Session: Construction + Community, Winter 2025

Builders: 12 high school students

Materials: 3/4” birch plywood, Murphy bed hardware kit from Create-A-Bed including hydraulic arms, hinges, locking bed foot hardware

Tools: chop saw, track saw, drill press, hand router, hand drill, impact driver

Description:

Building upon what our Advanced Design/Build students prototyped last session, the 12 students in Construction + Community were tasked with constructing not one, not two, but SEVEN Murphy beds for Tiny Village Spirit, a housing initiative aimed at providing shelter for unhoused and transitional youth. We were intimidated about the timeline at first, considering it took us almost all of last Fall to configure one prototype, but this cohort dove right into steady production. The project required 180 cuts before we could even move on to assembly, and by week three, we were already ahead of schedule! The project involved so many moving parts that utilized the chop saw, drill press, hand router, hand drill, and impact driver. Upon attaching hardware and the desk on the last day of class, we celebrated with an awesome talent show where Shop and Project Manager Augusta Sitney showed off their magic tricks.