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By Barbara Knecht

Planning ahead

Another university-practitioner partnership is creating a school designed for dyslexic children in California. Bradley Guy from the Penn State University Hamer Center for Community Design in Philadelphia and Scott Shell of EHDD Architecture in San Francisco are using a grant from the EPA to explore strategies and details for Design for Disassembly at the Chartwell School in Seaside (Monterey County), California. The exploration began with a matrix (see chart on page 188) of likely and typical construction materials and components, an analysis of their characteristics that rates ease of recovery and value after recovery. The chart of variables was a guide for material selection in the design of the building. Wood was selected for the structural framing. It is widely used in California and has a high economic value, but typical wood construction can be labor intensive to salvage and reuse. Design for Deconstruction suggests that connections should be simple, and fasteners should enable disassembly. One of the explorations at the Chartwell School that Shell and Guy have undertaken is how to keep to that principle and meet the requirements for building in earthquake zones.

 

The Chartwell School (bottom) received an EPA grant to research Design for Disassembly strategies. As shown in the section (below), utilities are segregated from wood framing to allow for easier disassembly and to reduce holes in the framing, thereby increasing future salvage value. The Design for Disassembly window detail (right and diagram, below right) allows the window to be replaced by simply removing the wood trim, and without disturbing the adjacent finishes. Image: Courtesy Ehdd Architecture (top), and © Gerald Ratto (bottom)

Shell’s earlier experience in school modernization sparked a particular interest in solving the problem of periodic window replacements. Typically, the cement plaster that encases the windows has to be destroyed, along with their weather tightness, to remove them. A simple window replacement for a large school would routinely grow into a major construction project that could not be completed during a summer break. Students would be moved to portable classrooms, and the whole process was a classic example of wasted materials, time, and money. To reduce time, the windows at Chartwell are detailed for disassembly with a minimum of waste. Similarly, the wood siding is fastened with clips that are screwed into the backing for ease of disassembly.