Georgia Tech Leadership Course
Building connection through sophisticated fun.
Georgia Tech identified a need for a ropes style “challenge course” as a vehicle for
conducting campus wide team building exercises. The chosen site, which previously held a transformer substation, occupies a prominently visible location on the western campus edge. The course program consisted of 3 towers, 2 zip lines, and an adjacent structure to hold materials, equipment, and gather teams together before and after running the course.
Student organizations use the course to immerse students in the 5 behaviors of leadership – an interactive, high adventure afternoon designed to help demonstrate the tools of collaboration they need to succeed at Georgia Tech.
Houser Walker initial task to help give an identifying ‘character’ to the course’s three prefabricated, 40’ high, 12’x12’ steel towers. Within an extremely limited budget, our solution includes an outer cladding layer of stock sized, sustainably harvested ipe wood profiles tipped with a bright green stain at the ends and a large fabric ‘cap’ which can be backlit at night or have images projected upon it.
Based on the popularity of the Course, Houser Walker was subsequently retained to create a support pavilion. The new structure provides a large covered gathering space, hosting course orientations, classes, and external functions during campus wide events. Both the course and pavilion have helped dramatically renew the client’s community outreach programs and revenue generating opportunities.
Status
Completed
Collaborators
Alpine Towers Inc., JJG (now Jacobs), Minick Engineering, Palacio Collaborative, Palmer Engineering
Awards
2012 AIA Georgia Merit Design Award
2012 NIRSA Project of the Year
The wood screening orientation and sizing was attuned to provide shading for participants on the course, frame different pieces of course infrastructure, or provide views towards iconic vistas of Midtown and Downtown Atlanta.
Capping each tower is a ‘light box’ comprised of recycled plastic billboard fabric, powered by LED projection lights for nighttime use.
To help communicate design choices to Georgia Tech, we developed a series of interactive models, which allowed the team to collectively refine which elements resonated best with the course objectives.
“Houser Walker impresses by their commitment to a project, from on-site visits, OAC meetings, and presentation to the senior campus leadership. They respond to inquiries, provide answers and design beautiful and unique structures. They provide the client options, utilize state-of-the-art presentation modes, and continually seek cost effective solutions. They’re a pleasure to work with.“
– Fred Dolder, Former Project Manager, Georgia Tech
“It is all about learning and collaboration. As teams go through the course, they are learning to solve both mental puzzles and physical challenges. The integration of technology really makes this leadership course unique. Even the zip line at the end of the course has technology integrated into it. The zip line is hooked up to hydraulics and as you slide out on it, the hydraulics kick in and gently float you down to the ground.”
Matthew Marcus, Challenge Course Manag- er at the Campus Recreation Center
Rainwater is collected from the roofing and adjacent course and fed into a regional cistern and new Eco Commons filtration system. Interior restrooms uti- lize passive cross ventilation to avoid the need for mechanical systems.
The pavilion’s roof creates a ‘solar umbrella’ of reflective panels that admit light but repel heat. The roof design will accommodate future solar panels, allowing the building and site to be fully net-positive.
The new course celebrated its opening with Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson riding down the zip line beside the Institute’s mascot, “Buzz.”
