Hi, I’m Jake. I’m an architectural designer and educator. My belief in the positive impact of good design drives me seek out architectural models that are innovative, thoughtful, and resonant. With 8 years of professional experience, I know that creative solutions are as much about leveraging context and collaboration as they are about finding authentic, impactful ways of expressing the ideals of the client and the community. I specialize in custom design, programming, and graphic services for a wide range of scales, programs, and budgets.
2024DESIGN PORTFOLIO
Jacob Theut
Architectural Designer + Professor of Architectural History and Design
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT
Architectural Designer
InToto Studio / Detroit, MI
Director of Design
Vigne Group Architects / Detroit, MI
Architectural Designer
CM Partners Architects / Detroit, MI
Design Intern
Detroit Collaborative Design Center / Detroit, MI
Solar Associate
GreenLancer Solar Design / Detroit, MI
ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT
Instructor Detroit Mercy School of Architecture and Community Design / Detroit, MI
EDUCATION
MArch in History and Theory, McGill University SOA / Montreal, QC
MArch, Detroit Mercy School of Architecture / Detroit, MI
BArch, Detroit Mercy School of Architecture / Detroit, MI
Study Abroad, Warsaw University of Technology / Warsaw, PL
2016 – 09/2017
–
EARLY LEARNING CENTER IFF + TRINITY HEALTH
IFF and partner Trinity Health commissioned InToto Stduio to design a new early childhood education (ECE) facility on Detroit’s West side. Operated by Development Centers and located in the Cody Rouge / Warrendale neighborhood, the new 16,000 S.F. facility houses nine classrooms and serves up to 140 children. The site includes play areas for the ECE, community use space, and pedestrian connections, including a segment of bike path planned as part of the City of Detroit’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund.
PROJECT: IFF/Trinity Health ECE
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
FIRM: InToto Studio
DATE: Spring 2023
SD / DD
Status: In Progress
EDUCATION IN FORMATION
The ECE is organized into three separate wings, accommodating three age ranges—infants, toddlers, and pre-K—and organizing these wings around a central courtyard, offering all rooms ample daylight and views with direct access to play areas. Each wing is visually denoted with a pitched roof, a form which evolved throughout the design process from a typical “house” shape to a more unique and playful mass. Windows and openings are scattered throughout the building, providing pops of colored frames and cement board, contrasting the aluminum exterior.
SITE PLAN
VIEW FROM STREET CORNER
TODDLER PLAY AREA
BRIGHT, WELCOMING SPACES
The ECE facility has a gradient of coordinated warm and cool color highlights at windows, entry ways, cubbies, and funishings. Additionally, the entry lobby, hallways, and gross motor recreation room all follow the pitch of the angular roofs. This theme of irregular diagonals is carried through the building creating a dynamic, cohesive total design.
RECEPTION LOBBY
INFANT HALLWAY CUBBIES
FLOOR PLAN
TODDLER HALLWAY CUBBIES
OPERATIONS CENTER
DDOT COOLIDGE BUS DEPO
The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) is constructing a state-of-the-art bus maintenance facility to consolidate and improve overall bus operations within the city and surrounding communities. Three separate buildings were planned for the site with interdependent programs— including indoor bus storage with a 144 bus capacity, and a fleet maintenance facility. The Operations Building is the figurehead of this campus. The overall design is long, metallic, and sleek, taking direct inspiration from its mobile counterpart.
PROJECT: DDOT Coolidge Bus Facility
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
FIRM: InToto Studio
DATE: Winter 2024
Status: Under Construction
TRANSPORTATION STATION
The unified exterior design of the Operations Building is wrapped in durable corrugated aluminum, with perforated panels of the same material and profile at key locations, including windows of public areas. The building is split diagonally by an entry lobby, and has offices bordering its periphery, with the exception of the break room and locker area. This large public space features an oversized height compared to other areas, and features an adjoining outdoor patio.
APPROACH FROM PARKING LOT
VIEW FROM BREAK ROOM
2 BUILDING FACADE
FREUD PUMP STATION GREAT LAKES WATER AUTH.
As part of Great Lakes Water Authority’s (GLWA) ongoing infrastructure investments to increase the resiliency of water systems, a new pump station is planned in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood on Detroit’s east side. As an infrastructure project with specific technical challenges, integrating the facility within the residential neighborhood also poses architectural design challenges. InToto was asked to join the design team to develop exterior cladding strategies, considering materiality, scale, and the impact of the building on residents nearby.
PROJECT: Freud Street Pump Station
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
FIRM: InToto Studio
DATE: Fall 2023
Conceptual Design
Status: In Progress
FREUD STREET
and connection to the site. The formliner pattern of the panels is derived from the ring of concrete piles drilled and poured to allow excavation and construction around the existing sewer mainline. Irregular windows provide views to machinery within, and correspond to axes and openings within the pump room.
HIDDEN CAST-IN CONCRETE PILES
NONPROFIT ENTERPRISE CO-WORKING COMMUNITY HUB
InToto assisted Nonprofit Enterprises at Work (NEW) to transform their existing facility to reflect and support their core values: investment in community and promoting collaboration and innovation. The existing 12,000 sf facility is located on North Main Street in Ann Arbor along the Huron River. Through extensive renovation of the building and site, the NEW Facility is designed to provide small non-profits with an empowering and communal coworking space along with shared supportive facilities including organizational development, information technology, financial consulting, and bookkeeping. The building’s iconic silhouette is maintained, wrapped in a vibrant new perforated metal cladding.
PROJECT: NEW Center HQ
LOCATION: Ann Arbor, MI
FIRM: InToto Studio
DATE: Summer 2023
SD / DD
Status: In Progress
ANIMATING THE WORKPLACE
The updated interior of NEW Center blends the structural history of the building with a fresh, bright approach, aimed to enhance inclusivity, visibility, and communal engagement. The core of the building is hollowed out through the second floor to new skylights on the roof, providing a open, welcoming community kitchen. Large, new windows in flexible work spaces look out onto the Huron River. Exterior spaces for gathering and smaller pocket areas for outdoor work also take advantage of the location on the river’s edge.
SECOND FLOOR
SECOND FLOOR FLEX SPACE
1 FIRST FLOOR CAFE
AYANA CANNABIS GROW & RETAIL FACILITY
The partners of Ayana came to Vigne Group as a new cannabis company looking to start production and sale in the same facility. Located in the Russell Industrial district of Detroit, the project site is a typical conglomeration of old offices, sheds, and warehouse buildings. The word Ayana means flower, and so our strategy was to create an enclosed sanctuary, contrasting what one might ordinarily expect in an industrial district. The procession begins with the front gate, which is dramatized by a new radial wood-framed canopy held up by doubled diagonal wood struts and illuminated.
PROJECT: Ayana Provisioning + Grower
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
FIRM: Vigne Group LLC
DATE: Summer 2021
Status: Unbuilt
SD / DD / CD
MAKING AN ENTRANCE
Driving through the gate to the interior courtyard, flowering trees, bamboo, and wood elements transition customers off of the street and into the first layer of Ayana. The courtyard is composed by several industrial buildings as well as a rear block wall. Guests drive by the building entry to the parking lot, and follow light and signage to the pine-clad canopy of the building entrance. The parking lot is spacious enough for outdoor events, but also anticipates further expansion into the building at the NW corner.
COURTYARD SECTION
The facility is comprised of a warehouse with two office additions, to which we added a new break room wing and equipment mezzanine. From there, the building was further divided by use type, each with its own exit and enclosure requirements. On the retailer side, customers check in, are called into the sales floor, and are helped by on-floor bud-tenders. On the grower side, different specialized room functions maintain cannabis plants from sprout to vault. The two are separated by insulating wall panels. Numerous wall details were needed to organize the many intersections between new, old, and older.
PANEL DTL
FLOOR PLAN
BUILDING SECTION
INDUSTRIAL RETREAT
The sales floor was designed as an oasis, leveraging as many existing industrial elements as possible. A huge crane beam supports a chandelier centered above long wood product tables. Lighting hangs low from the 20’ ceiling, illuminating existing CMU and cross-braced steel. Three massive windows let in evening sun and views of flowering trees beyond.
Ayana Facility
EDEN EMPIRE CO. PILOT CANNABIS STORE
PROJECT: Eden Empire Provisioning LOCATION: Battle Creek, MI
FIRM: Vigne Group LLC
DATE: Summer 2020
After distributing their product through other retailers for years, Eden Empire was looking to sell straight to consumers through a store of their own. They came to Vigne Group with a tightly developed brand identity, but a loose strategy for how it would look or feel in brick and mortar. Our mission was to transform this suburban, small-scale car dealer into a unique, urban-stylized weed market that would appeal to casuals and professionals alike.
STYLE STRIKES BACK
Located off of the highway, Eden joined several new marijuana retailers after Battle Creek continued to capitalize on legalization. Naturally, our clients were interested in catching the most eyes at the least cost. We proposed to retrofit a new canopy using a quonset hut, two steel beams, and two wrapped steel posts. The beams (at each end) are connected by tension cables. Rawfinish steel cladding, existing brick, and a freshly painted mural round out a new look for the brand.
VIEW FROM HIGHWAY CHECK-IN + WAITING ROOM
URBAN ATTITUDE
The windowless sales space, combined with grungy artwork brought in by the client, led the design towards the atmosphere of a studio or a club. This showroom deliberately keeps the brand away from garden allusions, and ushers Eden towards its own iconic designer identity. All of the fixtures were custom designed in sleek stainless steel construction. Two steel show tables conceal tether boxes to scent jars which rest atop a wood plinth. Promoted strands are in jars along the wall, each tethered to an individual steel elbow and down-lit.
SALES FLOOR + FULFILLMENT
BUD TABLES
VAPE + WAX SHELVES
SPECIALTY DISPLAYS
CLOUD CANNABIS
FLAGSHIP STORE
Cloud Cannabis Co. knows their brand, and knows how to lay out their showrooms using clean, Apple Store-esque merchandising shelves. This location, their sixth in Michigan, would be something bigger and better than the typical strip malls and quick builds they had prior used to set up shop. Instead of twisting this existing machine shop building into something entirely new, we proposed a similarly industrial steel frame addition to be part-roof entry, part-beacon for in-the-know customers and passerbys alike. At night, the new structure glows from within, while at midday, one might see the clouds peaking from behind its slats.
PROJECT: Cloud Cannabis Co. Provisioning LOCATION: Oxford, MI
FIRM: Vigne Group LLC
DATE: Winter 2022
All interior walls of the existing shop were able to be removed, allowing us to maximize the size of customer experience, while keeping the back of house as consolidated as possible. The new structure is clad with faux wood hollow-tube slats, and partially covered with a standingseam roof. Contemporary commercial additions frequently apply a cheap tower to conceal its past form, but the proposed structure gives a proud, new presence while embracing the vernacular of the past.
FLOOR PLAN
WAITING ROOM
SLOWINSKI NATL PARK
DUNE LANDMARKER
Along the coast of northern Poland lies Slowiński National Park, an isthmus of huge, rolling sand dunes. Every year, the Baltic wind pushes entire dunes nearly 10 meters across the beach. Somewhere beneath the sand lies the buried remains of the Łączka Village that the Dune Landmarker was designed to commemorate, a foil to the power of the shifting topography. The viewing platform atop elevates users up off of the sand, but is also inaccessible except by sand dune. Over time, the huge steel structure will be overcome by the sand and the dunes will permit and deny access to the top platform, transitioning from lookout to bridge to sculpture.
PROJECT: Slowinski National Park Monument
LOCATION: Slowinski National Park, PL
FIRM: -
DATE: Summer 2018
Status: Unbuilt Competition
DESIGNING A LANDMARK
The Slowiński National Park is protected because it contains Poland’s only natural sand dunes. It consists of a strip of sand and forests with an existing trail, bound by posts and rope, which cuts through the dunes giving tourists partial contact. The proposed trail extends the existing one, ending in the massive iron frame of the Dune Landmarker.
A steel-grated platform is hoisted 7 meters above its deep step footings, providing visitors with a view of the beach, including over the trees out to the Baltic Sea.
Poland Northern Coast Slowiński Nat. Park
TRAIL PERSPECTIVE
ST. THOMAS ORTHODOX OF INDIA
PROJECT: St. Thomas Entry Alterations
LOCATION: Warren, MI USA
FIRM: CM Partners Architects
DATE: Winter-Summer 2018
St. Thomas Orthodox Church of India was upgrading its low-profile entrance to feature a new canopy projection, along with a new skylight and streamlined procession through to their existing sanctuary. We borrowed heavily from the existing language, matching windows, brickwork, and tower profile to create a natural extension and enhancement of the existing church.
ST. AUGUSTINE CHURCH LIFT
PROJECT: St. Augustine St. Monica
LOCATION: Detroit, MI USA
FIRM: CM Partners Architects
DATE: Summer 2017
St. Augustine St. Monica Parish needed an elevator installed to help its aging members get to the community lower level room from the sanctuary floor on the first level. The structural details of steel framing and cutting through two floors (and one exterior face) would be worked out back and forth between myself and a structural engineer.
ZUCCATO RESIDENCE ADDITION
PROJECT: Zuccato Residence Addition
LOCATION: Novi, MI
FIRM: Vigne Group LLC
DATE: Fall 2019
The Zuccatos, husband and wife, obtained this modest lake front property with the intention of upgrading to a two-story attached garage. I was placed on the project late to configure a new exposed I-beam porch design, including steel framing and concrete foundation details.
WARE RESIDENCE ADA ADDITION
PROJECT: Ware Residence Renovation
LOCATION: Farmington Hills, MI
FIRM: CM Partners Architects
DATE: Spring-Summer 2018
This ranch house belonged to a mother and her son, the later of whom was in a wheelchair. They needed a new wing to help accommodate his unique situation and needs, including enlarged wheel-in shower, physical therapy room, and bed lift. The addition also included a new garage, master suite, and various other accommodations to accessible use and comfort.
LIVERNOIS MEDIAN INSTALLATION
PROJECT: Livernois Median Installation
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
FIRM: Detroit Collab Design Center
DATE: Summer 2016
13
Local art collaborative Detroit Fiber Works received a Kresge Fellowship to create an art installation outside along Livernois, Detroit’s “Avenue of Fashion.” The design needed to showcase different types of fiber artworks, for which we chose a frame-style pavilion on which art could be attached. We installed the pavilion as part of a trial streetscape event, including new crosswalks, bike lanes, and other features which would eventually set necessary precedent for Livernois’ recent renovations.
SKINNER PARK & AMPHITHEATER
PROJECT: Skinner Playfield
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
FIRM: Detroit Collab Design Center
DATE: Summer 2016
The Skinner Playfield was a communitycentered design effort, incorporating so many various requested follies from volleyball court, playscape, rain garden to putting green. I worked with a landscape architect to produce a detailed landscape plan, and worked on the structural framing details for the amphitheater pavilion, which would collect water for watering the garden.
PENCIL DRAWING
PROJECT: Various Pencil Drawings
LOCATION:FIRM: -
DATE: 2017-Present
If I had to choose one design tool, it would be a 4B pencil. Being able to sketch clearly and quickly has been invaluable for identifying spatial problems and communicating to clients and teammates. Drawing is what made me want to get into the practice of architecture, so every new idea comes through first in sketch.
WATERCOLOR PAINTING
PROJECT: Various Paintings
LOCATION: -
FIRM: -
DATE: 2016-Present 16
Watercolor differs from pencil drawing in that the brush is a paddle, not a point. Water must be steered, and much of painting can feel like a chemistry experiment, with timing, order, color, wetness, speed, grip all affecting the desired image. Like any art form, watercolor is a way to appreciate people, landscapes, and architecture.
