Pellissippi State students across more than 10 career programs will come together this year to transform a shipping container into a tiny home.
The experiential learning project is spearheaded by Associate Professors Julie Shubzda and Diane Riley of Interior Design Technology and funded by a $10,000 grant from the college’s Instructional Development Committee. It aims to raise awareness of the homeless epidemic and the plight of those unable to enter the housing market due to lack of inventory, overpriced housing and high interest rates.
“We know of many instances where Pellissippi State students find themselves homeless – whether temporary, short-term or for extended periods of time,” Riley said. “We wanted to do a project so that students could address housing insecurity.”
Shubzda said several professors have brainstormed together throughout the last several years to bring the project to fruition. “It’s like our own version of the Common Book experience, and anyone is welcome to participate,” she said.
Long before the shipping container arrived on the Hardin Valley Campus Feb. 20, Riley’s second-year students submitted design plans for how to transform the 40-foot-long, 8.5-foot-wide shipping container into a home that will include a living room area, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and laundry.
Students first researched the needs of various demographics, including single parents, veterans, 18-year-old male students and 18-year-old female students. Riley said the four students whose designs were chosen offered great ideas and the final design will be a combination of their plans while honoring the limited project budget.
Other students will play roles as well including:
- Animation: 3-D visualization and animation
- Architectural Design Technology: architectural drawings including plans, elevations and sections
- Interior Design Technology: planning, designing, drawings, textiles
- Civil and Construction Engineering Technology: site location and planning, survey, project scheduling
- Electrical Engineering Technology: electrical requirements
- Mechanical Engineering Technology: 3D printing of elements, HVAC requirements
- Welding Technology: creating openings for doors and windows, possible stairs to utilize upper part of the shipping container for more room
- Audio Production Technology: Creation of a theme song
- Design for Web and Print: branding including a logo and social media campaigns
- Photography: documenting the process through photos
- Video Production Technology: documenting the process through video and livestreaming
- Web Technology: creation of the project’s own website
Meanwhile, the professors are relying on industry partners to help supplement the $10,000 grant by providing in-kind donations.
“We have 27 years of Interior Design Technology graduates so they’re in every industry around here,” said Media and Engineering Technologies Dean Margaret Ann Jeffries. “If we need something like kitchen cabinets, we can reach out to our alumni through our private Facebook group.”
And Interior Design Technology students won’t just be behind the scenes providing computer-aided design and textiles for window treatments, the professors stressed. They’ll literally be getting their hands dirty in the construction process.
“That way they will be able to see what goes on inside the ceiling and the floor and behind the walls,” Shubzda said.
The professors hope to have the tiny home completed by the end of the fall 2024 semester and to celebrate the finished product with all who have worked on it – even graduates.
The finished home may be sold or auctioned to fund future experiential learning projects, which Pellissippi State has prioritized as part of the Pellissippi Experience, allowing students to get hands-on experience before they graduate.
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