Spend a week designing and building a Rumford-style fireplace using native stone, recycled materials, and hybridization of masonry techniques.  Rumford fireplaces are tall and shallow to reflect more heat, and they have streamlined throats to eliminate turbulence and carry away smoke with little loss of heated room air.  Design will focus on Rumford proportions and how it relates to the ‘draw’ and radiant implications of different design decisions.  Design will also focus on burning efficiency and building thermal efficiency.  As we build we’ll use a variety of masonry techniques, while balancing the implications of the detail between materials and the ramifications on use, aesthetics, and structure.  Finally, the class will be asked to challenge its assumptions about how it sees and understands ‘hearth’ and the central element that a fireplace is to a space.  Students will leave with the fundamental understanding of fireplace and chimney design and installation techniques.

Course start time: Sunday, 5pm
Course end time: Friday, 5pm

 

  • Competency Level: All Levels
  • AIA credits: 35 -- Qualifies for HSW and SD requirements.

In this age of technology and disconnection from the systems of nature that maintain our comforts, the wood-burning fireplace still holds an allure unmatched by the gas heat, wood-burning stoves, radiant floors and forced air systems. The jump of the flame in the eye, the radiance of heat on the skin, and the crackle and pop in the ear have been replaced by the hum of televisions, ipods, laptops, and cell phones.

Where do we anchor the wood fireplace in a time more consumed by the comforts of technology and the ease of use?

How can the fireplace be imagined to become more applicable to the modern needs of comfort and energy efficiency, while still appealing to the time-less sensuality of the open fire?

How can a Rumford fireplace integrate with other systems of building design and incorporate glass door and other systems to become up to 400% more efficient than a traditional Rumford?

Course Objectives

This will be a comprehensive course that will expose students to different applications and techniques in masonry (stone, brick, and block), pre-cast concrete, and cast-in-place concrete. Learning will be balanced between case-studies, field trips, research, and presentations in the evenings with built experiments toward creating a fireplace structure in Warren, VT during the days. This class will incorporate design drawing and building as a continuous process and focus design towards sustainable materials and means of construction.

Suggested Readings

http://www.rumford.com/articleRumford.html

http://www.renaissancefireplaces.com/en/Rumford_Fireplace_History_

Vrest Orten. The Forgotten Art of Building a Good Fireplace

Case Studies TBD

Course Outline

Sunday

  • Welcome Dinner
  • Meet and Greet
  • Slide Show of each instructors' work and case studies
  • discussion of work completed for foundation of fireplace

Monday AM

  • Mini Field Trip in the Morning with Site Sketching and Imagineering,
  • meet with client to discuss ideas about aesthetics, materials, and performance.

Monday PM

  • Beginning building, Firebox Base and wall Building and Surrounding seating/hearth design.

Monday EVE

  • Tyler: Presentation of Traditional vs. non-traditional Masonry Applications, tour of built works in Mad River Valley

Tuesday AM

  • Firebox Lintel Placement

Tuesday PM

  • Fireplace throat and smoke-shelf construction


Wednesday AM

  • Smoke Chamber Construction

Wednesday PM

  • Mantle Construction, and continued smoke chamber/chimney construction, roof jack scaffolding const.

EVE

  • Guest Lecturer, TBD, The Art of Stone Masonry

Thursday AM

  • Staging, flashing, and chimney hole construction

PM

  • Chimney Stacking, Continued Veneer process, Chimney-top Damper Construction, Chimney Cap

EVE

  • Building night with continued veneer work and mantle work

Friday AM

  • Interior Plastering and Chimney Cap Finishing, Stone Veneer and additional

PM

  • Site Cleanup
  • Client Review with Guest Critique

EVE

  • Party around the new Fireplace and Celebration Dinner!

 

Start Date: September 26, 2010
Closed