The Covington Farmers Market was designed and built by design/buildLAB, a third year architecture studio at the Virginia Tech, School of Architecture + Design focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative construction methods and architectural designs. At design/buildLAB students collaborate with local communities and experts to develop concepts and propose solutions to real world problems. The goal of this course is to teach students the skills necessary to confront the design and realization of architecture projects, with a consciousness for social and environmental issues. By removing the abstraction from the making of architecture, the course engages students’ initiative and encourages them to ask fundamental questions about the nature of practice and the role of the architect. By framing the opportunity for architecture students to make a difference in the life of a community, the hope is to show them the positive impact Architecture can make and inspire them to high professional ethics.

Architect: design/buildLAB (Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design)
Location: Covington, Virginia, USA
Student Project Team: Anne Agan, Emily Angell, Zachary Britton, Chris Cromer, German Delgadillo, Chris Drudick, Cody Ellis, Jacob Geffert, Rachel Gresham, Shannon Hughes, Elizabeth Madden, Ryan McCloskey, Andrew McLaughlin, Brett Miller, Elizabeth Roop, Erin Sanchez, Sara Woolf
Professors: Marie Zawistowski, Architecte DPLG – Professor of Practice; Keith Zawistowski, Assoc. AIA, GC – Professor of Practice
Structural Engineer: Draper Aden and Associates – Dave Spriggs, PE
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: design/buildLAB