Brian MacKay-Lyons’ independently organized Ghost Laboratory is an architectural education centre in the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin or Samuel Mockbee’s Rural Studio. It hosted students from all corners of the globe for hands-on design and build projects, which were informed by the reading of landscape and embraced material culture.
‍
The development began as Ghost Design/Build Laboratory in 1994, when Brian, frustrated with the state of architectural education, pulled his Dalhousie University students out of the school for a two-week design/build. Ghost Lab continued for twelve successive years, culminating in an international conference that brought together builders, architects, students, and the local community. The spirit of collaboration and community engagement born from Ghost has given way to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Today, Shobac Campus is the centre of a community and way of working that holds at its core the values gleaned from Ghost: that of collaboration, economy as ethic, and the critical study of vernacular building practice.
‍
The permanent structures which now occupy Shobac Campus among the ruins – tower, studio, cabins, and barn – are, in part, products of the design/build curriculum itself. They both provide accommodation for the program and a venue for community events.
‍
Each component started as a two-week project from design to foundation to sheathing. The tower, which marks the south corner of the courtyard, and the barn are sited just outside the fence and are built on wood post foundations. The studio and four cabins inside the fence are heated structures on concrete foundations. Each of the cabins is a 700 square foot, two-bedroom structure comprised of a “servant’ box and a “served” shed, clad in eastern cedar shingles. The 90-foot long, metal clad studio is dominated by a 40-foot worktable and a 72-foot totemic cedar cabinet. The 72-foot barn contains an equipment shed and free stalls for horses, while creating a second working courtyard.
‍
The resulting campus is an expression of utopian architectural ambitions despite being constructed with modest means. From an environmental perspective, the campus is a relatively dense compound, conserving the surrounding landscape for agriculture. The courtyard makes a south-facing microclimate which compliments the passive solar structures. All structures are constructed of local technology and local renewable materials from nearby sawmills. The court refers both to the environmental common sense of the simple barnyard, and a proto-urban aspiration. By “listening” to the site’s rich history and local material culture traditions, yet “willing” buildings which are clearly modern, the Ghost Lab is a built critical regionalist argument.
‍
The spirit of the Ghost Laboratory remains in the Ghost Residency; a competitive internship for graduate architects to participate in all aspects of the design process as well as daily chores at the farm with Brian.
‍
The spirit of the Ghost Laboratory also persists within the Free Labs; design-build initiatives facilitated by Dalhousie University's School of Architecture. These labs serve as a platform for students to gain hands-on experience in addressing construction, performance, and material considerations in design projects. Talbot, an Associate Professor at Dalhousie, lead three award-winning Free Lab projects including Refuge on the Bay of Fundy, Refuge II, and Prospect. Shane Andrews and Miranda Bailey were also instrumental in the success of these projects.