Welcome back to UMass DesignBuild! The past week marked an exciting kickoff to the program. This year represents the fourth installment, with the third consecutive build, and the second summer dedicated to construction. Both the faculty and new participants took the opportunity to acquaint themselves with one another, sharing our backgrounds, interests, and reasons for joining DesignBuild. Our group is notably diverse, featuring students from various education levels, backgrounds, and educational focuses. What unites us is a shared interest in the holistic aspects of the project, encompassing design, construction, collaboration, and a commitment to aiding those in need. For faculty this year we have professors Naomi Darling, Carl Fiocchi, Kent Hicks, and Ben Leinfelder (a graduate student), who will be supporting us through different types of challenges through their diverse expertise in designing and building!
After our introductions and an overview of the program’s rich history, we embarked on a field trip to the UMass DOC Build Site just above Orchard Hill, where the previous Accessible Dwelling Unit (ADU), Paper House, stands. We delved into the logistics, learning how the larger unit will be transported with a detachable hinging roof that folds, to meet height requirements. Arriving at the build site, faculty guided us through the trials and successes encountered in constructing this unit, which comprises one larger structure and a smaller detached one. The large unit will house the living, kitchen, dining, and second bedroom spaces, along with the currently detached main bedroom, which will be connected to the other structure upon delivery to the Holyoke site. Following our introduction to the building site, we concluded our first meeting with a group photo.
During our second class, we began researching precedents of smaller houses or ADUs to gain insights into designing and building our project. For the remainder of the class, we engaged in brainstorming, voting, and rearranging the studio desks to create an open, collaborative space that will set the stage for a semester of collaboration and education in DesignBuild.
We are all looking forward to finding out what we are capable of!