Wrapping it up for this Season

After months of hard work, we got the kitchen/bathroom and 

foyer additions framed and sheeted.

This is how it looks from the south, with the 

kitchen/bathroom windows oriented to look down 

the valley over the hay fields. 

You can see the concrete footings in front, ready for the 

22' hexagonal deck to be placed on top. 

We replaced the 5 triangles and 3 rectangular pieces, 

closing in the space that will one day be a sliding 

door and windows.

This is a view from the other side of the dome, 

which shows the small entryway.

 

Here is Paul placing the large, heavy-duty tarp gifted to us 

from Barnaby Killam of Red Flag design over the dome 

to keep it relatively dry until we can come back and roof it.

  

We can't wait to get back to it and see this building with a

 roof, windows and doors, the awning over the deck, the 

deck itself, not to mention the septic system, electrical, 

insulation, interior, and the mezzanine.... 

Wait for it!

Thanks again to all the suport from Ross Hill and Jane Irwin 

in helping this project come to life. 

Also many thanks to all the friends, family and neighbors 

who pitched in this year.

Finishing the Concrete and Framing the Walls

 

We had lots more work to do getting ready for the final concrete 

pour. Here you can see our neighbor Hank helping us mark the deck 

footing so we could place the sono-tube in the right spot. 

He is marking on the concrete with a soapstone pencil. 

 I love this exercise in practical abstraction!

 Here's Kevin tamping down the soil with 'the wacker' inside

  the foundation, around the plumbing pipes. 

Lots of sweat equity went into this task.

The final load of concrete came.   

Sorry no pictures of this, as it was impossible to take photos 

and 'screed' or smooth the concrete at the same time. 

But here is a nice picture of a ladder resting firmly on the solid concrete floor. 

Next step was to frame the addition walls. 

We realized we needed help, and hired local carpenter Jeremy 

Hanrahan to make sure we got it done right. He did an excellent 

job with the unconventional joinery between the vertical walls 

and the faceted dome surface.

 Lucky us, we had the excavator on hand to help us raise the walls. 

What fun!

 Next step was to place the rafters for the roof.

Finally, the kitchen/ bathroom addition is built! 

More pictures to come of the entryway addition and the roof lines, 

hopefully with cladding in preparation for the winter...

This pretty much describes my 'feelings' at this stage....

Creating the Footings

After much planning and preparation, we finally poured the footings for the dome additions and deck. 

 

Here you can see the super-cool surveying tool used to plot how deep to dig the hole for the concrete forms, loaned to us by local builder Paul Roberts.

 Our neighbor Hank arrives with the excavator and the skills to dig a near-perfect depth for the forms to sit in.

 

Kevin and I built the plywood forms to hold the concrete. Here you can see the forms for the deck footings, placed in their locations with the help of a floating twine grid. 

Very Land-Art, NE Thing Co., right?

The concrete truck arrived, and we filled the forms with cement with the assistance of Paul and another neighbor, Harry. We were just short of enough concrete to entirely fill the forms, so will have another session this week.

Domestead 2012!

 

Work has begun again on The Pavilion, which is currently being re-envisioned as a self-contained living machine on a rural property in the Heffley Creek area of BC.

As such, it is being re-designed to survive all seasons of weather, and include a kitchen/bathroom area, with running water and electricity.

Here are some drawings of the new design, created in collaboration with artist Kevin Schmidt (drawings by Schmidt).

This summer, Schmidt and myself, along with help from friends, volunteers, and project sponsors Jane Irwin and Ross Hill, will create the addition areas and the building envelope.

Check in regularly to see the work in progress!

 

 

The Pavilion has found a new home!
The Pavilion's time at Langara College in Vancouver came to a close in the fall of 2010.

It was disassembled, and all 105 pieces were shipped up to the Heffley Creek area of British Columbia (about 45 minutes north of Kamloops). Thanks to the generosity of Vancouver-based art collectors and patrons Jane Irwin and Ross Hill, The Pavilion is being re-built as a permanent structure at their Art Ranch, a rural extension of their GreyChurch Project Space.

In June, 2011, over 23 friends and volunteers pitched in to help begin the process of reconstruction in the first annual Domeraising party.
Thanks to everyone who came out and pitched in!

This is the first stage in what will likely be a long-term building venture, making the Pavilion a self-contained site for future projects in relation to it's new rural context.

Stay tuned for future posts and updates on the project, and wish me luck in getting it weatherproofed and fully functional!

the closing party was a blast, thanks Von Bingen!


Sadly, The Pavilion project has come to an end.

Thanks to everyone who supported this project, either by volunteering during the build phase, contributing your fantastic artwork and ideas, and to all those who came out to the events.

It was a really amazing experience for me, and I hope for others as well.
I will be posting tons of pictures over the next while, so keep checking in...
there are some good ones!

Please join us for the final event at The Pavilion
TONIGHT!!

Friday, April 30, 8pm-midnight

For its bon-voyage celebration The Pavilion will host a live experimental music performance by Von Bingen, who will utilize the unique ambient acoustic of the geodesic dome to highlight spatial resonances and experience.This performance will be followed by a set by DJ Magneticring.

and still on view outside the Pavilion:
 
Possibly Possibly (Flag) by Jen Weigh and 
Statminlaxed by Joshua Batholomew 
on view outside the Pavilion until April 30.

About The Pavilion 
The Pavilion is a project by Langara College artist-in-residence Holly Ward.
Symbolic of difference and utopian thinking, The Pavilion is a geodesic dome
intended to serve as acatalyst for speculative thinking and artistic
experimentation.
 
The Pavilion is located at 100 west 49th ave, 
just one block east of the 49th Avenue Canada Line skytrain stop.