Selected Works | Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
2021-2023
Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
Selected Works
Contents ABOUT + RESUME
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FLORA RESEARCH + EXHIBITION
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MULTICULTURAL RESTAURANT + RESIDENCY
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TECTONIC PAVILLION
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TOOL STUDY IN SECTION
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PRECDEDENT FRAGMENTS
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
About I am Grace Helmuth, a third-year architecture student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I minor in product design and aim to develop my skills to be mindful of design’s impact across varying scales. I am from around the Kansas City metro area, and during my adolescence, I experimented with various crafts: painting, drawing, sewing, and embroidery. I maintain creative outlets through coursework and hope to find more opportunities to interact with places and spaces outside my central life.
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Resume | Selected Works
Resume
CONTACT Phone | (913) 953-6356 Primary Email | grace@helmuth.net Secondary Email | ghelmuth2@huskers.unl.edu
EDUCATION
INVOLVEMENT
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE Bachelor of Science in Design Expectant Graduation: May 2025 Major: Architectural Studies Minor: Product Design GPA: 3.84
AIAS, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Member, Jan 2023 - Present
Shawnee Mission East HS, Prairie Village, KS International Baccalaureate Diploma High School Diploma Graduation: May 2021 GPA: 4.3
EXPERIENCE Kansas City Country Club, Mission Hills, KS Asst. Pool Manager, May 2022 - Aug 2023 Lifeguard, May 2019 - Aug 2021
PROFICIENCIES
Hauberk, Shawnee Mission East High School Staff Designer, Aug 2018 - May 2019 Clubs Co-Editor, Aug 2019 - May 2020 Website Co-Editor, Aug 2020 - May 2021
HONORS Husker Heritage Scholarship University of Nebraska Lincoln Fall 2021 - Spring 2025 Dean’s List University of Nebraska-Lincoln Fall 2021 - Spring 2023 Norman Oschner Scholarship University of Nebraska Lincoln Fall 2021 - Spring 2022
Rhino 7, Rhino 8, Revit, V-ray, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Sketching, Hand Drawing, Laser Cutting, 3D Printing, + Physical Modeling
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
Flora Research + Exhibition Location: N.P. Dodge Park in Omaha, NE Duration: 2 Months Instructors: Nate Gieselamn + Adam Wiese A progressional circulation system provides the user with panoramic views of the site and towards adjacent research spaces. The project began with the studio creating a site book and composing collages to conceive the desired atmosphere. I worked as the project manager on the book and gained a broader sense of the site. From here, I chose my focus topic as the life cycle of flora and its connection to human perception throughout the stages of life.
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The building organization uses a three-dimensional grid to connect adjacent areas. Orthogonal spaces are disrupted by altering slopes and alignment for the floorplates, viewing windows, and roof lines. The design for dynamic slopes stems from a linear relationship between the subject and observer. These work together to reinforce both the content of the exhibitions, in addition to a generalized human experience.
Flora Research + Exhibition | Selected Works
NORTHWEST EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
EAST ELEVATION
NORTH ELEVATION
SECTION A
SECTION 1
The elevations illustrate the roof lines. Following trends set by the staff and user areas, the greenhouse roof changes direction at the adolescent exhibit, signifying the designer’s age as a limiting factor towards the mature and eldership experience.
Each lab’s topic of study centers on stages of the plant life cycle. These are related to stages of human life, as defined by developmental psychology.
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Flora Research + Exhibition | Selected Works
WEST ELEVATION
SOUTH ELEVATION
SECTION 2
SECTION B
The sections showcase changing floor levels and the shifting angles created by viewing walls. The increasing height of visitor spaces reflects an increased breadth of perception that develops through learning. The changing wall angles frame the view and direct gaze towards target labs.
Tension is created between spaces by shifting heights and the dynamic slope of the viewing wall. A universally designed circulation system dictates one path of travel, yet the relationships revealed by the space expose the user to new insights.
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
PATI 1| DIVISION OF SPACES
PARTI 2 | DEFINING RELATIONSHIPS
UPPER LEVEL PLAN GROUND LEVEL PLAN SCALE: 1’0” = 1/16”
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Flora Research + Exhibition | Selected Works
PARTI 3 |CREATING VIEWS
PARTI 4 | CIRCULATION
GROUND LEVEL PLAN UPPER LEVEL PLAN SCALE: 1’0” = 1/16”
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
VIEW FROM VISITOR RAMPS The intervention aims to cater to a broad range of users and their motives for visiting the exhibition and research center. The researcher who occupies the building on routine, the disinterested visitors dragged by a partner or an explorative user who remains captivated.
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Exhibitions invite visitors to experience the site from a ‘removed’ perspective as they progress past the exhibitions.
Flora Research + Exhibition | Selected Works
VIEW AT CAFE / GREENHOUSE The cafe and greenhouse are a confrontation where diverse minds converge, facilitating a connection between people and natural life.
Each visit to the space leads to a different experience. A dynamic experience seeks to inspire crafts unique to researchers and visitors alike.
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
Multicultural Restaurant + Residency Location: 2040 O St. Lincoln, NE Collaborators: Elise Benson + Hunter Kohl Instructors: Ally Pierce + Bailey Gocke (TA) Sensoria is a multicultural restaurant and residency that elevates the dining experience by leading each party through sensory accentuation and deprivation in sensory pods. The restaurant serves 20 guests and hosts three global guest chefs. They partake in a collaborative meal at dinner-time, where varying cooking practices and the traditions behind them collaborate to create a unique dining experience for visitors and chefs to enjoy and learn from one another.
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The name “Sensoria” is derived from the brain’s location for processing sensory information, the sensorium. My collaborators and I relied on our personal dining experiences to construct the flow and material choices between each sensory room. Each pod serves appetizers so that the main course encourages the individuals to discuss their sensory experiences. Here, all customers will enjoy the main course together and appreciate all of their senses as a composite.
Multicultural Restaurant + Residency | Selected Works
SENSORY ROOM / TASTE
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
TOUCH
TASTE
SMELL
SOUND
SIGHT
PHASE 1 | FOCUS
PHASE 2 | FORM
EAST ELEVATION
NORTH ELEVATION
In the initial concept exploration, we analyzed the five human senses: taste, sight, smell, touch, and sound. We started by breaking down our experiences with restaurants and how meals stimulate sensory responses.
To map the progression through the senses, we located where sensory information is processed, known as the Sensorium. Creating the progression diagram led us to our programmatic concept.
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SM
EL L
Multicultural Restaurant + Residency | Selected Works
TA ST E
SOUND
TO UC H COMMUNITY REGROUP NIGHTCAP
DECOMPRESS
OPEN SPACE ENTRANCE
SI
G
HT
MAIN MEAL
PHASE 3 | FORMAT
PHASE 4 | PROGRESSION
SECTION A
SECTION B
With this programming idea in mind, we developed a series of sensory rooms, or pods, to provide customers with awareness of the importance of each sense.
The roof reflects the programming concept through the altering ceiling heights, correlated to the space’s level of intimacy. Additionally, the clerestory window allows natural light to permeate the main dining room and bar.
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
SENSORY POD / ACCOUSTIC
SENSORY POD / SMELL
Guests arrive and enter the first sense room, the Acoustic Room. Our goal for this room was to decrease the harsh noises typically associated with a busy restaurant. We incorporated acoustic foam mounted on the walls, mitigating the sounds of sizzling pans, gentle conversation, and the clinking of glasses.
After guests finish their first round of appetizers, they move into the Smell Room. Here, guests find a wall presenting the herbs incorporated in the restaurant’s entrees. A food’s aroma contributes to ninety percent of the perceived taste. This room aims to cleanse the palettes of the users and transition them into the touch room.
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Multicultural Restaurant + Residency | Selected Works
SENSORY POD / TACTILITY
SENSORY POD / VISUAL
The glass and herb wall lines both the Smell and the Tactility Room. The feature wall uses textures such as string lights, undulating travertine walls, and varying stone finishes to expose the restaurant guests to diverse tactile experiences.
The final sensory pod uses charred dowel lam and a hanging red LED replica of an optic nerve. This light distorts the perception of food. In a room that diminishes sight, customers won’t be able to make knowledgeable assumptions about the taste of their food, forcing them to rely on all other senses.
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
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B
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BUILDING IN SITE
BELOW LEVEL PLAN
The programming intends to create an immersive sensory experience and decompress the senses. The material pallet cultivates a visual aesthetic of DowellLam, concrete, and glass, producing an airy and inviting atmosphere. Each aspect of Sensoria intends to engage and delight your sensorium.
When dinner concludes, the chefs descend into their private quarters. To create a division between work and personal life, we designed a decompression chamber surrounded by foliage for a peaceful transition into their living space.
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Multicultural Restaurant + Residency | Selected Works
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GROUND LEVEL PLAN
UPPER LEVEL PLAN
The landscaping and concrete partition further shield the main entrance. Additionally, tiered terraces are incorporated to reflect the surrounding context of Union Plaza.
Submerging the residency below the ground plane encourages privacy and distinguishes the private patio from adjacent public areas.
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
SECTION MODEL
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Multicultural Restaurant + Residency | Selected Works
NORTHEAST EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE The section model incorporates chipboard, basswood, poly-carbonate, and green additions. The construction process for the model uses laser cutting and CNC routing. Above, an exterior perspective relating the physical model to the surrounding context of Lincoln and the Union Plaza
The painted concrete elements show a higher contrast between the materials to illustrate the juxtaposition of soft and harsh materials. Added greenery shows the planning relevant to the arrangement of windows and its impact on the dweller’s “decompression spaces.”
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
Tectonic Primitives Pavillion Location: N/A Duration: 3 weeks Instructors: Ally Pierce + Bailey Gocke (TA) The Hollow is a pavilion celebrating the materiality of wood by highlighting the sustainability of mass timber and reflecting unique patterns in wood on the exterior condition. The project brief prescribes a primitive form, allowing emphasis on materiality. Hollow’s structure uses the technology of dowel laminated timber (DLT) and minimizes weathering by following a ‘W’ formation to interlock the wooden panels.
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DLT is composed purely of hard and softwood, eliminating environmentally harmful adhesives and other forms of joinery. The exterior illustrates the individuality of wood by combining the patterns of bark, rings, and plank cuts. The design intends to resemble the human fingerprint, showcasing the material’s flaws and resultant unique features. Voids reveal the form’s structure and mimic natural tree cavities. The pavilion is a quaint node for users to visit and rest, acting as wildlife in tree hollows.
Tectonic Primitives Pavillion | Selected Works
SOUTHEAST EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
MATERIAL CONCEPT With the prescribed cylinder form, I focused on the exterior skin. The pattern was created by tracing and combining the patterns of bark, tree rings, and wooden cuts. “Hollows” expose the structure and provide the Pavillion with natural light.
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The pattern is not flush, so as the material weathers, visual interest is created as the material melds with the surrounding environment.
Tectonic Primitives Pavillion | Selected Works
NORTH ELEVATION
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
EXPLODED MATERIAL AXON In a theorized construction, the Pavillion’s main form uses stacked wooden slabs and the pattern and voids made by CNC routing. Dowells would then be inserted and cut level to the roof and ground lines. Hard and soft wood elements must be treated to specific moisture levels for integrity in exterior conditions.
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Using a “W” dowell formation provides greater endurance. The crossing creates a second layer of protection for carrying moisture content due to weathering.
Tectonic Primitives Pavillion | Selected Works
SITE AND FLOOR PLAN
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
Tool Study in Section Location: N/A Duration: 2 weeks Instructors: Nate Gieselamn + Adam Wiese The project brief let students choose a tool to examine in cross-sections, analyze for drawings, and ultimately “suspend” in an elegant fashion. The subject is a cookie scooper by the brand “OXO.” Chosen for its attractive moving details, and the brand’s favorable reputation for utility in design. Studying and using the product revealed the mechanics, providing a preliminary understanding of the object for the initial sketches, sections, and study models. SEQUENCE OF SECTIONS
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Tool Study in Section| Selected Works
PHYSICAL MODEL / SUSUPENDED TOOL SECTIONS
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
FINAL DRAWING The cross-sections and Final Drawing use graphite on vellum paper as their medium. The draft above is one of three and is at double the scale of the original object. Later drafts stacked atop the one before, guiding the scale, shading, and proportions.
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The final drawing is refined and devoid of the initial missteps. Erasers were discouraged for the piece, so to learn first by bringing a pencil to paper and correcting last.
Tool Study in Section| Selected Works
MARQUETTE / SUSPENDED TOOL SECTIONS The tool suspends at an angle, correlating with the bar’s orientation resting flat. The box construction uses mitered dowels that nest sheets of acrylic. The section cuts etched on acrylic and colored using India-ink and rub ‘n buff. The central bar travels through the sheets, connecting each depicted operating element.
The physical and digital maquettes represent the tool’s materiality, illustrating the contrast between the stagnant components operated by the user and the moving elements in contact with each other and the substance manipulated.
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Portfolio | Grace Helmuth
Precedent Fragments Location: N/A Duration: 3 weeks Instructors: Ally Pierce + Bailey Gocke (TA) The precedent fragments display the defining architectural details in the Lee B. Philmon Branch Library. Designed by Mack Scogin + Merrill Elam, the minimalist building brings Riverdale, Georgia, a pleasant and economical public building. The model uses materials: chipboard, basswood, museum board, polycarbonate, spray, and acrylic paint. Laser and hand cutting are the primary assembly methods used to mimic the details at a 1’0” = 1/2” scale.
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Repeating eaves of the library are extracted for the fragments depicted. The ceiling lined with undulating forms, the hanging light fixture on the exterior and inside the space, the wood framed windows arrayed along the groundline, and the canted windows create motion with the ceiling forms and use the exterior cladding as the base to highlight and combine each element in a composite.
Precedent Fragments | Selected Works
COMPOSITE FRAGMENTS
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Thank You
Selected Works | Portfolio | Grace Helmuth