The Farmer’s Deck at Colchester Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in Georgetown, Maryland is a product of Tyler School of Art’s inaugural 6-week design-build technology seminar conducted earlier this summer within the Architecture Department. Led by instructors Dennis
Playdon and Jason Austin, the students studied vernacular building forms and construction methods of Mid-Atlantic agricultural homesteads and incorporated their understanding of proven sustainable practices into their design-build project, The Farmer’s Deck. The Farmer’s Deck is sited adjacent to the CSA Intern Dormitory (a 1960’s dairy barn recently retrofitted by Austin+Mergold LLC into intern housing for the CSA) providing a shaded communal space, a framework for demonstration gardens and vertical food production (i.e. kiwi vines, hops, etc.), a kitchen garden for the summer interns and outdoor seating to contemplate the American cultural landscape.
The Farmer’s Deck was constructed over three long weekends using a combination of recycled and reclaimed building materials donated from local sources, standardized construction materials and fastening details. This combination of materials and methods generated a deck platform comprised of industrial galvanized warehouse shelving hanging from 2x pressure treated wood joists, allowing for the surrounding meadow to occupy the underside of the deck. The selective use of pressure treated wood decking accommodates outdoor tables and furniture. Reclaimed oak “briar ladders” form the trellis canopy and are supported by salvaged locust posts and beams joined together by scarf joints.
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