undergraduate architecture design porftolio
DESCRIPTION
selective collection of undergraduate design projectsTRANSCRIPT
AUSTA THOMAS
Undergraduate Architecture Portfolio 2013
Biomimicry Research Pavilion 4
Gastronomy Center 8
Ferry Terminal 12
Winery 16
Rehabilitation and Wellness Center 20
An Escape in the City 22
Biomimicry Research Pavilionfourth year design
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Client: Kent State University College of Biology and College of TechnologyLocation: Kent State Campus, Wetland Reserve
The design objective was to fabricate a highly sus-tainable research pavilion to be utilized by students, faulty, and guests as a space for education, ex-ploration and hands-on discovery.
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This prefabricated, 800 sqft research pavilion is designed to ensure maximum sustainability through passive strategies to accommodate the energy, water, heating, cooling and light-ing loads necessary for functionality. The pre-fabricated design ensures a tightly sealed envelope and eliminates construction waste. The exterior facade is sheathed in kliptech ecloclad siding, made 100% of recycled mate-rials. The south facing facade of the pavilion is primarily a double pane curtain wall that al-lows for operable control on the bottom most panels. This user control allows for the primary southwest winds to enter the space, circulating the air up and out through exhaust vents lo-cated along the peaked elevation of the roof. The hot waste air gathers in this elevated area naturally, passively venting and cooling the space. Along front of the curtain wall is a sys-tem of louvers coated in a tinted photovoltaic film to collect solar energy. The louvers are also operable in allowing the user to control their positioning to either maximize or minimize the amount of direct solar penetration. Addition-ally, there are photovoltaic panels alongside the upmost portion of the southern roof exten-sion. The eastern facade, which faces out to the wetland reserve, is highlighted by double pane bifolding glass doors which allow for unin-hibited views, circulation, and an extension of interior space when fully opened. The western facade showcases a light shelf awning to both shade and provide daylighting in the after-noon hours. The roof of the structure has a hid-den slope to allow for water collection which is treated on site and distributed in the pavilion.
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Gastronomy Centerthird year design
Client: City of FlorenceLocation: Florence, Toscana, Italy
Piazza Annigoni lies adjacent to the Sant’Ambrogio market. A conceptual design to utilize the empty piazza as the home for a Gastronomy Center to be utilized with public spaces while also facilitating a culi-nary arts school was proposed. The piazza’s only use was pe-destrian foot traffic linking the residential portion of the city to the main metropolitan area. The structures were designed to enhance the user’s onsite journey by positioning and forming a directional path for the pedestrians, creating an or-der and purpose to their travel, while also creating an ease of function within the constraints of the program.
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This diagramatic view of the city of Florence displays the density of the city blocks in white, revealing the minmal open spaces in black, further emphasizing the importance of the piazza.
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1. reading area2. book store/cafe3. restaurant4. culinary school kitchens5. tasting6. auditorium7. classrooms/offices
ground level
upper level
Ferry Terminalthird year design
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Client: Cleveland Department of TransportationLocation: Cleveland, Ohio
The city of Cleveland has realis-tically proposed a ferry route to Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada. Utilizing the vacant water-front lot behind the Cleveland Browns stadium. My design of the ferry terminal with its park-ing garage is part of a com-plementary new urban space promoting the union of green space with the metropolitan scenery.
Ground level: shops, boutiques
Top level: customs, restaurant, boarding
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The urban park offers a new boardwalk for public dock-ing, open green spaces, built up seating and the opportu-nity for relaxation and ob-servation as well as ease of activity.
Winerythird year design
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Client: Chalet Debonne VineyardLocation: Madison, Ohio
My design intention for the pro-posed new facility of the exist-ing Debonne Vineyard Winery in Northeast Ohio was to educate and engage the user. The entire wine making process is put on display from the fermentation to the bottling of the final product behind a full length glass partition, paired with an observation logia to allow for complete unobstruct-ed viewing of the wine processing. Two tasting rooms are situated at an elevated level, reached by a ramping system creating an ease of movement between the two rooms intended to promote an abundance of social interaction.
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Parking is arranged in front of the building while the acres of grape vines are situated at the back.
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1. entry2. restaurant3. kitchen4. offices/employee area5. barrel storage6. restrooms7. information8. gift shop9. outdoor patio/bar10. tasting room11. tasting room12. observation logia13. fermentation14. processing15. bottling
Rehabilitation and Wellness Centersecond year design
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The design of the rehabili-tation and wellness center in the University Hospital block of Cleveland is pro-grammatically arranged to induce a purification of mind, body, and spirit through progression of the facility. The program includes squash courts, indoor and outdoor pools, yoga studios, saunas, ice baths, hot tubs, etc. all for the use of health, wellness, and physical rehabilita-tion.
Client: University HospitalsLocation: Cleveland, Ohio
Recreation|Recovery|Repair|Regeneration
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An Escape in the Cityfirst year design
“moments in time”
introduction to sec-
tion drawings
first exercise in
sectional draw-
ings. understanding
the significance
of displaying
separate scenarios,
individual moments
in time, utilizing a
section drawings to
demonstrate spe-
cific architectural
features.
In this first year design exploration, we were en-couraged to experiment with forms (instance to the left) that were visually ap-pealing, to be translated into a functional program. This abstract exercise of analyzing possibilities through forms, surfaces, textures, and spaces inspired the methodol-ogy of understanding the process of design from a preliminary architectural viewpoint. This project set the precedence for my understanding of the design process. The final product wasn’t nearly as important as the process to get there,
“Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know we may not know where we’re going , but we will know we want to be there” --Bruce Mau
Intent: sectional investigations of spaceObjective: through sectional and analytical exploration pro-vide an architectural construct; a place that embodies your clients passions; residenceClient: Individual who is both restrained and has an appre-ciation for occasional indul-gence. passions include health and well-being, culinary artsSite: the client has acquired three connecting properties in a thriving metropolitan city. site is between two existing three story historic buildings
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personal photography and drawings
AUSTA THOMAS