The second annual #TimberFever Design-Build Challenge put architectural science and civil engineering students from Ryerson University to the test. Students were tasked with designing and building an Urban Refuge out of wood ? a private space where at least one person can sit or stand in to disconnect from the rush of urban life, and reconnect with nature. 
The students were placed into eight teams, all named after local species of trees ? Butternut, Dogwood, Blue-Beech, Sugar Maple, Sycamore, Trembling Ash, Sassafras and Ironwood. The design brief was revealed on the evening of Thursday, September 22, and the teams had until Sunday at noon to complete their structures. 
Each team was provided with lumber, plywood, a wood base, screws, nails and metal brackets. And this year, two new elements: fabric and one StopGap.ca access ramp. “In the beginning it was challenging, there are so many perspectives to take into account?math, aesthetics?but we very quickly found common ground. We started talking like each other, it was good,” said a third year civil engineering student.
Judging was based on concept, design development, construction and the presentation of the completed urban refuge. Judges (including Canadian Architect editor Elsa Lam, architect Tye Farrow, and Treehugger editor Lloyd Alter) considered form, sculpture, drama, colour and beauty. All projects passed a structural stress test by resisting vertical loads and lateral forces. The weights we...