Rural Studio
Storehouse
Fall 2014 | Newbern, Alabamainstructed by Xavier Vendrell
How can a storehouse improve the efficiency of the Rural Studio Farm and help define a new gathering space?
In the small town of Newbern, Alabama, the Rural Studio provides architecture students the opportunity to spend a semester or a year designing and building community-oriented architecture in one of the poorest regions of the country. From low-cost housing to town halls to skate parks, the Rural Studio has completed over 170 projects since its founding in 1993, making good design available to all.
The task assigned to myself and fourteen other third-year students was to design and build a storehouse to accommodate the Rural Studio Farm’s organic produce. Program requirements also included additional kitchen storage space, a produce washing station, a climate controlled storage area, and an accessible bathroom. The resulting 500 SF structure fulfills all of these demands efficiently and effectively, and careful siting helps create a new and meaningful exterior gathering space on the Newbern campus.
