Friday, August 4, 2017

"Right now we’re designing an idea, not a building."

It was a very busy week for Building Committee members.  We sat in on 3 different meetings for a total of about 6 hours.

The architect from Barrett Studio requested conceptual input from the Administration/Main Office team, the Education staff and the Ministers.

Some pertinent and interesting comments by the architect:
  • Right now, we’re designing an idea, not a building.  We will come back, after the fund raising, with specific questions.  Can we fit what you need into this space?  Give us feedback so that we can say yes, there’s a way to work. 
  •  We tend to start small.  It’s easier to grow instead of shrink.  We want to get to the goal where it feels good.  
  • What are the priorities?  We’re talking about floor space.  We’re looking at square footage issues.  
  • We've walked the property and we see lots of positives:  the garden, the pine trees, the space.
  • The asbestos report is great news.  We’re pretty sure that the trusses go all the way across.  The foundation is in good shape.  You’ve got embodied space in this building. 
  • A central point draws people to Reception.  Maybe it's also a rest stop, a reading nook, a retail area, a place for folks to wait for a meeting.  It’s the node of activity.  It would be open. Maybe pop open the ceiling, to get lots of light in.  That light would spread throughout.  The monitor of light would draw folks to the Reception area.
Don't miss the Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, September 10th.  

At that time the architects will have had all summer to put our conceptual ideas together to provide us with some preliminary drawings and computer graphics... in 3D!









Saturday, July 29, 2017

Sort 'n Toss

To all those Fellowship members who are in charge of implementing The Storage Plan:

Find > Review > Sort > Toss or Save

I have set up a work station in the Barn with the following supplies:
  • Written instructions (Several copies)
  • One copy of the Storage Catalogue (Use but please do not remove.)
  • White adhesive labels
  • Black marker pens
  • New banker's boxes
All the best on our march to de-stuff the place! 
W. Highsmith, July 29, 2017

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Timeline - Updated - July 27, 2017

In the right-hand column you'll see a heading that says "Important Sites to Visit".  Click on the first site,  Timeline - Updated July 27, 2017 , in order to see our latest timeline with Barrett Studio, our architects.

Friday, July 21, 2017

Meeting with the Architects and 35' Holes on the Property? Not prairie dogs!

Meeting with the architects

Thursday night, at the Building Committee's regular meeting we met with 3 representatives from Barret Studio to brainstorm some conceptual ideas about remodeling the Fellowship.

David Barret, the principal architect explained why we had come together.

Thank you for joining us with open eyes and minds for our 
first conceptual design review meeting!
Our goal for this time together is to share with you what we see when we look at 
your property and begin a dialogue about locations and forms for a beautiful, 
inspirational and well-organized addition and remodel. We’ll be focusing on the 
‘big picture’, steering the conversation towards pro’s and con’s of various schemes.  
We’re eager to hear your feedback, this is an open forum!


Please make sure that you've marked September 10th on your calendar for a Town Hall Meeting to Meet the Architects, right after service. This will be your opportunity to hear more about possible conceptual designs.

35' Holes on the Property?  Not prairie dogs!

Click here:  A "Boring" Video Clip


There are now 2-35 foot deep holes (4 inch diameter) on the property, plugged with a piece of plywood, and covered with a pile of dirt around them.  Kevin the Borer has to return next week to check the holes for water table issues, so the holes are still, well, "holes".  They are well marked with an orange stick, please avoid and warn others.  They'll be filled next week.

 Unfortunately, the hole on the west side had to be drilled in a parking space.  The original site would have ended up going through our gas/electric/water/sewer lines.  Not good!   So, we moved the drill site about 3 feet to the west.  It is also well marked with an orange stick.