Julian Street Inn – Shelter for the Homeless: Construction experiments for testing the prefabrication of wall-segment tile panels and lifting them in place

1988

Construction System, Hand-glazed Tilework Panel

Series of experiments and tests performed in the C.E.S. workshop in Martinez, for prefabricating wall-segment panels flat on the ground with the hand-glazed tiles, the required reinforcement and concrete layer, and then testing the procedure of lifting them in place. Ultimately, the process chosen was to glue the tiles on the plastered walls of the building on site, and then to fill in the gaps with grout.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black

Content of

Project

Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless 1986 to 1990

Julian St. & Montgomery St., San Jose, CA, U.S.A.

Civic, Realized , Construction completed in 1989; final interior painting in 1990

Client:

Housing for Independent People - Al DiLudovico, Executive Director

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Artemis Anninou, Carl Lindberg, James Maguire, Eleni Coromvli, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou

Contractor:

Oliver and Company, with Center for Environmetal Structure as major specialty subcontractor

Project cost:

$1,700,000

Project stages:

Pattern language for project by clients and C.E.S. Layout by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Building Permit drawings Direct Construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E

Design and construction of a shelter for homeless people, to serve 50 to 100 people, on a site of 13,000 sf. The building of 15,000 square feet includes offices, living areas with a dining hall, sleeping rooms, courtyards and gardens. ...

Contents

Drawings

The Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless: Exterior wall cladding with hand-painted and hand-glazed tilework; Permit Drawings for the fabriation of tile panels 10/08/1987

Permit Drawing, Section, Elevation

Designers:

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, James Maguire, Eleni Coromvli, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Medium:

Blueprint

Two drawings with details of the prefabricated wall panels with the clay tiles imbedded in them, depicting the procedure of prefabrication as well as construction details.

Records

Photographs

References

Scientific Research

Innovative Construction Systems, Techniques and Materials

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Construction Innovation

One of the main topics of research, included in every building project, was to identify, early on in the design process, the material and techniques of construction. This would re-establish building as an art, and allow rapid shaping and adaptation, ...