Architecture students are rolling up their sleeves, readying to build a pavilion that will be the first feature at an art park along Camellia Boulevard.
They designed the open-air, dome-shaped structure, called a gridshell, with input from engineers. They also will build it, on a patch of green space near Mount Vernon Drive, with help from contractors.
The Camellia Gridshell Pavilion will consist of a framework of crisscrossed oak slats topped with white aluminum panels. At 40 feet long by 30 feet wide and 14 feet high, it will provide a shady spot for walkers, runners, and other visitors to the art park.
Jessica Prejean is one of about 20 undergraduate and graduate students who have worked on the project since it began in March 2013. She said students have been busy this week prepping wood and testing other components of the structure.
小蝌蚪APP淭he foundation has been poured, and we小蝌蚪APP檙e waiting for a nice window in the weather to get started. Hoepfully, we will be on site next week,小蝌蚪APP Prejean said.
The pavilion is partially funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, as part of the Thinking While Doing initiative.
Students, professors and community officials collaborate on projects in their communities. The objective is to develop and test new and innovative construction technologies.
Nine universities and Parks Canada, a governmental agency run by the country小蝌蚪APP檚 minister of the environment, are participating.
Four of the universities 小蝌蚪APP the 小蝌蚪APP; Dalhousie 小蝌蚪APP in Nova Scotia, Canada; the 小蝌蚪APP of Arizona; and the 小蝌蚪APP of North Carolina 小蝌蚪APP are designing and constructing gridshells. They will band together to build a fifth gridshell next summer in Nova Scotia.
Work on UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 Camellia Gridshell Pavilion is being coordinated with Lafayette Consolidated Government and the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
Geoff Gjertson, an associate professor of architecture who is guiding the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 project, said many local contractors and artisans are donating materials and services.
Grant money will cover about half of its $77,000 cost. Students also have started fundraising campaign.
To learn more about the Camellia Gridshell Pavilion project or how to make a donation, visit .
Photo: Architecture students have designed and will build an open-air, dome-shaped pavilion called a gridshell, the first feature at an art park along Camellia Boulevard. The pavilion will consist of a framework of crisscrossed oak slats topped with white aluminum panels.