SteelMaster Buildings

Update: Urban Hen’s SteelMaster Chicken Coops

The following article provides an update about the Urban Hen’s SteelMaster Chicken Coops…

Metal Buildings Hen Picked for Community-Based Project

For those struggling with the metaphorical question—which came first, the chicken or the egg?—the answer is nigh for some folks living in Boulder, CO: it’s neither the chicken nor the egg; it’s metal.

The Children, Youth, and Environments Center for Research and Design at the University of Colorado has collaborated with Boulder County Going Local and the Institute for Intentionally Sustainable Neighborhoods to launch Urban Hens in Boulder.

The Urban Hens project seeks to develop a sustainable model for establishing chickens in urban settings.  Backyard chickens can provide a healthy, local food source and bring a not-so-new dimension to homes, schools, and communities seeking sustainability. The goal of the three organizations is to strengthen and enhance communities through collaboration, education, and sustainable solutions.  

The sustainable solution used to house the hens is a prefabricated arched structure made of corrugated metal, designed to offer people room to stand inside for easy access to the five-plus birds that are kept in the metal pole barn.

“My students decided to investigate prefabrication, and combined with our historic precedent research, we quickly discovered Quonset huts,” says Rob Pyatt, who teaches the university’s Environmental Design students about basic design, construction systems, and community engagement. “We also liked the material efficiency with using a relatively light-gauge steel combined with the structural stability of the geometry (arch).”

The first Urban Hens metal barn building, which was built in Pyatt’s backyard, took three weekends to construct. During this time, Pyatt walked his student crew step-by-step through the construction process. “That {time frame} is based on what we are teaching—slab, metal, framing, etc.,” says Pyatt. “It’s pretty simple and efficient! We worked with SteelMaster Buildings (based in Virginia Beach, VA) to create the buildings, which are elegant and have been well received.”

The metal barn is equipped with horizontal wooden slats which provide both shade and ventilation. Sand covers the floor for easy clean up, and the fully-enclosed structure is firmly bolted to a concrete slab so it will not tip over.

Outside of Pyatt’s backyard, Urban Hens recently installed its first two coops, one at Shawnee Gardens assisted-living center in Boulder and one at a North Boulder cooperative residential community. They have grant funding for three more coops, one of which is planned for Park Hill Elementary School in Denver. The student crew is scheduled to start the installation in mid-September at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art as part of a three-month exhibition. Once that has concluded, the coop will be relocated to the elementary school.

Urban Hens plans to design and sell chicken-coop kits across the country based on Pyatt and his students’ design, with proceeds allowing them to donate built coops to low-income neighborhoods and community organizations.

By Brenda H. Welch (freelance writer and editor living in Hampton Roads, VA.)