Half Dose #77: PAAV / Design Build

Five students at the Academy of Art University Graduate School of Architecture in San Francisco recently won a citation from the American Institute of Architects, East Bay (AIAEB) chapter. Justin Ackerman, Mary Telling, Justin Hanan, Shaum Mehra and Shanay Moghbe, under instructors Greg Upwall and Jennifer Asselstine, created a structure containing an office space for a client of Asselstine.


[PAAV / Design Build | image source]

The students designed and built "a two-level structure built of reclaimed redwood ... with a customized desk, storage and shelving system, ... [also] creating a secondary space that offered a lounge area for the family." They used recycled denim for insulation, in addition to the reclaimed wood used throughout. Sweets be damned, many of the materials were actually found on Craigslist.




[PAAV / Design Build | image source]

The structure was built in the school's workshop, and then taken to the site, thereby reducing material waste from increased precision. This is a benefit of most prefab project, but I'm impressed by how the unique design responds to the site, addressing the topography and providing a lookout. It does not look like prefab architecture that could be replicated elsewhere; it belongs in its location.


[PAAV / Design Build | larger view | image source]