Gavin Rea Masters Architecture Portfolio

Gavin Rea

8/22 - Present

Masters Architecture

University of Colorado Denver

8/21 - 6/22

Masters Architecture

University of California Los Angeles

8/15 - 6/19

Bachelors Product Design

College for Creative Studies

1/23 - Present

Design Build Student

Colorado Building Workshop

6/22 - 8/23

Architectural Design Intern

Impact Housing

6/19 - 8/21

Toy Designer

Kiwico

8/18 - 6/19

CAD Modeler

Jupiter Research Foundation

6/18 - 8/18

Modelmaker

Gemitti Model Art

6/15 - 8/15

Industrial Design Intern

Shook Design

PERCH

Perch is inspired by concepts of transparency and framed views. The primary structure consists of an elevated ramp extending to a rectangular prism raised above the water of the lake. The ramp continues into the building, slicing the bottom diagonally with solid structure above and slender supports below creating two contrasting atmospheres. A second horizontal walkway extends beneath the first at water level, creating a cage of vertical bars in the building footprint.

The two forms contrast each other: one a solid, dark atmosphere with the viewer hidden inside, the other an exposed cage with total freedom to both see and be seen. Visitors can choose between the views and exposures based on desired experience accounting for factors such as weather, wildlife and mood.

Colorado Center for Water Conservation

As current global warming trends accelerate in the mid 21st century the Mountain West will continue to aridify and receive fewer precipitation events with less predictability. Although current water demand is largely met through renewable sources, increasing population growth, especially in metro areas, will create unmet demand which will require transfers from agricultural uses.

Drawing inspiration from this example, the nature center brief is imagined as a water conservation center with a mission to steward water and promote efficiency measures to offset growing metro populations. The building will serve as a common meeting ground for local county and city jurisdictions to hold planning and educational events, as well as a resource for individuals to learn about smaller scale landscape and greywater interventions.

Ballona Wetlands Arboretum

This design was completed during my second studio in the UCLA Masters Architecture Program. The brief was for an arboretum facility to be located in the restored Ballona Wetlands just south of Marina Del Rey with a program of a conditioned botanical garden space, outdoor living collection and research and education wings.

The studio examined the architectural concept of Column+, the use of columns beyond simple vertical structural members. I chose a specific precedent of the Palazo de Lavoro by Pierre Luigi Nervi, who proposed a series of mushroom column with a tapered cross trunk topped by radial I-beams supporting a steel roof with glass covered seams in between to let in light and an exterior curtain wall. I explored variations in the initial square grid layout in plan and section as well as column variations in grasshopper

Design

I maintain the column-roof module while varying heights, profiles and sizes to create a continuously varying landscape housing different types of spaces. This was achieved by turning the regular square roof into a cross shape with circular cutouts at all corners which make large perforations when the modules are joined together, creating space for planting and allowing light into the structure. Interiors are defined by a minimal curtain wall not at the roof exterior but along the line of the column, preserving the visual connection and blurring the boundary of the space.

Perspective Section

East-West Section

North-South Section

Venice Beach Gateway

Venice Beach Gateway

This was the first studio in the UCLA Masters Architecture program and was intended as a formal introduction to architecture through the medium of paper folding. The first half of studio was spent exploring form with physical paper models. I focused on continuous curved folds and their ability to form structure and define space while avoiding impossible double-curved geometries.

We then adapted our forms to a public restroom facility to be placed along the Venice beach strip. My goal for the site was to link the city street to the beach with the facility as a gateway between, and created an arch by cutting the middle out of a folded S form. The building further integrates into the landscape with a raised path and bridge within the arch and a perpendicular tunnel cutting down into the landscape beneath it.

Floor

Tenka house started as a project for my senior industrial design studio working with Cass Community Housing to develop affordable tiny houses for local low income residents. I initially was inspired by cold Detroit winters to make a greenhouse design. After graduating, I further developed the project into a prefab system of container modules that could be configured in a variety of orientations and sizes. The project evaluates housing through a product design lens and takes cues from modern product aesthetics and simplicity: clean hidden fastener design large rounds and chamfers. The pile foundation removes the need for extensive site work and allows the house to float above the landscape with minimal impact.

Tenka House

Tenka house started a s a project for my senior Industrial Design Studio working with Cass Community Housing to develop affordable timny house model sfor local low income residents. I developed the project into a prefab system of container modeules that could be configured into a variedty of orientations and sizes. The project approaches housing through a product design lens with hidden fasteners, rounded corners and chamfered flat roof. The screw pile foundation removes the need for site work and allows the house to float above the landscape with minimal impact.