Helping Hands

The Historic District Commission has, at last, issued a "Certificate of Appropriateness" for Spencer's, including the demolition of the northern addition, proposed (but not yet funded) rubber roof, living pallet fence, permeable paving system from reclaimed bricks, and overall renovation of the building. The City of Flint Planning department has also approved the plans from a zoning standpoint, so only one hurdle remains: building permits.

These submittals began in January, and since then, Spencer's has been granted awards from the Ruth Mott Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Flint, and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs - each to cover a number of repairs, programs, and installations. Each also includes a significant amount of organizing, coordination of schedules, preparation work, and deadlines which make it difficult to postpone work any longer.

Four students from the Metro Flint Youth Build program - an alternative school that teaches construction skills and gives a second chance to at-risk youth - have begun a paid apprenticeship at Spencer's (through Ruth Mott funding). Each will learn design fundamentals through a series of workshops that explore material, form, critical thinking, and resourcefulness - followed by design refinement, prototyping, and final production to be led by local professional builders. They'll begin with some straightforward deconstruction/construction tasks, and eventually work up to designing their own permanent installations. The work will largely be focused on reconditioning the exterior of the building while the last of the permits are squared away.

 

Anthony exposes a much more beautiful earlier porch roof structure.

 

Old, rotting pieces of lumber are trimmed to expose the still healthy cores...

....and Tim guides Chris is router-use to turn these strips into an ornamental drip cap to be installed around the outside of the house.

Katrina installs aluminum flashing around the perimeter of the building. Flashing is a method of waterproofing needed any time shingling is interrepted (to different patterns, above windows and doors).

Flashing and drip cap installed, ready to be painted.

La' Dundric finishes cutting and assembling the last remaining truss pieces.

Turquoise truss.

New Life

As warmer weather approaches and administrative efforts begin to fruit, a new energy has begun at Spencer's. With the help of Flint Public Art Project, Spencer's holds a series of events as a part of the Free City public art festival.

The mirrored stair is opened to relieve congestion between the newly reunited halves of the house

University of Michigan: Ann Arbor design students install a responsive LED lighting system within the wall cavity

Musicians Frank Pahl and Tim Holmes play homemade instruments made from sewing machines, propane canisters,and bike parts

 

Der Vorfuhreffekt - a theater duo out of Baltimore - puts on a puppet show.

A crowd gathered within these unlikely walls, and - if only for an hour or two - the audience didn't see the place as one of abandonment or hopelessness, but of laughter and inspiration.

While these temporary events might seem insignificant or irrelevant to the larger structural and infrastructural tasks for the building, they're an essential part of the process. These gatherings are a gesture - that the building is still very much alive. They're also an integral part of the planning and design process that most architects skip (or do not know exists): a kind of testing of waters for unconventional activity, their spatial needs, and vice versa. And for a project which is seeking on-going funding, this goes a long way in painting a picture for investors and grantors.

The cutting continues:

The two main spaces on the first floor are now more directly connected via the opening at the stair landing. This solves some awkward circulation problems resulting from the house's original existence as a duplex.

 

The spaces between studs, unfortunately, create draft. In the event of a fire, this would enable the fire to spread throughout the structure in minutes. Because the wall isn't load bearing, it doesn't have to be fireproofed, but the spaces between studs will need to be blocked off with wood or other material to prevent that drafting.

A design studio from the University of Michigan: Ann Arbor architecture program has been tasked to do a lighting installation within Spencer's. LEDs will be embedded within the cavity to creating a glowing effect which pulsates according to occupancy. Several tours and surveying days with the students have been a good excuse to ignore other duties and handle this.

Documents and Dough!

The construction drawings are, at last, nearing completion. Big thanks to Kurt and Jeff at Sedgewick & Ferweda Architects for their counsel. Permit fees are steep though (as is construction). Conveniently timed, I received a phone call from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint that they have awarded the project a grant. It won't finish the project, but will at least enable me to get past the unavoidable expenses of permits and the upcoming foundation repair.

 

 

Subtraction

Two "windows" sit mysteriously closed, dividing two of the first floor spaces. It's hard to tell if these were ever open, or were originally built as shelves, but I take the cue to use them in connecting the spaces and let some let into the to-be kitchen.

Continuous studs behind the wall and the lack of a visible header suggest they were never open, but newer fireproofing and other oddities show that the wall had been altered; it's hard to tell for sure. If these are load-bearing, each stud will have to be wrapped in drywall.

A collage of frosted windows or other translucent material will cover these to mediate the connection of the spaces.

The central stair, which mirrors itself on the other side of this wall, will be partly opened to enable better circulation and play with lines of sight.

The tools I have won't let me slice any deeper to finish the puncture, so I'll have to finish this from the other side of the wall. Lining up the cuts won't be easy.

Raising the Roof

The scrap 2x4 truss has been calculated and approved for use to restructure the roof. Many thanks to Brandon and Jason of Conn Engineering!

A slow permit process still holds back the reconstruction, but knowing they're approved means I can finish making the rest and gather other materials needed. It also means some attention can be shifted to the design of the roof deck.

Atop the trusses will be 3/4" OSB, a vapor barrier, and large pieces of rubber Matt and I cut from the roof of the bowling alley last fall. These will act as oversize shingles to shed water. Every effort will be made to collect all of the rainwater from the roof.

The occupiable deck needs to be leveled out, so deck joists will be cut to negate the roof slope. These had to be carefully designed so that all the pieces resting directly on the roof are running parallel to the direction of water flow, as to not create barriers/pockets for it. Because a rubber roof has a relatively short lifespan, the deck is also being designed to be easily removed. The framing is constructed in six pieces to be easily removable and reinstallable. Securing anything into a roof becomes very tricky; we don't want to penetrate the waterproof surface anywhere it can be avoided. For that reason, the framing and deck won't mechnically be attached to the roof, but will just be held in by its own weight.

By using pallets for the walking surface, the deck is also modular. These will be attached to the frame to make the entire construction heavy and sturdy enough to hold its place.

Finally, a railing of "historic" character will be installed for obvious safety reasons. A painted wood end cap may be installed where the ends of the pallets are visible from the street.

Drawings en route

After a visit to the building department I came to find that the 520 University property line extends up past the next two lots - about double the land I had been planning for. This adds a little more work and lot more opportunity for developing outdoor spaces.

The existing lot - a field of broken up asphalt - will be torn up as soon as the city permits it. Unfortunately the potential for hazardous leaching makes use as a building material limited, but it can be sent to a recycling center where it will be ground up for road material.

If I'm able to find a brick house which is coming down and hasn't been claimed yet (glazed brick has a relatively high resale value, and is often claimed quickly), the lower part of that lot will be a permeable paving system. Arranging the brick into a particular pattern will create cavities to be filled with soil and grass. Water can then flow naturally into the ground instead of installing an expensive runoff and drainage system. It also means a nicer semi-green space when not acting as a parking lot.

There are grand plans for the upper part of the lot still in the sketching phase, including a community garden, sculpture garden, open-air amphitheater and stage, secret chicken coop, and honeybee security system.

The other major removal-to-be is the unoriginal addition to the North side of the house. A collapsing roof, caving foundation, and generally cheap construction make this portion of the house not worth preserving. To repair the foundation at its original terminating point will be much more feasible, and the materials from the deconstruction can go toward other weak points in the house. The basement void left by the removal will be used for a 2000+ gallon cistern for rain water collection before being back-filled.

Originally planned as a live-work building, strict (and expensive) sprinkler requirements have demanded otherwise. I'm shifting the building toward a "congregate housing" situation - consisting of private sleeping quarters that share all common spaces, which for the most part follow the same codes as a single-family residence. While this means there won't be any "formal" public space, it also means no sprinkler system, less demanding bathroom and parking requirements, and more relaxed accessibility and egress routes.

The second floor will host four bedrooms for artist residencies, a full bath, a reading room, roof access, and a guestroom disguised as a storage room so a larger window doesn't have to be added.

The exterior aesthetics of the building are strictly governed by the Historic District Commission. Windows, siding, roofing, fences, chimneys, planters, and any change to the building (additive or subtractive) must be be approved before building can begin. For that reason, experiments will mostly have to be inside of the house, while the exterior remains relatively plain.

The next, and most challenging drawing set is the section, which will reveal all of the building details - down to the spacing of nails - for anything which is a change of the original structure. A series of highlighted points within the section below will continue to be scaled up and detailed, including the footing, foundation wall, floor connection, wall construction, eave detail, truss design, roof deck, inner load bearing wall, and the railing for the space which overlooks the double-height space.