Derek Hoeferlin's Spring 2009 Wash. U. architecture and urban design studio of 10 students and Jane Wolff's and Elise Shelley's University of Toronto landscape architecture studio of 26 students visit God's Vineyard on February 7, 2009.
Coop is holding up well, almost exactly 8 months after its assembly on site. Hardware is tight, all materials weathering properly, structurally sounds as ever, adjustable ventilation system of louvers and lapped roof segments working perfectly.
Chickens pecking around the now-empty hot pepper plot, helping to turn the soil over. The plot is ready for tilling in preparation for the next planting. (Pretty flat right now after record-breaking rainfall on Jan. 3) No foreign fertilizer will be necessary for the upcoming planting season - it will all come from the free-range chickens, ducks, geese, and turkey. 
Louvers closed for the winter. 
Well-used nesting boxes. 
"Central City Project Wins Student Contest: Prize Is $25,000 to Start Renovation"
The Times Picayune, by Rebecca Mowbray, Thursday, May 8, 2008
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/library-147/1210225092270110.xml&coll=1
"College Students’ Plan to Restore Historic New Orleans Building and Revive O.C. Haley Boulevard Earns $25,000 in Chase Competition"
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/news/sections/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20080507006391
"Central City Incubator Moving Forward"
http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/uptotheminute.cfm?recid=17203
WWL TV Eyewitness Morning News Interview- May 7, 2008
pictured from left to right: Leigh Heller (WU), Kathleen Johnson (WU), Lizzy Bochner (WU), Alla Agafonov (WU), John Kallenborn (New Orleans President of Chase), Claudia Bode (WU), Ed Blakely (Executive Director for Recovery Management), Lakshmi Sridaran (MIT), Holly Jo Sparks (MIT), Andrew Stern (WU), Johnny Chen (WU), John Kleinschmidt (WU), Derek Hoeferlin (WU Faculty Advisor), Not Pictured: Nick Berube (WU), Aaron Williams (WU), Karl Seidman (MIT Faculty Advisor), Phyllis Cassidy (Good Work Network Executive Director)
left to right: Holly Jo, Lakshmi, Alla and John deliver presentation to jury at Loews Hotel in New Orleans, May 6, 2008
Alla Agafonov's rendering of a restored Franz Building OC Haley Blvd. elevation
Johnny Chen's sectional perspective of a renovated Franz Building
Johnny Chen's and John Kleinschmidt's rendering of Good Work Network's "Public Presence Flexible Space" looking out a restored Franz Building storefront towards OC Haley Blvd.
John and Lakshmi interviewed on WWL TV
Components after unloading from cargo van
Sequence of Assembly
pictured left to right: Kathleen, Noel, Lizzy, Leigh, Claudia, a chicken, Andrew, Johnny, Derek
The corrugated panels make up both the sliding chicken door and human door
(2-foot tall chicken door pictured).
Back to the shop. Making the final cuts.
making the last official cut of the polygal. It is much cleaner to just do it by hand so all the diagonal lines had to be cut with an exacto knife.
proof that leigh showed up.
measuring out the roosting bars.
measuring out the holes after the polygal was cut.
the last hours in studio.
This is our 11:00pm-2:00am meeting. What are we doing again?
Figuring things out........again.
This is how it needs to be put together.
What about.........?
Not another issue that needs to get resolved......why didn't we just think about this earlier?
Well, just do it anyways.
Frantic measuring.
a nap.
thats it, I'm done!
figuring out the metal cuts, roosting bars, and other details.
After many hours of figuring out the correct way to cut. Three pieces finished, four more to go.
The nesting box built.
Taking apart the nesting box.
Now that the frame is figured out, we have made the necessary markings and we have cut all the pieces to size. Here is what the process entailed:
translating the drawings, checking the dimensions
marking each angle
cutting and reorganizing
A meeting with Derek and Leland to figure out the louvers
While the polygal corrugated plastic is fairly light, together it will have some significant weight.
This is using a heading that is highlighted but stacked with the other headings.
Flexible space that can serve groups of 12 people (meetings), 25 people (classes), or 80 people (graduation and evening events) is the public space of the Franz Building and thus occupies the O.C. Haley edge with storefront windows. A transparent public face is important for a business incubator. Breaking down the bearing wall allows Good Work to take ownership over the entire space that they will occupy. Small offices are the private space and thus occupy the south end of the building with smaller windows. Two conference rooms with computers mediate between the public and private. The east and west walls of these two rooms store sliding wall partitions for dividing and closing the flexible space. The north and south walls of these two rooms are sliding glass panels, so the rooms can be linked with either the private area of the offices or the public area of the flexible space. A raised bamboo floor over the office area is countered by a suspended ceiling over the flexible space, director’s office, kitchen, and bathrooms. The plenum floor allows for efficient wiring of the offices; the suspended ceiling reflects light and allows for the flexible space to become soundproofed by the sliding walls.
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Alla Agafonov
Nick Berube 
Lizzy Bochner
Clauida Bode+100+dpi.jpg)
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Johnny Chen 
Leigh Heller 
Kathleen Johnson 
John Kleinschmidt 
Andrew Stern 
Aaron Williams
After Friday's review it is necessary for us to rethink our material choices. We originally clad the coop in wood and corrugated plastic, but then found a lighter PVC foam (Komatex), and Coroplast twin wall sheeting. While these materials are lighter, and a little more unusual, they are not good for the environment.
The framework.
The separate panels.
The nesting box.
Viola, a chicken coop makes a great addition to any back yard.
Click here to download (for free) or purchase a copy of the 487 page book documenting Chicken + Goose Coops portion of NOLA RECIPE studio. Proceeds go to Derek Hoeferlin's Spring '09 design studio, "Post-Katrina NOLA, Episode IV: OPERATION GUTTER TO GULF (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the water)"
goose coop
