Carter Terrace Apartments is one of 30 residential complexes developed and implemented by Mercy Housing, a national non-profit organization which provides low-income housing for families, seniors, and those in need. Carter Terrace has a very limited operating budget with only a small portion allocated to supporting the youth center.

The youth center was filled with haphazard furniture and lacked effective storage solutions to accommodate the educational and recreational materials necessary to the functions of the space. It was considered by those who work there to be a hindrance to the aims of the center and needed to be redressed.

The youth center at Carter Terrace Apartments was fortunate enough to receive a wealth of donations for the amusement and education of their young residents. Unfortunately, the collection of dissimilar shelves where not able to accommodate the growing collection of board games, art supplies, and educational materials.

This overflow of stored items caused precious floorspace to be taken up by crates and piles, effecting flow through the space and minimizing valuable work area.

Due to the changing nature of the storage problems at Carter Terrace Apartments, a modular shelving system was determined as the best solution to handle the various-sized objects. 

Multiple forms of modular shelving were explored, resulting in 2:1 rectangles (also called Dynamic Rectangles) as the optimal combination of versatility, surface area, and connectivity.

After a 2:1 rectangle was determined as the most optimum solution for a modular shelving system, models were created in SketchUp to determine final dimensions, placement of fastener holes, and finish details such as the interior round-over.

Each unit would measure 1'x2' and holes for the sex bolts would be placed an equal 6" from each corner to ensure that they could be connected in a variety of ways. A forstner bit would be used on the interior of the holes so the head of the sex bolt could sit below the face of the shelf, eliminating the chance for heads to cause damage due to sliding.

Through my work experience in furniture construction and installation, I became aware of a particular fastener called a sex bolt (also known as a barrel bolt, Chicago screw, or partition screw) that is typically used to join the sides of casegoods together. The wide head and interlocking nature of the sex bolt made it the perfect choice to join the modular elements of my shelving units together snugly while only using two common Philips #2 screwdrivers.

The purpose of the simple, modular elements of the shelving system was to easily allow Carter Terrace Apartments to reconfigure the shelving units as they saw fit in order to adapt to their changing needs. Assembly options were created in SketchUp to explore possible configurations of the finished shelf.

To allow the shelving system to reach standing height and possibly span objects in the room, such as the TV, it was decided that 20 units would be made from 3/4" plywood. The sheets of plywood were selected based on the quality of the exterior veneer and were cut down to size on the table saw.

The interior edge of the panels were given a 1/2" roundover and the edges were mitered to 45° on the table saw. The mitered edges were glued together and finished with a pneumatic pin nailer from both faces to ensure a fully supported joint. Corner clamps were used to ease the assembly process.

The assembled boxes were sanded and finished with Danish Oil to bring out the grain of the wood and provide a light protection to the shelving units that would be easy to maintain over time.

After further discussion with the representatives for the Carter Terrace youth center, a rolling cart was designed for mobile art supplies to be used outside but stored inside.

The rolling cart was constructed to similar proportions as the shelving units so that it could be stored within the footprint of the installed shelving unit array.

The rolling cart was finished with similar details as the shelving units and attention to precise joinery methods were focused on because of the aesthetic role they would play in such a minimal piece.

The finished shelving units and fasteners were delivered to the youth center at Carter Terrace Apartments and assembled to suit existing elements such as the large TV and rolling carts. The height provided by the units allowed the plastic crates that were previously littering the floor to be placed alongside each other on the top surface of the assemble shelving unit.

Bins and labeled baskets were used in order to further organize miscellaneous items and boardgames could be easily stored in the horizontal units so they could remain flat and easily visible.

The operators of the youth center were grateful to have a reasonable solution to their storage concerns and were even discussing design events for the children to come up with new ways of configuring the shelving units.

The rolling cart fits perfectly under the cantilevered side of the assembled shelving units and allows for immediate access from the door outside (to the left of the picture) as well as any space in the interior that it may be needed. 

The 1/2" roundover on the interior of the shelving units creates a pleasant curve when mounted together that reduces potentially harmful sharp edges and adds to the overall cohesion of the assembled piece.