ARCH 193
Design Studio
Modern Micro-Institutions
1100 sq. m
Raglan Avenue and St Clair Avenue West Toronto, ON, Canada
At the start of this project we were asked to create a drawing showing what we believed to be the ideal library; for me, a wall of books with access to the highest shelf (above). We then had to turn this idea into an actual library, on a ‘junk’ site located in Toronto along St. Clair Avenue West. These sites were little-used parking lots in densely populated areas, and we were to revitalize them by creating a ‘micro-institution’ for the public.
Site Context
My design for a bright, open public space utilizes skylights and an open space down the center of the building to recreate the feeling of old university libraries in a more modern setting.
The catwalk passageways around the void house the library’s adult and non-fiction collections and workspaces, and the larger covered platforms become an area for people to meet and study together. On the first floor, this covered area houses the check out area and library office.
In the basement is an atruim for larger meetings, which provides a stage for various events. Movie showings, performances, town meetings, and improv games could all be held here. This floor also houses the children’s collection and reading space.
Structural
The building’s wood columns separate the bookshelves and workspaces, providing the structure for the shelves and desks. They also provide some privacy between people working at the desks, and browsing the shelves. Lighting will also be run in the space between the two wood halves of the columns, and the exposed floor beams.
The facade screen provides shade, privacy and interest for those inside and outside the library.
ARCH 193 Design Studio
Junk
Co-Authors: Anastasia Jaffray, Magdalena Kaczmarczyk, Sarah Mason
1380 sq. m
Warnock Street Cambridge, ON, Canada
At the start of this project each student was asked to prepare a sketch design of a small, prefabricated dwelling space, focusing on one significant quality or fragment of the building. We had one week, then the professors chose from these designs their favourites and assigned one to each newly formed group of four. We were then assigned a site near the university, and told to chose one other project to combine with the one assigned to us. These are shown in the first panel. We then had to turn these fragments into a cohesive apartment building, whose size was determined by the site. As a group, we worked well together and handled any conflicting ideas without issue.
Chosen Project - Sylvie Wang
Our design aims to maximize private outdoor space for each apartment. On the ground floor, this task was easily accomplished with deck space and access to the garden areas. On the second floor, terrace balconies give four of the seven apartments private outdoor space, enclosed by the bubble facade and screens between each unit. The third floor units have the largest balconies at the front, and the only rear outdoor space.
Each of the units has a different layout, designed to accomodate many different tennants. From easily accessible ground floor units, to the larger two bedroom third floor units, there is a space for most small families, renters, downsizers, and first time owners. The open layout allows people to bring their own touch to the units, making them feel more like home.
Part of the inspiration for this design was to accomodate newly arrived refugees and expatriots, as temporary accomodation while they settle in to a new country and community.
North Section
Structural Axonometric
ARCH 192 Design Studio Artist’s Studio
160 sq. m
Concession Street and Warnock Street Cambridge, ON, Canada
The final project for the 1A Design Studio was to design an artist’s studio and residence to be loaned out to visiting artists as a place to live and work. The site is local to the university, along the Grand River in Cambridge, Ontario. Because of this, the flooding of the river had to be taken into consideration in our designs. My design is for a potter’s studio, including a kiln room and mixing room, and separate living accommodations. The project was fully hand drafted and modelled, and has since been digitally remastered.
Site Plan
My building is designed to protrude from the hillside, allowing the public to access the existing park and incorporating benches and gardens onto the green roof. The eastern façade connects to the park and the beautiful Grand River through a row of windows, with doors that open onto a semiprivate deck. The living spaces are mostly open, with the bedroom and bathroom in a more private area. The work area can also be completely closed off from the living space, to prevent mess and to ventilate the workroom when necessary. There is also a separate kiln and glaze mixing room, which can be fully ventilated when in use.
ARCH 126 Environmental Design
OASIS: Off-Grid Research Station
Co-Author: Maria Smirnova
200 sq. m
51°54’31.4”N 176°33’23.8”W
Adak, Alaska
United States of America
Working in the field, performing research, necessarily takes place in locations where standard urban services such as energy supply, water supply and sewage are not available. Many researchers need to perform their tasks for longer periods of time, and in locations where the weather is severe, making “tenting” or temporary lightweight accommodation unfeasible. An Oasis speaks to architectural invention whose purpose is to create sublime comfort and the sensual experience of space, much more than mediation or correction of the exterior environment, much more than shelter, beyond program requirements and function. Our OASIS project additionally is seeking to do all of this in an “unplugged” building.
Building shape and materials were chosen from cylindrically shaped structures called Quonset huts which are easily constructed on site, or prefabricated before hand and put in place. The light-colored wood paneling underneath the main structure provides easy airflow through the under passage, as well as a screen for the columns and the utility room.
Our plan is open concept so that the users of the house may customize program of the space as they wish or see fit for the usage of their research and general living while at their stay at the research station.
The research lab is in a prime spot for biological studies of species in the surrounding region of the Alaskan islands. Including species of sea otters (endangered), squid, giant octopi, elephant seals, and seabirds.
The lab may also be used for Astronomers, due to the very low light emissions in the area, as well as for geologists looking to study the volcanos in the encompassing seismic region.
Section A
Wall Sections
Active Systems
Our primary energy generation will come from wind turbines. The island of Adak is mostly a tundra, and the location we have chosen for our research station is on a small peninsula, exposed to sea winds. The site is large and isolated, the perfect location for a wind farm. The electricity produced here could also be fed into the island’s main grid. The energy produced for the research station will be stored in batteries on site, in the utility room under the main living area.
In addition, the building will utilize solar water heating panels and some photovoltaic panels on the south curvature. The storage tank for the hot water is located in the utility room, as is the converter and battery for the PV system.
Adak receives 61.5 inches of rainfall annually, as well as 99 inches of snowfall. The building has a series of collection gutters for precipitation, and a storage tank in the utility room. This water will be processed to become clean drinking water. Additionally, there will be a grey water treatment system in use. These systems will help the research station to strive towards a goal of net zero water.
ARCH 173 Building Construction
Assemblage
Co-Author: Maria Smirnova
180 sq. m
47°37’02.9”N, 52°39’16.9”W
St. John’s, Newfoundland Canada
Submitted to the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC) Architecture Student Design Competition.
Assemblage is an invitation for students to explore architectural connections, be they connections between context and structure, or the connections that allow an assemblage of materials and structural elements to come together to form a structural whole. In that sense, the 2016-2017 CISC Architectural Design Competition invites students to explore the utilization of steel as the primary structural element that makes an assemblage possible.
Students are challenged to design a structure that explores ‘assemblage’ on a site of the designers’ choosing. While the purpose and scale are left to the discretion of the designer, it is important to focus on what it means for us to engage and experience assemblage. The structural focus must utilize exposed steel as a primary structural material, but otherwise, the material palette is open.
Our Design
As GPS and Radar technologies have become more popular, lighthouses have become less necessary. However, all technologies can fail, and lighthouses can be a life saving feature to a difficult coastline. Many lighthouses are also a point of pride for local towns.
We have designed a modern lighthouse, taking the classic typology and altering it to highlight the steel structure. The hexagonal tower is supported by round coated galvanized steel columns, and steel cables are used to keep the tower steady. The staircase is also an architecturally exposed steel structure, held aloft by thin steel columns. The white walls and red cables of our design are intended to reflect the classic red and white striped lighthouse. The top of the lighthouse is made of clear and black fritted glass panels, durable enough to survive any storm.
Outside Air Film
95mm Stone Block Facade
25mm Air Gap
12.5mm OSB
140mm Fibreglass Batt Insulation
Steel I Beam Framing
Stone Ties
6mm Vapour Barrier
12.5mm Gypsum Board
Inside Air Film
ColumnConstructionDetail
Because of the galvanizing process, the size of the steel available to make the columns is limited. Therefore, the columns are broken into segments and welded together.
Cable Connection Details
ARCH 292
Design Studio
