About the Event:
Triangle Barkitecture is a dog (and cat) house-building competition produced by AIA Triangle. Proceeds from this year’s event benefit local organizations Paw Prints Animal Rescue and Freedom Ride Rescue. Animal lovers from around the area vote for their favorite design for the “people’s choice” award and bid in a silent auction to take home their favorite build. There are also awards for best in show, most sustainable, and best cat house. The event took place on Saturday, October 8th, 2022 at Boxyard RTP in Durham, North Carolina with a fantastic turnout of both human and canine attendees.
It was a beautiful autumn day in North Carolina, perfect for the outdoor location and for the pets and people milling about. Although the event was crowded, no one seemed to mind with all the adorable dogs in Halloween costumes roaming around! Everyone’s phones filled up with dog photos and we’re still having a tough time narrowing down which photos to post to our social media channels!
This event has been going strong for several years and this is the first time ShopBot Tools has entered. On our debut showing, WE WON the “Greenest Paw” award for being the most environmentally friendly design.
Our Design:
Our idea board was filled with modernist architecture, intricate shapes and patterns created with the aid of CNC router magic, acrylic accent pieces and geodesic domes. Then we got to sketching. Ross in Marketing (that’s me!) and Alex in Engineering teamed up to come up with and build Team ShopBot’s doghouse. In the end, Alex came up with a way to tie in ShopBot’s origin story. The short version of which is that our founder, Ted Hall, wanted to take his boat-building hobby to the next level and use a CNC machine to create curved boat parts. In the process, he came to find that CNC machines were too expensive, and he set out to build his own. Ted sold some machines to friends and the company was born. There’s more to the story and we encourage you to read about it on the ShopBot website. Back to the design: In keeping a somewhat dome-shaped object in mind, Alex combined a few of our sketches and came up with an A-frame front panel and a tent-like rear structure, resembling the hull of a boat turned upside-down. Recycled maple ply and a spare sheet of Lexan acrylic were utilized for the main structure. Waterproof Ottertex fabric completed the outer shell and a solar panel powers a fan that is fully integrated into the rear of the structure. The solar panel also acts as an awning providing a little more protection from the elements. We added dog bowl holders to the interior, integrated into structural supports and dog bone butterfly joinery appears on the inside of the front wall and on the floorboards.
Jen, in Marketing designed our sign with the title of “All Paws on Deck”, tying in the nautical and dog themes beautifully. Honorable mentions for possible names include “Batten Down the Haunches” and my personal favorite, “Capsized & Cozy”.
We couldn’t have completed this project without the help of our CEO Jeanne, CCO Brian, and a handful of ShopBot employees who lent a hand (paw?) as they walked by our workspace in the weeks leading up to the event.
The event organizers were happy to report that this year’s Barkitecture event raised more money than any of their past events. We’re thrilled to have been a part of an event benefiting a great cause and we hope to compete again next year.