December 21, 2012...

As we near the end of this week everyone is getting ready to go home for the Christmas break. This doesn't mean we will be taking a break from our work however. Over the break we will all have our tasks and drawings to work on for when we get back! As we work on our construction drawings we also will be beginning to estimate the cost of the materials we will need. Therefor, when we get back from the break we will be able to hit the ground running! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!!

-Chelsea Moore

The Habitat Meeting.....

Well, the meeting with the Habitat board Monday night was a success! We were all a little nervous going into the meeting. They seemed to like all four of our designs! We are happy to say that they approved of the design chosen by the Albrittons. Its becoming more and more of a reality that we are building this house as we move into construction documents this week!!! Everyone is excited to move forward and see where the process takes us next!      

-Chelsea Moore

The Final Design...

The design phase is quickly coming to an end. After meeting with Ms. Albritton and her family Friday, the final design has been chosen! That's right.. we went from FOUR designs to ONE design in only a week!  We will be meeting with the Habitat Board one last time Monday afternoon to discuss any final adjustments that need to be made to the final design. Everyone is excited to get a jumpstart on construction documents this coming week. Also, we are in the process of planning a fundraiser to be held on the day of groundbreaking... January 19. Stay tuned for more details!

-Julie Moak

December 12, 2012

Everyone is still hard at work with the four remaining designs! Monday night we presented the four designs to the Habitat Board. We will be meeting with the Albritton family today to discuss the four designs and the changes we have made to them in their favor. We are all very excited to hear the family's opinion on our improvements. Today is a big day! After presenting to the Albrittons, we will be down to THREE DESIGNS!   We love all four house designs and hate to see one go. Everyone has kept an optimistic attitude throughout this fast paced process and will continue to work hard!

-Julie Moak

Four designs remain...

We have been hard at work the past several days! In only one week, the class has gone from 16 initial designs to 4 favorites. During this process, some designs have been eliminated and others meshed together, depending on the qualities of the design. We have also met with our client and her family to discuss preferences they have about the layout and details of the house. Tomorrow, we will be presenting the remaining four designs to the Habitat for Humanity board. We are all anxious to get their input and keep moving forward in this fast paced, rewarding process! Below are the pictures of the designs and our first proposal meeting with the client.

-Mary Alice Milford

Welcome!

12 architecture students. 1 client. 1050 square feet. 3 bedrooms. 1.5 baths. $60,000. 171 days.

This is who we are and what we are doing.

Here at the Louisiana Tech University School of Architecture, we have a design/build studio for 4th year students that begins in the Winter quarter and ends in Spring quarter. This year, there are 12 students that have the opportunity to work with Habitat for Humanity and a selected client from the community to design and build a home for the client in 171 days. If this sounds a little intimidating, you're right. It is. However, we are excited to begin the process and to be able to give back in a way that will affect the lives of the family indefinitely. This will be the eighth and final year for the habiTECH project and we hope to make it the best. We look forward to sharing the journey with our fellow bloggers and will be posting every week to update everyone on our progress!


To kick things off, we started school on Wednesday November 28 and visited the site. We were also divided into 4 teams of 3 to begin the design process. Each team was assigned to produce 4 iterations of models and floor plans to present by Friday. Below are photos of the site and the first pass at iterations for the home. The ideas are still schematic in form but will gain detail in the next couple of weeks.