2009-02-05

Fun with Google Sketchup: CCCKC Floorplans

Pretty much from the get-go, I've been ready to help as needed with CCCKC's build-out and design team. On Tuesday, we took a tour of the new space to get a feel for how we'd try to set it up. I went to work creating what I saw in my mind's eye, using Google Sketchup. At this evening's meeting, I went ahead and presented it to the attendees. I got a lot of good input from everyone, and came away with a few really good ideas. There's a lot of work to be done.

Here's a photo from the loading dock entrance (all the parking we can use is above ground, but I walked in through the cave entry this evening)


Here's what I came up with in Sketchup. There are tons of free 3D Models for furniture and appliances. I love it. The space is about 1,400 square feet, and the space is almost a perfect square, divided into four rooms. I was just guessing when I drew the walls into place on Tuesday night, but tonight I confirmed that my guesses were close enough.


The main room will be the primary meeting place for affiliate organizations. I see this room needing a lot of flexibility. This is kind of what the space could look like when you enter. The green wall shown above probably won't work exactly like that. We'll probably try to get a pull-down green screen and a projector screen and mount it near the front of the room.


Easily-moved tables and nesting or folding chairs will be a major bonus here. It can be wide-open for social events, the tables forming an island for user-group meetings, or arranged into classroom-like rows for seminars, for example. From the front of the meeting room, it could look something like this.


The room near the front of the meeting room will be telecom, material storage, and the home of the CCCKC Library: a shared pool of books, manuals, movies, and other media. There will be a full-height telecom rack (not enclosed) and probably a half-height server cage, even though I used a full-size model in this rendering.


The middle room will be the workshop. There will be at least one full-size workbench and a table. This will likely be filled out with things like a band saw, drill press and soldering stations. We might even see about fitting a drafting table in here.


I am envisioning the "kitchen" area being a social hub with at least one sofa, a TV, and definitely some game consoles. It'll be a good place to chill after working on something in the workshop, and maybe a good place to take a nap if you find yourself staying in the hacker cave until the wee hours of the morning working on stuff.


Right now, though, it's just four rooms with some old office furniture.

That brings us to a few important points:
There are some things we already have or that members are already donating: The 2-pot coffee maker, TV, consoles, shelving, the server/telecom racks, fridge and a few old crappy desks.

Things we really need. If you have any of these in Kansas City and feel like donating, we could use this stuff:

  • Classroom tables
  • Folding or nesting chairs
  • Sofa
  • Workbench
  • Pull-down Green Screen / Projector screen
  • Projector
  • Also, for the love of all things good, pick up a MacBook raffle ticket - It'll help cover rent and operating expenses for the future. Raffle closes March 1!

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