B.L.A.S.T.

Critic: Alexander Kitchin | Spring 2012

For my undergraduate independent study, I developed a multi-purpose bench made of cast concrete and routed wood as an addition to the UVA School of Architecture’s spray booth. The concrete bench is designed for an individual to lay down or alternatively sit and use the wood section as a laptop desk. We fabricated the positive form out of foam, made adjustments based on size and comfort, and then routed the negative form for casting. The Black Locust for the wood section, was donated from a generous UVA affiliate. After harvesting the tree from their property, I planed and joined the panels, before routing the desk form. Holes were routed for rebar in order to stabilize and align the wood section.

This project allowed a full-spectrum of hands-on fabrication. After pouring the concrete bench, we finished the concrete and TIG welded supports for the bench attachment. Next, we harvested black locust from a generous UVA affiliate's backyard. We planed down the tree into 3/4'' boards and were able to fabricate each of the 34 pieces for the table section of B.L.A.S.T. Holes were placed for structural rebar and alignment.