More on the Organization

The UBC Learning Exchange located at 612 Main Street is an organization devoted to the local community of Vancouver’s downtown east side region.   The primary focus of this group is centered on personal and neighborhood development within the area.  The UBC Learning Exchange offers a variety of services to residents of the area such as language and computer classes or hands-on tutorials related to a variety of craftwork.  One aspect of the organization’s philosophy is to build on the strengths of individuals and the community in order to introduce new opportunities or possibilities that may otherwise seem unavailable.

Photo taken by Joseph Braun on Wednesday, January 30th

Project Scope

This specific Community Based Experiential Learning project deals with the renovation of a carport located at the Learning Exchange.  The goal of this assignment is to modify the carport in order to accommodate a wider range of possible tutorials such as woodworking, ceramics, or a variety of arts and crafts.  To accomplish this goal, a group of students from a prior year developed a conceptual model depicting possible fixtures or equipment to install in this area.  This new design includes such installations as work benches, adjustable shelves, and folding desks.  The next stage of the project would be to build on this initial design to produce elements of the layout or possible prototypes of the equipment.  The final product of this process is still under negotiation but at this stage, we would ideally like to build at least a few elements of this conceptual design and install them in the carport.

Strategies for Completion

At this point, a possible next stage of the process would be to develop the conceptual design completed earlier and to begin considering methods of construction for the millwork.  Initially, it may be useful to draft working shop drawings from the completed sketchup design model in preparation for the carpentry stage.  We considered requesting time to use UBC’s on-campus wood working shop near the forestry department to begin construction.  Access to power tools and a carpentry workspace would be enormously helpful if those accommodations were made available to the project.  Combined with input from the local community involved with the learning exchange, we hope to make a significant contribution to the progress of this assignment over the course of the term.