Medora, ND – From his beginnings, the design concept for the future Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora was an ambitious, a “journey through a preserved landscape … a continuum between the past and the present,” said the International Architectural Liber Snøhetta, which was commissioned for work.
The company based in Oslo included elements that said it would integrate the man's ethos that was built for honoring the facility.
“Our design … is informed by the personal considerations of the president about the landscape, his commitment to environmental responsibility and the times of calm self -observation and civic engagement that marked his life,” said Snøhetta.
Since the exterior of the library approaches shortly before completion and a ceremonial opening for July 4, 2026 is planned, the visionary concept of the architect is brought to life, which is highlighted during a tour of the location by a recently completed, up-and-coming ramming endowed wall.
Anna Paige / The Forum
The wall, which Snøhetta observed as “one of the most visually striking aspects” of its design, is discouraging, 30 feet in the air in the direction of a spacious ceiling made of exposed wooden panels and bars and over 240 feet over the main hall of the building. With a remarkable resemblance to the sedimentary strips of North Dakotas in Badland, the rough surface is porous with uneven layers and an earthy palate made of sand, stone, mud and dust.
The Rammed Earth technology is an archaic, with signs of its use, which already 5000 BC.
The last time the technology attracted the attention of the North Dakotan, was the 1930s when the work for the work and Colonel Paul Southworth Bliss in the southwest of North Dakota used it as a fire -proof and efficient means of home building, as an upcoming book by Jim Fuglie and Lillian Crook emerged.
Rammed Earth technology has recently gained a new popularity due to its environmentally friendly, sustainable processes and energy-efficient properties, but until last year, when Winns Construction took the challenge in Dickinson, there was no such large-scale ramming map in the state.
Willie Winn, the owner of the concrete company, and Kenny Jessop, a Winn supervisor who supervised the project spent her entire career in the construction business, but the Rammed Earth technology was new for her.
In order to better understand the present task, Winn and his team traveled to visit large walls with a public ramming in Cheyenne and Sheridan, Wyoming. A consultant was introduced to determine the critical recipe for the mixture that is used for the project as part of the learning process.
After that, the Winn team was alone to build the heart of the interior of the library.
“It really started in our business in Dickinson,” said Jessop. “We started with a 10 -foot model wall.”
Winn said a lot of attempt and error had determined the certain formula for the earthen mixture of the wall.
Tasha Carvell
The team almost immediately realized that the local gravel that they used had too much moisture, which required the construction of a temporary structure on site to dry them.
The process of building the wall is a special and labor -intensive. Jessop described how shapes were first placed in which the gravel mixture would be poured. Rebar came in the middle to strengthen the wall. Then the gravel was mixed with 10% cement with different quantities of pigment to reach the colored layers and a small amount of water in order to create the respective ramming formula.
After the corresponding mixture had been reached, it was fed by a snail mixer to a truck-assembled sponsor or telebelt, which was placed for concrete and other materials in difficulty or increased places. From there the mix was poured into the shapes. For safety reasons, the team worked on four feet wall, said Jessop.
“Every layer you see was placed and compressed individually. First, it is given in about 12-inch layers of the consistency of a good street base,” said Jessop. After that, the mixture in the final eight-inch layer was closely compressed or rammed.
The construction of the library's Rammed Earth walls lasted a 15-member crew, which had completed a little more than three months and about 12,000 men, Jessop said. Two million pounds were used.
When Winn speaks about the role of the local company, which he founded in 1981, speaks of the nuclear design of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, he gives the opportunity as a “privilege”.
Jenn Carroll, the manager of the sustainability of the library, described the Winn Construction team “really wise” in the way they approached the discouraging job.
Anna Paige / The Forum
“From the perspective of the owner, it is really important to note that Willie and his team's willingness to take over this piece of the project,” said Carroll. “We are incredibly grateful because this is a big piece of what we do and they were ready to learn this new craft. When we withdraw the shapes for the first time, I think that there were some celebrations for all of us, because there is only a stunning and pretty special thing that a local handicrafts do this and do not have to do this outside of our region.”
While the wall is not a structural element of the building, it serves an important role in sustainability, said Carroll.
“It will help with our energy to maintain the warmth in winter, keep the room cool in summer and help with moisture and moisture in the air,” said Carroll. “Since it is a kind of porous element, the air quality in the inner air is improved. While it has some aesthetic values, there is much more purpose behind the wall itself.”
“People will go in this lobby and it will be the show stopper,” said Carroll.