A few notes on portfolio pages

Please take a moment to check out some of my portfolio pages, including a mix of student and professional work. Much of the project information on the professional work has been removed for reasons of privacy, copyright, etc. here on the internet. Text has been removed from the pages and is listed below the images for increased legibility at this scale.

Community Pool – St. Louis, MO – Fraser – Fall 2004

Community Pool - St. Louis, MO - Fraser - Fall 2004

This community pool transitions across a major grade change on a mostly open site.  The visitor enters the pool at upper level, proceeding to the pool through the lobby or through locker rooms at either side of the lobby. The pool enclosure is grounded on each corner – a sauna at one end and a children’s pool at the other.  Thin tall windows in each concrete structure mimic the vertical mullions in the curtain wall.

At night, light radiates out from the main glass structure, acting as a lantern on the site. The glow from the narrow windows defines the substructures more subtly.

3D in Revit; Diagram in PhotoShop

Art Center and Urban Tree Farm – St. Louis, MO – Thomson – Spring 2005

Art Center and Urban Tree Farm - St. Louis, MO - Thomson - Spring 2005

Serving as both an art center for underserved children in St. Louis and an urban tree farm, this project reclaims a city block currently populated by abandoned homes. The block is anchored by classrooms on one corner with a pathway to a performance and exhibition center on the diagonal corner. The other two corners provide housing for artists-in-residence and community members. Along the pathway across the site are rows of trees for future planting for the revitalization of downtown St. Louis, as well as seating and play areas, and a community garden.

Model/Renders in Rhino/Flamingo

Design-Build – DESIGN – University City, MO – Safe – Fall 2005

Design-Build - DESIGN - University City, MO - Safe - Fall 2005,

This design-build project transformed a traffic island next to a post office into a shaded sitting area, enjoyed by those walking through or driving around. We had relatively few guidelines – a permanent memorial to be enjoyed as public space by the residents of University City, a material budget of ten thousand dollars, and sixteen weeks to design, obtain permits and city approvals, and build the project. The donor simply asked us to “make something beautiful.”

I explored how a curved, dynamic shape could be made from straight wood members, then collaborated with my classmates to come up with a design. The donor and the city mayor selected this design to be built.

Design-Build – BUILD – University City, MO – Safe – Fall 2005

Design-Build - BUILD - University City, MO - Safe - Fall 2005

From digging holes and pouring concrete piers to planing and cutting the redwood to tightening the last screws, the team constructed the entire project in about six weeks.

Design-Build – Detailing – University City, MO – Safe – Fall 2005

Design-Build - DETAIL - University City, MO - Safe - Fall 2005

The jump from balsa wood concept to finished structure required the design and fabrication of a custom bracket. I designed a bracket that held the wood members off the ground while directing them to intersect at set points to create the hyperbolic parabaloid section. The Y-shaped bracket attached one member that angled to the right on the outer side to another member angling opposite on the inner side. All main structural members were predrilled to allow for precise field assembly.

Detailing in AutoCAD

Rest Stop – Wright City, MO – Hancock – Spring ‘06

Rest Stop - Wright City, MO - Hancock - Spring ‘06

A roadside rest stop is a delicate balance of privacy – maintained by obscuring vision – and security – by permitting vision. Through the use of a variety of transparent, translucent, and opaque materials at varying heights and by moving the user through the angled entrance, both privacy and security are attained. Physical separation in conjunction with visual integration of the two restrooms at the entrances are both a recognition and a subversion of the binary gender system.

3D in Rhino/Flamingo

Building Systems – Donnelly – Spring 2005

Building Systems - Donnelly - Spring 2005

The building systems course allowed me to reexamine my summer internship experiences and the classes I took for my structural engineering minor through the lens of building technology. Ultimately, the material learned in building systems allowed me to further enrich my studio projects, applying building tectonics to concept development.

Course lectures were supplemented with building construction tours of a variety of structures. Following each tour was a building section assignment. The drawing at right is for a new building on the Medical Campus at Washington University. In this project, I deduced – from section outlines, lectures, and research – the composition of the wall structure. I then drafted the section as a cut isometric drawing.

Drafting in AutoCAD

Office Building – San Juan, Puerto Rico

Office Building - San Juan, Puerto Rico - © CH2M HILL

When I was approached by my mentor to design an office building for a leading domestic ocean shipping and logistics company, several challenges were clear. The client had instructed the project manager to design a glass building for their offices in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Keeping the building cool without exceeding energy code requirements and withstanding the threat of hurricanes and strong winds demanded that I work closely with mechanical and structural engineers, as well as glass and curtain wall manufacturers, to create a high performing system. Programmatic challenges included separating and directing different types of clientele, ranging from truck drivers to shipping managers, to appropriate areas of the building for customer service without compromising security.

Working as architectural lead, drafter, and day-to-day project manager, I designed the building, completed construction documents for architectural, structural and building services disciplines, and led weekly coordination meetings, involving managers from all disciplines in quality control of the project throughout the design.

3D in SketchUp, CAD in MicroStation

Courtyard Marriott – BWI location and prototyping

Courtyard Marriott - BWI - © CORE 2007, © Marriott International 2007

This redefinition of the Courtyard Marriott brand through the redesign of the lobby began in the Fair Oaks and Baltimore-Washington International Airport locations. After working on construction documents for the Fair Oaks location, I synthesized a variety of design directions to create a cohesive design for the BWI lobby, working at all scales.

From the final designs at the Fair Oaks and BWI locations, I worked on incorporating elements of the two designs into a set of guidelines for application in four “generations” of Courtyard Marriott lobbies. These guidelines will dictate the redesign of over 700 lobby locations across the country.

Check out the progress of the roll out at gocourtyard.com

3D in ArchiCAD/Artlantis

Apartment Building – Master Plan and Building Concept

Apartment Building - Master Plan and Building Concept - © CORE 2007-08

I designed the conceptual master plans and building plans for a 220,000 square foot apartment building outside DC, for a developer who owned most of the block. The building is wedged to bring it closer to the street and extend the existing rear courtyard. The area bordering the hotel is low, allowing hotel guests views of the city and for sunlight to enter the courtyard and fitness facility. The lower rooftop also provides space for building amenities.

CAD in ArchiCAD; 3D in ArchiCAD/Artlantis

Office Building Renovation – Main Lobby & Elevator Lobby

Office Building Renovation - Main Lobby & Elevator Lobby - © CORE 2008

I developed the design for the main lobby and elevator lobbies for the Bureau of Prisons building in Washington, DC. In addition to an aesthetic renovation and modernization, the lobby needed a layout to direct the flow of staff and visitors entering the building according to various security requirements.

With all departments relocating as a result of the building’s renovation, way-finding became a central issue in the design of the elevator lobby. Graphics assisted in both directionally orienting the user and denoting the floor and its residing departments.

3D in ArchiCAD/Artlantis

Cell Phone Flagship Store

Cell Phone Flagship Store - Puerto Rico - © CORE 2008

I developed this concept for a flagship retail store for Centennial Puerto Rico working with an interior designer. I also created the graphics and layouts for the project proposal. The design is based on the concept of continuous flow between work and play, between colleagues, family, and friends. The Centennial brand focuses on the seamlessness of modern life in its branding, and the store’s fluid forms and open plan reflect this continuity. The store flows from the entry into five zones of activity foci – socialize, shop, sales, service, and support.

3D in ArchiCAD