From Inception to Installation: Part 3: The Final Prep and Delivery
The Final Prep
We are coming down to the end of the project. The creative work of laying out the pieces of wood and attaching them to our panels is complete. The final detail is cutting the shape of the horizon at the top of the panels and making them match up exactly so the look seamless when attached to the wall. Once again. J.R. did a fantastic job of programming our CNC machines to make the cuts. We laid out the panels in our shop to make sure everything matched up perfectly. Once cut into the final shape, all six panels were sent to our finishing partner for a sealing clear coat. A week later they were ready to be picked up and brought back to Trillium for the final inspection and sign off to be sent to their final destination, OSU.
The team performed one final preview of the panels to make sure nothing had changed during the finishing process. These panels had to be ready for an installation crew that would not be able to make many in-the-field modifications. They had to be perfect. After months of hard work and dedication the panels were finished. Their next stop was the final destination at the site of installation in the Starker Forest Classroom in Peavy Hall at Oregon State University.
The Delivery and Install
The last hurdle to overcome was to figure out how to attach the panels to the wall. This section of the classroom had acoustic paneling in place over a wall structure that was unknown. School officials could not tell us what the framing looked like behind the acoustic panels or how the acoustic panels were attached, the install crew did some investigation but ultimately settled on a totally different way to attach the panels to the walls from our original plan. This made for some last minute scrambling but ultimately led to a much better installation that would stand the test of time.
After working through the various challenges, the end result was something the team was very proud of. A beautiful mountainscape made from the wood of the trees found in the Starker Forest timberland. Emblazoned with both the common and scientific names of each species, these panels will stand, for years to come, as a reminder of the different trees in the Starker forest and the commitment of the Starker Family. And for the students who study there, these artistic wood panels will serve as a reminder of the beauty of the Natural World they love, and the importance of their scholarly efforts to understand and sustain it.
If you have the chance to visit Peavy Hall on the Oregon State University campus it is worth the time. Beautiful wood is everywhere and each piece is part of the story of the school and it’s ties to the forest. The building is an active science project with sensors gathering data daily showing what is happening to the wood in the building. Few buildings have a great story like this one.
