Tool Storage, Owl Classroom - UW-Milwaukee: Children's Learning Center

 

The school-age classroom known as "Owl Room" of the Winter Wing at the CLC had, for a long time, a small carpentry component to teaching and instructing their children.  All of the tools were either kept stored away in the crowded teacher's office or on a very small work bench in a vacant corner of the classroom.  The decision was made to create a more permanent fixture for the scattered Owl Room tools.

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The shelving system has rotating casters underneath for ease of movement, but also for ease of child engagement.  The cabinet can rotate in-place 360 degrees to allow quick access to whatever tools or materials may be needed.

 

The interior of the cabinet is used primarily for large tools and wood storage while the exterior pegboard provides more than enough space for the various hand tools the children have access to.  The interior shelves are removable should the need for more space arise.

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The cabinet is constructed of mostly reclaimed and imperfect wood, to help inspire students, but also assembled via multiple concealed channels that were carefully cut into the vertical main supports.  The pegboard and plywood backing were installed into these sawn slots to allow for a stronger structure that reinforces the cabinet without the need for excessive fasteners.

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The overall project timeline was approximately 1 month and was completed in the early Winter of 2015.