Brianna Vaga Selected Works
Undergraduate Architecture Portfolio
My name is Brianna Vaga and I am currently a fourth-year architectural science co-op student at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Our built environment plays an integral part in transforming individuals’ quality of life. Throughout my studies and professional experience, I have become passionate about occupant wellness in architecture; I strive to positively transform communities through my designs. Please enjoy my selected works!
647 836 3462
briannavaga@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/briannavaga
Sustainable.TO, Toronto - Junior Designer (Co-op Student)
May 2024 - Present
- Produced architectural drawings for client presentations, building permit, construction documentation, and supplemental instruction
- Assisted in coordination with consultants (structural, MEP) and the integration of these systems using BIM software
- Provided support during client meetings, presenting design concepts and project updates
LeuWebb Projects, Toronto - Design Assistant
June 2023 - August 2023
- Assisted in design and visualization in order to convey ideas and concepts to clients
- Produced orthographic drawings, project renderings, and digital 3d models
- Prepared design proposals and expression of interest documents for design reviews
Camp Winston Playground - Fabrication team
May 2023
Winter Stations - Fabrication team
December - February 2023
September 2023 - present
Research Assistant - Ontario Place Reconceptualization Project with Dimitri Papatheodorou Student Mentor -
August 2023
Shortlisted in Buildner’s Kinderspace International Competition, 2025
Showcased in TMU CAFE Housing Exhibition, 2025
Dean’s List, 2022 - 2024
Showcased in the Department of Architectural Science Year end show, 2022 - 2023
Showcased on the TMU Architectural Science web page of undergraduate student work, 2022 - 2023
2023
Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto - Bachelors of Architectural Science Co-op Stream (2021-2026) References available upon requests
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6 CONTENTS
Scan me!
Date: Fall, 2024
Typology: Institutional
Location: 1613 Chiefswood Rd, Ohsweken, ON
Recognition: Shortlisted Project for Buildner’s Kinderspace International Competition
The legacy of residential schools has hindered many Indigenous peoples relationship with education and “Western” school curriculum do not reflect the Indigenous way of being and teachings.
This poses the question: how should reconciliation be brought about in Indigenous educational spaces and how it can be a resource used for community restoration.
Located on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario, the children’s learning center aims to create an educational space that teaches young students and community members the Indigenous ways of being through oral storytelling, nature play, and ceremonial circles. The project considers how the realignment of Indigenous teachings and education on reserves can empower community members to reclaim their identity.
Softwares: Rhino 7, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Lumion, InDesign
Ceremonial spaces and entrances align with true north, acknowledging the Medicine Wheel, cardinal axis, and the rotation of the sun.
Main entrance is located in the East to reflect how one enters in the East during ceremony. The circulatory path is made simple for children to follow and circulates around the ceremonial space.
Primary learning spaces are located along the South branch while spaces that are also intended to be used by the community are placed on the North side of the building.
The building’s form bends to the existing landscape, creating unobstructed views into the community garden from the learning and ceremonial spaces.
The curriculum is centered around the Haudenosaunee teachings, taught by members of the community. The classrooms are flexible to fit the needs of the lesson.
Connection with the Earth Ceremonial
The terraced garden is used as a learning tool to teach students about Indigenous plants, horticulture, and the importance of natural stewardship to their heritage.
Ceremonies are Indigenous people. room is also intended community for ceremonies, events, and group
Rainwater Management Learning Corridor
- Curved roof slopes water down to rain water basins
- Permeable pavers captures ground water, used for greywater and watering plants
- Informal learning space with integrated bookshelves and seating in the windows.
The Longhouse
-Teaching Spaces inspired by the Longhouse and constructed using mass timber
an act of healing for people. The ceremonial intended to be used by the ceremonies, smudging, group meetings.
Section AA
- Cedar Panels: considered by the Haudenosaunee as the “Tree of life”
-Gulam beam construction: reflects natural materials used in vernacular architecture
- Used as teaching tool, to feed the community and grows plants used for ceremonies
Date: Fall, 2024
Typology: Institutional
Location: 707 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON
Partner: Adel Stavitsky
Located in Alexandra Park, the relationship between the existing community center and surrounding structures to the park creates boundaries with users and dead zones of social activity.
The community hub aims to dissolve the barriers of the site through the manipulation of surfaces/masses to have the hub become an extension of the park and the community. The project serves to provide users with a sense of agency over the space by designing programs and spaces to adapt to the needs of the user.
Softwares: Revit 2024, Rhino 7, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Enscape, InDesign
Permeable boundaries disrupt the connection between pedestrians on Dundas and the park.
Lifting these forms removes the boundary, revealing the park to the urban context.
Additionally, the opacity of these boundaries contributes to the limited visual connection to the park.
The manipulation of these forms and surfaces dissolve the barriers of the sites, integrating the structure with the existing landscape.
Programs are separated into zones based on actions of meet, play, create, and learn. Flexible spaces are placed between zones, serving as transition spaces that facilitate both programs. These design decisions enhance the permeability of the space, providing users with a sense of agency over the community hubs activities.
The cantilever acts as a covering for skate park, with an integrated light system for nighttime skating and outdoor performances.
With curved stepped step platforms of the skate park, the outdoor space can accommodate a variety activities and allows indoors programs to be able to spill out to the park.
124mm T section, welded to wide flange beam
Steel L bracket
500mm x 1200mm wide flange beam
Suspended Ceiling Cable
210mm Steel Stud
Soffit Assembly
Ceiling Panel
Wall Assembly
Sealant and backer rod
Aluminum flashing
U-Bracket
4000mm x 4000mm steel column coasted in intumescent paint
Argon filled , triple pane glazing
Section BB
Expanded Mesh Facade
Elevator Core
Steel Structure
Soffit Assembly
Recycled aluminum panels
50 mm z girts
210 mm steel stud
205 mm mineral wool insulation
Vapour barrier
480 mm wide flange beam
175 mm composite steel deck
Wall Assembly
Recycled aluminum panels
50 mm z girts
210 mm steel stud
205 mm mineral wool insulation
Vapour barrier
480 mm wide flange beam
175 mm composite steel deck
Isometric of Structure
The East elevation facing Dundas Street takes the materials creating the barriers in the park, the metal fences, and manipulates the surface to create layered veils that reveal and conceal programs of the building.
The first layer hides the third floor. The second conceals the staircase. Finally, the last layer frames the front entrance and continues to the end of the building. This emphasizes the public spaces along the street to pedestrians.
Date: Winter, 2023
Typology: Multi-unit Dwelling
Location: 45 Stafford Street, Toronto, ON
Split House is a duplex located on the rear lot of 45 Stratford Street, across from Stanley Park. The lot measures 4.7 meters by 10 meters. Rather than splitting the lot in half and having narrow units or each unit only getting one orientation, the duplex is made of a series of split levels. This allows for each unit to have views of Stanley Park on the East while having private areas on the west and results in more spacious living conditions for occupants. The masonry units embrace the facade’s flatness, creating a pattern that blends into one another
The split levels provide cross ventilation and views towards Stanley park as well as the privacy of the backyard.
Date: Fall, 2022
Typology: Institutional
Location: 91 Dundas Street East, Toronto, ON
Located on the corner of Bond Street and Dundas Street East, the library contains a computer lab, a multipurpose room, a children’s area, and a special collection about urban agriculture and horticulture. The library serves to provide contemplative spaces that juxtapose the fast-paced environment of the Yonge and Dundas area. Behind the Library Basilica and the Metropolitan United Church. Copper fins were chosen for its aging qualities. As the library ages so does its facade, reflecting the historical buildings on the block and aging with the site.
Softwares: Rhino 7, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Enscape, InDesign
The first volume facing Dundas Street facilitates the lively and community-engaging atmosphere that is present on the street by keeping the space open with an atrium, public stepped seating, and window wall facade.
The second volume is a solid wall, holding the special collection and serving as a transition point between the loud and quiet spaces.
Lastly, the third volume holds the quiet, contemplative spaces facing the direction of the less busy area south of Dundas. The orientation of the fins, punched windows, and the hole cut out in the middle of the third mass keeps views internal, resulting in removal from the outside world.
Work Project with LeuWebb Projects
Date: Summer, 2023
Typology: Public Art
Status: Built
Location: Burnamthorpe Community Centre, Mississauga, ON
Designed by Christine Leu and Alan Webb Digital modeling and visualization completed by Brianna Vaga
The tall mushroom acts as a canopy to protect visitors from sun, rain, and snow. The top of the shorter mushroom is of an accessible seat height. Its surface gently curves upwards, allowing teens to lean back and look at the sky, for wheelchair visitors to nest beside, and for children to scamper upwards, and then rise to a rounded top for perching – a place to see and be seen. (LeuWebb Projects)
Softwares: Rhino 7, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Auto Cad 2023, Enscape, InDesign
Scan me!
Date: Winter, 2023
Typology: Mid-rise Residential
Location: 45 Walnut Street, Toronto, ON
Recognition: Showcased in the Department of Architectural Science’s Year End Show (2023) and TMU CAFE Housing Exhibition (2025)
Located on Walnut Avenue, across from Stanley Park in the Fort York Ward, Streetscape is a mid-rise social housing development consisting of 12 townhouses, 9 two-bedrooms, 9 one bedrooms, and 14 studio units. It contains amenities such as a shared workspace, daycare facility, bike storage, community terrace, and an urban rooftop farm. The project aims to create a community atmosphere that is missing from many mid to high-rise residential projects in the city. It takes on the atmosphere of the existing neighborhood and reapplies it at a vertical scale, creating a neighborhood in the sky
Softwares: Rhino 7, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Auto Cad 2023, Enscape, InDesign
Circulation acting as a street
Hallways on the fourth to sixth floors were widened and lined with windows. Planter boxes were placed along the outside of the unit’s small, windows facing the hallway to create a buffer zone between public and private space.
These design considerations combined with built-in bay window seating create a porch-like condition where neighbors can interact with each other.
Fourth Floor
Typ. Studio
Typ. 1 bedroom
Typ. 2 bedroom
To uphold the character of the area, townhouses make up the street facade and the main entrance recedes back. The balconies are placed facing the park, acting as the resident’s backyard and corridors acting as a street.
