste removal places that receive/recycle the trash charge a separate dumping fee (~$150) for each material recycled, in addition to charging extra fee ($20-$70) if you need a receipt to show the city.  WHAAAAT?!?

For our tiny 700 sf house that we are remodeling, we plan to recycle 84% of our debris, a total of 9 tons of material, and we estimate the hauling/ recycling costs will be around $1800, almost TWICE the amount of the city's recycling incentive fee.

In the end, we discovered that it is WAY easier and WAY cheaper to just throw it all in a landfill unsorted.  This becomes even more apparent as the size of the project increases.

Don't worry, we haven't given up, we ARE going to recycle, because it's the right thing to do. Fortunately our clients know its important and are willing to pay what it takes to be sustainable. But after doing all the research and pricing, I think Kermit the Frog certainly had it right when he said, "Its not easy being green!".

Loss in Translation - From Architectural Design to Building

By Christian Carpenter

Recently I have been reading books and articles about architectural drawing.  In many of these readings there is an occurring dilemma that the architectural designer faces, the dilemma of translating ideas from drawing to the actual building with minimal loss of meaning and essence of the idea.  It occurred to me how the field of Design/ Build solves this dilemma. Below is a list of points that illustrate this dilemma and highlight the emollient aspect of Design/ Build.

• Architectural design can be thought of as an attempt to translate an idea from drawing to building with minimal loss of meaning and essence.

• If we think of architectural design as a liberal art we can compare it to painting and sculpting, where architectural design has a clear disadvantage because the designer never directly works with the object of their thought.  However, painters and sculptors might spend a short time on preliminary sketches, but ultimately ended up working on the thing itself which absorbed most of their attention and effort.

• Phenomenal psychology tells us that the bodily experience is ground for all other perception of meaning and nothing can replace the meaning of experiencing a building regardless how sophisticated  the architectural drawings presented are.  So the distance between the pictorial image of a floor plan or a projected elevation drawing and the actual real-world bodily experience of a building is acceptably clear and distant.

• The potential of loss in translation from drawing to building increases, when an architectural designer’s concern for meaning is embodied in a drawing whose implicit or explicit role is the reduction of a building or a picture of a building.

• In the past 200 years very few architects have built their own buildings so the potential of loss of meaning and essence in translation increases.

• If a designer can maintain control in transit (from drawing to building,) that more remote destinations may be reached”.  In art, this is ideal.

• Design/Build bridges the gap between drawing and building. We design it, the activity of intellect, and we build it, with our hands.  Continuity and control is maintained by the designer from drawing through building.

• Francisco says that when we design, we think like builders and when we build we think like designers, so that the activity of intellect and the apprenticeship of building remain a constant through the entire process of design & build.

Readings:

1. The Projective Cast

2. Translations from Drawing to Building

3. Architecture as Drawing

Lead Safety for Our Babies

by Francisco Garcia

LEAD SAFETY FOR RENOVATION, REPAIR, AND PAINTING: RRP Certification

Maybe it’s knowing that my 8 month pregnant wife is at risk, maybe it’s wanting to ensure that our first baby is in the best possible health it can be in before it enters the world, maybe it’s wanting to protect our workers and their families, or maybe it’s making sure that we don’t pollute the soil in our job sites, but last week we took the official step of getting a specialized EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Certification to work on homes that have been tested to contain or even have the potential to contain lead-based paint (LBP). 

 

                           our baby!

I think most people will know that lead paint is “safe-enough” when it doesn’t get disturbed. But when working on older homes during remodeling activity, which is surely bound to happen when working with the housing stock in San Diego’s urban neighborhoods, it’s a given that there will be a lot of dust generated from demolition, sanding, or even preparing for repaint.  The lead dust can enter worker’s lung through inhalation or through ingestion (think coffee cup on a jobsite without a lid).  When children play around contaminated soil, they can get it in their hands and end up in their mouths.  When our workers go home to their families with dusty clothes and greet them at the end of a hard-day’s work, they can unknowingly transfer it to their children or spouse. 

Knowing that as a business owner, I’m taking the right steps to ensure the safety of the ones most susceptible to its effects, gives me peace of mind when I give instructions during demolition of walls, when removing old trim from windows, or when scraping away peeling paint.     

Here are some facts about lead-based paint:

-It can affect children’s brains and developing nervous systems

-It can pass from a pregnant woman to her fetus and can cause miscarriages, premature births, and brain damage

-In adults, it can lead to high blood pressure, fertility problems, sexual disorders, muscle or joint pain, and digestive and nerve disorders.

-It was banned for residential use in 1978.  Homes built before 1940 have an 87% likelihood of containing LBP, those built between 1940 and 1960 have a 69% likelihood, while those between 1960 and 1978 have a 24% likelihood of containing it.

-Certified testing for it can be done on-site with an XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) gun without disturbance or through the collection of paint samples sent to a laboratory for analysis.

-EPA, HUD, OSHA, and the City of San Diego have Lead-Certification requirements for performing RRP activities on housing and child-occupied facilities such as daycares and schools.  Violations can result in fines ranging from $2,500 to $37,500 per occurrence.

-Two thirds of San Diego’s housing stock predates 1978.

If you'd like more information about lead-based paint as it pertains to Renovations, Repair, and Painting, read the attached pdf on "Renovating Right."

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovaterightbrochure.pdf