Shell House

1963-1964, 1975

Students: Larry Gangwisch, Ronald James, Raymond Ketzel, Roger Marshall, David Wright, James Zimmerman

Advisors: George Hasslein, Wesley Ward, Harvey Koehen

The exterior is the oldest structure still existing in the canyon. The Shell House's distinctive roof was created by putting up a center pole with cables hanging down, then spot welding on wire mesh, then a mortar-like substance (shotcrete) was sprayed onto the mesh, and then the pole was removed. This was the first use of shotcrete so the students did not know that while spraying they must be grounded to the structure, so they got shocked the first few times they tried to do it. The building is only supported in 3 spots on the ground. The interior was built after the concrete shell. An operable water fall used to flow underneath the stairs to the loft. The fireplace was very innovative in the fact that while burning, cold air would flow through the bottom pipes and get heating by the fire before flowing out the top and heating the room. Caretakers used to live in this house.