Sassafras Mountain is one of the most unique sites in the state of South Carolina being its highest point in elevation at 3553'. This location became the site for our design+build project in the Fall of 2012 semester through the collaboration between the Community Research+Design Center and the south carolina Department of natural resources. 
This project had several goals. The first was to replace an existing lookout platform with one that would ensure the safety of visitors and increase the accessibility to one of the states most extraordinary views. The second goal was to raise awareness for the ongoing Saffasras Mountain Renewal Project. This viewing platform, became the first part of the overall master-plan for Sassafras Mountain.
The design of this platform was meant to be extraordinary, and yet secondary to the beauty of the view itself and the surrounding wilderness, This wilderness became a powerful obstacle in the projects construction. The entire platform was prefabricated off-site and then moved to the remote location to be assembled. The assembly process included custom steel fabrication, combined with dimensional lumber construction in order to achieve a creative solution to this particular design problem. 
the success of the project has brought a great amount of attention to the Sassafras Mountain Renewal Project. The final design of the master plan, as well as an 80 ft tower is currently underway.

Course - Design/Build Studio
Professors - Dan Harding, Paul Russell
Partners - Nick Barrett, Thomas Punzo, Priyanka Vankina
Completion - 2012

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