The MakerBarn

The MakerBarn is a small group of people, from various backgrounds, all looking for the same thing: a place to build a makerspace in the South Montgomery County area. The question was: Where? There are no giant empty warehouses, such as one might find in downtown Houston. So where could we find a place to stock with equipment, a place the rent would be low enough to make the venture possible? Along came Extraordinary Education. Extraordinary Education is a co-op school located on five acres just south of The Woodlands. There's a large house that has been converted to schoolrooms, and three temporary buildings with 2 classrooms each. But there was also a barn. The horses are long gone and for the last ten years the barn has been used primarily for storage. Why not turn the barn into a makerspace, a MakerBarn? For far less than it would cost for a single year's rent of warehouse space, we could rebuild the barn into an excellent makerspace of nearly 4,000 square feet. Downstairs includes the shop area, consisting of a high quality woodworking shop and machine shop. Air conditioning was added to the shop areas in Summer 2017. One of the outer bays contains a welding shop. Upstairs is an air-conditioned and very clean science and technology center. The center has workbenches where fine crafts and hobbies such as electronics, robotics, leatherwork, jewelry making and other work can be done. Equipment such as 3D printers, laser engravers, and a vinyl cutter are also available. Finally, there is a social area with a widescreen TV and computer where people can relax and share ideas.

The MakerBarn is a small group of people, from various backgrounds, all looking for the same thing: a place to build a makerspace in the South Montgomery County area. The question was: Where? There are no giant empty warehouses, such as one might find in downtown Houston. So where could we find a place to stock with equipment, a place the rent would be low enough to make the venture possible? Along came Extraordinary Education. Extraordinary Education is a co-op school located on five acres just south of The Woodlands. There's a large house that has been converted to schoolrooms, and three temporary buildings with 2 classrooms each. But there was also a barn. The horses are long gone and for the last ten years the barn has been used primarily for storage. Why not turn the barn into a makerspace, a MakerBarn? For far less than it would cost for a single year's rent of warehouse space, we could rebuild the barn into an excellent makerspace of nearly 4,000 square feet. Downstairs includes the shop area, consisting of a high quality woodworking shop and machine shop. Air conditioning was added to the shop areas in Summer 2017. One of the outer bays contains a welding shop. Upstairs is an air-conditioned and very clean science and technology center. The center has workbenches where fine crafts and hobbies such as electronics, robotics, leatherwork, jewelry making and other work can be done. Equipment such as 3D printers, laser engravers, and a vinyl cutter are also available. Finally, there is a social area with a widescreen TV and computer where people can relax and share ideas.