The Roof Finds Its Home
Friday was one of the most exciting days of the course thus far. A crane showed up bright and early to lift our truss roof into place atop the load bearing straw bale walls that had been installed in the last couple of weeks. The roof was actually lifted in two sections, first the main gabled section that covers the main hall space of the building, then the more flat front portion that will eventually be home to our living roof. The whole process took a much shorter time than I had thought. It was a well coordinated and executed effort by a skilled operator along with much of the class on ladders or guide ropes easing both into their final resting places.
To ready the roofs to be lifted, it was a pretty big push all week to lay the housewrap over the trusses, put strapping down to accept the steel roof, and actually install it and the flashing that will provide the catch area for our rain water system. The soffit and fascia team was also trying to get as much done while the roof was on the ground as possible so they were very busy all week too. The intricate cuts and angles required a lot of trial and error but it was definitely important to get a good head start on them to make things easier later on in the project.
The floor team was busy getting things inside the foundation up to the level they need it as well as level in general as more insulation has to be laid before the radiant tubes are put in and the other layers are added before the eventual concrete finish.
On Wednesday we had a busy in-class morning, going over the next phase of our individual design projects. It has yet to be mentioned in this construction journal, but each student in the program is working with a client to design a building that will represent a large portion of our final marks in many of our courses. Currently we are at the stage of providing our clients with options for the different aspects of the designs and it was great to get some much needed background and feedback from our instructors in order to move forward on the assignment.
While we’re on the subject of design, we also had our plans for the entry shelter finalized and stamped by our structural engineer this week. It will be a free standing structure just outside of the front foyer that will be a huge peice of the buildings final aesthetic feel and appearance once it’s completed. We have already been working hard on the reeds that will make up the thatched roof but it is great to get started on the platforms for our earth bag foundations and the rest of the structure.