Design class constructs new facility

Ryan A. Mihalyi Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior architect majors work on the new facility at South Tucson Boulevard and East 15th Street. The building, which was designed by UA students, is the first student-designed and student-built structure at the UA.

It's been a hard-hat wearing, tool-belt wielding semester for the 30-student architecture class that will be the first to construct and design a University of Arizona building.

Students in the Architecture 402 studio design class have spent class time constructing a 3,000-square-foot Rincon Vista Recreation Field Facility for the Department of Campus Recreation.

In the fall of 1996, Richard Romero, director of the ropes course and "A" camp for campus recreation, approached the architecture department with the idea of having students design and build the facility. The project, he said, would give students a hands-on experience and provide a way to cut costs for his department.

That fall, students enrolled in Architecture 401/451 studio design class developed individual plans for the project and made a presentation to their clients - Romero and Sam Sanders, a graduate student who works at the Rec Center.

All the students' designs were eventually incorporated into the final project, which students started to build March 2.

The class' structure has enabled students to go beyond the limits of most courses and turn ideas into reality, said Richard "Rocky" Brittain, assistant architecture research professor.

"It's tremendous for them to experience all the engineering and revisions that takes place in order to make it work," Brittain said. "When you just draw out plans and conceptualize, you can sell the idea."

But the class has also exposed students to construction delays, like designs that need to be revised, materials that are not delivered to the job site and contractors that take longer than expected, Brittain said.

The class was scheduled to begin construction in January, but a delay with the contractor that laid the foundation pushed the start date to March. The foundation, along with the plumbing and electrical work for the project, were areas that had to be contracted to meet university standards.

Getting a late start meant many of the students spent spring break toting hammers and shovels rather than margaritas and sun tan lotion.

"We felt that we lost time and had to make it up," said associate architecture professor Mary Hardin, who works with students at the site Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons.

The facility is comprised of a 1,000-square-foot ramada, a 1,000-square-foot classroom, an office and a storage area at the field, located at South Tucson Boulevard and East 15th Street. The building will eliminate the need for portable restrooms.

Students are being exposed to several building techniques and materials, including framing, cement blocks and rammed earth, a process similar to adobe, Hardin said.

Hardin said the durability of rammed earth blocks can be compared with the pyramids in Egypt.

"It will be there when the rest of Tucson is gone," she said.

Hardin said students use compromise, teamwork and patience as they learn about construction.

"You can never be prepared enough for things that happen out at a job site," said fourth-year architecture student Dave Hardin. "There's no substitute for getting your hands dirty."

About $50,000 of the estimated $175,000 building cost was allocated by the Recreation Advisory Committee, and the remaining amount is from a department maintenance reserve account, said Brian Carswell, associate director of campus recreation.

The facility will not be completed before the end of the semester, so a summer school class in being organized to continue to work, Brittain said.