Session: Advanced Design/Build, winter + spring sessions 2024
Builders: 12 high school students
Materials: redwood 2x4s, 1/2″ hardware cloth, chop saw, impact driver and drill, marine grade plywood, exterior paint, siding, standing seam roof panels
Description: In our third construction project for Growing Leaders, our most experienced builders spent two sessions working on an epic chicken coop. Instructors Emily Pilloton-Lam, Tonia Sing Chi, and Augusta Sitney structured winter session as a design studio, where instead of jumping into building, our students were an integral part in designing the project itself. The students developed architectural concepts for the chicken coop, taking into consideration style inspirations, the site itself, and the needs of any chicken coop (rat proofing, roost and run areas, natural light, etc.). They ultimately landed on a “California bungalow” style, with a 2 gable roof and a half story chicken house, painted as a watermelon because chickens LOVE watermelon rinds!
During spring session, our students began building the coop in earnest—cutting lumber to size, framing the walls, attaching 1/2″ hardware cloth, building out the front doors, nesting boxes, and the open frame patio, and installing the faux stained glass windows— and instructors Hallien Chen and Allison Oropallo joined the crew. Because of the roll-up doors in our new workspace, we were able to build the chicken coop in its entirety at Girls Garage, then forklift it onto a trailer to be delivered to Willard Middle School. On a warm Saturday in mid-May, our students gathered at Willard Middle School to install the “Bungamelon” on-site. From 10 AM – 4 PM, they split into groups to raise and attach the framed walls, hoisting up the pre-assembling coop house, attaching the coop house to the framed walls, attaching roof trusses, fascia board, and blocking to the run side, hanging and leveling all the doors and attaching locks, hasps, and other hardware, trimming out the windows, attaching standing seam roofing, adding bracing underneath the chicken house, and installing roost boxes. It was a long, tiring day, but when the last touches were done, seeing the Bungamelon in all its glory was well worth the effort.
This chicken abode boasts space for 24 chickens to roost, run, lay eggs, and relax. We can’t wait to hear how our feathered friends adapt to their new bungalow home!
