Dollhouse Sold!

We've had a week since the Friends of the Children dollhouse project wrapped up and everyone at the office is busy working on other jobs and enjoying the (one day of) nice weather.

Everyone at SUM Design Studio and Classic Exhibits thanks our blog viewers for their interest and support. This blog has had over 600 views from people all over the US, Canada, Mexico, Italy and as far away as Russia! It's been fun to see who is interested in our dollhouse and the design/build process.

The dollhouse sold at the auction and is on it's way to a little girl in Vermont. If you didn't get a chance to bid on the dollhouse and want one of your own, contact SUM and we'd be happy to make another for you!

The dollhouse is at the auction!

Be sure to check out (and bid on!) our completed dollhouse while out at the Friends of the Children auction tonight. It turned out great and everyone on the design and construction team is very happy with how it turned out. There are even a few added perks for the lucky buyer tonight, including a fantastic custom built carrying case by Classic Exhibits. We hope to see everyone at the auction tonight and we're excited to see how much money it raises for FOTC!

99% Completed Dollhouse

Here is a test model of the dollhouse cut and assembled by Classic Exhibits. We will be making a few tweaks to this design before constructing the final product. Don't forget to purchase your tickets to the May 12th auction at the Friends of the Children website.

Classic Exhibits Cutting the Dollhouse

Check out these videos sent over from Classic Exhibits showing their CNC machine cutting the design of the dollhouse into a sheet of Appleply.

It's almost done!

The dollhouse is looking great! The clear coat finish is drying as this is being written. We are taking photos of it today for the Friends of the Children fundraiser brochure and will be posting those soon. The videos mentioned before of the CNC machine cutting the plywood are being complied so everyone can see what that process is like.

Here's the copy that will be included in the brouchure:

Modern Dollhouse: Move-in Ready for Imagination and Fun

Custom designed by a collaboration of architects and designers at SUM Design Studio, this elegant dollhouse waits to be furnished by a child’s creativity. The wholly accessible structure, whose design was directed by input from children ranging in age from 4 to 11 years old, will accommodate any and all from Luke Skywalker and Barbie, to army men and dinosaurs. Made from a single sheet of sturdy, high-grade Appleply cut and assembled by Classic Exhibits, this one-of-a-kind house has no rough edges and is finished with a clear coat finish worthy of LEED certification. The structure uses no hardware; each piece slips together smoothly with easy-to-follow assembly instructions. When disassembled, the pieces lie flat in a custom case for ready storage. Want to learn more about the design process? Go to http://sumdollhouse.blogspot.com/

Sneak Peak

Here's a sneak peak of the dollhouse building process! Click on the photo above to see an enlarged image. The great folks at Classic Exhibits Inc have sent over some photos of the CNC machine being set up with our AutoCad drawing and the piece of 4'x8' plywood that the house will be cut from. Check back for more photos (and possibly some video!) of the fabrication process.

With one month until the auction, we are feeling pretty good about the progress of the design. From the first design charrette with the kids to now, a lot has been accomplished and everyone involved has had a great time.

Be sure to get your tickets to the fundraiser, which are available on the Friends of the Children website.

Sketch Model of Updated Design

We are really happy with the overall design of the dollhouse and now are focusing on the detailing. Some of the important detail elements include the stair treads and the openings. As always, we are striving to keep our original design intentions evident in the dollhouse. Those intentions include keeping true to the ideas that the kids from our design charette came up with (see post from February 2nd), as well as some rules that we set for ourselves, like only using one 4'x8' sheet of plywood for the dollhouse building material.

Everyone involved is getting excited to see the final built design. After building about a dozen sketch models, it will be fun to see the wooden version.

"How To" Instructions

We're so excited to be working with Classic Exhibits on the construction of the dollhouse!

As the time gets closer to assemble and auction the dollhouse, we've been thinking about how to create a set of drawings that will come with the house, including "how to" diagrams for assembling your own at home. Our goal is to have plans available to purchase from us after the auction, so if you didn't get to buy the house, you could still buy the plans and construct your own at home. It would also include some simple diagrams for assembly. To get inspiration for these diagrams, we started looking at Lego instruction manuals, where simple graphics are used to explain the assembly process.

The Design is Coming Together!

After a great progress meeting on Monday, the dollhouse design is really coming together. We have been mocking it up in the office with paper and cardboard to see what works and what doesn't. The entire design fits on a 4'x8' sheet of wood, so anyone who wants to buy the plans for the house will be able to buy a sheet and cut it out at home.

We have another meeting today to go over the design one last time before we start pitching it to local builders.

Process Drawings

Here are great process sketches from the past couple of weeks. We're trying to figure out not only how to bring the kids' point of view into this dollhouse, but also how to stay true to our design aesthetic. And of course, there is the question of how this thing goes together. We've had some great conversations in the office about this project and it's been a great learning experience.
We are still talking with a few different people about collaborating with us on the construction of the house. More on that later!

Friends of the Children Portland - I Believe

Design Progress

The dollhouse design is coming together! Here's a photo of some process work from over the weekend. We're also starting to think about who to collaborate with to actually build the house, so if you know of a skilled woodworker who would like to volunteer for a great cause, let us know!

As we work toward the final design for the dollhouse, we are reminding ourselves that the kids are the ultimate client. Having the design charette early on with the kids has directly informed what the design should be and its really exciting seeing their ideas expressed through the dollhouse.

Friends of the Children featured on NPR

Money for Mentors: Portland Program Sees Success

A great story on NPR's All Things Considered aired on February 21st talking about the success of this unique program. All of us at SUM are so excited to be a part of the fundraising for such a wonderful organization.

4th Graders Thoughts on Designing a Dollhouse

We had a 4th grade class in participate in our project by asking how they would design a dollhouse. The responses were really great! Here are a few of our favorites.

Design Charette with Kids

We had a great time last night at the office design charette seeing how kids would design a doll house. Three pizzas and a box of crayons later, we had 5 great schemes from the kids. It was so much fun to get their take on the project and see them work together. A common theme throughout all schemes... Disco balls.

Design and Build a Dollhouse - Where to Begin

SUM Design Studio is very excited about this dollhouse project. Friends of the Children is a really impressive organization whose mission is to work with at-risk kids, establishing a close relationship with them from kindergarten to high school graduation. Currently about 40 paid professionals work with 350 kids in the Portland metro area. They are located in a cool, old Catholic school in NE Portland, near Emanuel Hospital.

About the auction. It's a silent auction with great items from services to experiences. We thought a dollhouse would be appropriate for the event and fun to create.

Stay posted as we work through this process!