August 19, 2004

Construction Industry Spotlight: A/E/C firms build playhouses for charity

Photographs by Jim Garner The playhouses sometimes border on the wild side, such as this rendition of a space capsule called “The Moon Taxi” by GGLO and Lease Crutcher Lewis.

A Seattle architect's dream house: a studio in which to draw, design and entertain friends. Its size? 150 square feet.

Melanie Corey-Ferrini designed D'Studio, one of six eclectic playhouses recently built by teams of local architects and contractors. Playhouses will be donated to charities, who will auction them this fall to raise funds.

Corey-Ferrini said she knew as a kid she wanted to be an architect and would have loved her own space to indulge in art. So when University Village shopping center contacted her earlier this year about the playhouse fundraiser, she had a pretty good idea of what could work.

She sketched spaces she probably would have loved as a child in the studio of her Seattle firm, Dynamik Place.

She taught 8- to 12-year-olds art and architecture classes in community centers around Bellevue. She also has children of her own. "I've always had that playful sense," she said. "Not only for kids, but for the kids in all of us that want fun spaces."

She said it's important to get young people to think about architecture at an early age. Kids can then appreciate how space is shaped by forms, and how spaces shift mood with lighting, use of color and materials.

D'Studio's concept is to use varying geometries and materials to show kids architecture can be exciting, said Corey-Ferrini.

Bellevue contractor Mortenson built D'Studio.

D'Studio is designed to get kids thinking about architecture.

Kim Wagner, a business analyst with Mortenson, was part of the team that reviewed the request for service donations. Mortenson allocates 1.5 percent of its yearly budget for community projects, and the review team was excited about the playhouse's imaginative spaces.

Getting it built, said Wagner, project manager and a mother of four, was "just plain fun."

"The Dream Box" was inspired by a Japanese tea house.

Though University Village gave a short schedule to put projects together, teams delivered them last week. It took 230 hours over two and a half weeks to line up suppliers and assemble D'Studio. Wagner said if materials, labor and installation had not been donated, costs would have been $20,000. Subcontractors donated paint, masonry, tile, steel, signage and lumber.

D'Studio is equipped with interior and exterior lighting, as well as electrical outlets. Countertops, an outdoor easel and sliding windows let children either work or play. A back wall has removable tiles that double as art canvases. Brick pavers provide a step up. A stainless steel guardrail encloses the roof deck, which is tiled with rubber. Windows are Plexiglas.

"It's meant to be used a lot," said Corey-Ferrini. "(It's) not meant to be a pristine house."

Some of the interiors are highly detailed.

Mortenson brought kids in to run through the playhouse as a test for quality. They gave the thumbs up.

"My kids said, ‘You're gonna buy that for us, right?'" Wagner laughed. Though her family is unlikely to come home with a playhouse, she said they do plan to attend the auction.

Houses will be on display at University Village through October, then they will then be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of King and Pierce Counties, Seattle Ronald McDonald House, and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center.

An open house takes place 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and again on Sept. 12 at University Village, which says it plans to run the charity event every two years.

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• Construction Industry Spotlight: Tight wood market entices counterfeiters, 08-12-2004
• Construction Industry Spotlight: Feds OK $180M Cross-Base Highway, 08-05-2004
• Construction Industry Spotlight: Strong underpinnings for manufactured homes, 07-29-2004
• Construction Industry Spotlight: 2 friends find radical new calling — skateparks, 07-22-2004
• DJC Construction Industry Spotlight: Filling a niche in woodwork restoration, 07-15-2004
• Construction Industry Spotlight: University sees green at the roof line, 07-08-2004
• DJC Construction Industry Spotlight: Corixa readies Denny Triangle home, 07-01-2004
• DJC Construction Industry Spotlight: VPP helps businesses take workplace safety to higher level, 06-24-2004