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ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

MAKENNA DAWSON

SELECTED WORKS 2024

MAKENNA DAWSON, AIAS

Master of Architecture Student University of Kansas 2021-present

(816) 783-3195 Kenna@KU.edu Www.Linkedin.Com/in/Makenna26

The arts are what drew me to design and the possibility of visceral impacts on communities is what made me passionate about architecture. In school and in my work experience I’ve learned that I have an inclination towards historic architecture, research, sustainability, and design-build. I want to be consistently learning, creating, and connecting.

Publications

1. Tenants to Homowners. (2024). ‘A Modern Cabin’: KU’s Dirt Works Studio Collaborates with Tenants to Homeowners on First-of-its-Kind Affordable Home.

2. University of Kansas, School of Architecture and Design, Design Build. (2024) Phoenix House.

3. The Lawrence Times. (2024). KU Architecture Students Open Projects in Pinkney, East Lawrence to Community.

4. University of Kansas, Libraries. (2024). Watson Library Centennial, Celebrating a Century at the Heart of KU, A Century of Changes.

Selected Work Experience

Kansas NSF EPSCoR

Visual Coordinator

Fall 2024-Current

In this position, I am spearheading the visual communications of The Kansas National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. By creating graphics for internal and external newletters, presentations, and social medias, I am able to support researchers and educators who are working to create more resilient infrastructures in Kansas.

Black and Veatch

Architectural Intern

Summer 2023

I had the opportunity to work at an international, multi-disciplinary, engineering focused firm, Black and Veatch. I assisted the architects remotely and in-person with 3D modeling, drafting, backchecking, communicating with clients, checking standards and codes, etc. I was able to help with a variety of projects in all stages.

KU Watson Library

3D Modeler

Summer 2024

For the centennial celebration of the KU Watson Library I was commissioned to create a 3D model of the building throughout the last 100 years. Work for this project consisted of remote digital creation and in-person research. By looking at plans that were hand drawn over 100 years ago, I was able to model how the library adapted over time and create 3D printable models of the original library from 1924.

Skills Developed

I constantly work to find new ways to approch problems. I’ve made models and furniture by hand, using 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC routers, wood shops and metal shops. I’ve also learned a variety of computer programs in my time at KU and at Black and Veatch-my favorites being SketchUp, Rhino, and the Adobe Creative Suite.

SketchUp Rhino Revit Enscape Lumion LookX AutoCAD Adobe BlueBeam Sefaira

Phoenix House

Fall 2023-Spring 2024

Lawrence, KS

China

Tilt Fall 2024 Schenzhen,

Cumulus

Fall 2022

Lawrence, KS

Other Works Spring 2021-Fall 2024

PHOENIX HOUSE

Oregon St. Lawrence, Kansas Fall 2023-Spring 2024

Dirt Works Studio

Communications Manager

For my 3rd year in the M.Arch program, I was in Chad Kraus’ Arch 509 Designbuild Studio which included myself, Grace Beirne, Julia Bond, Corrie Bolton, Morgan Campbell, Hayley Ford, Reese Gilmore, Aidan Hall, Alyda Hunnicutt, Morgan Kime, Spencer Landis, Adin Mehanovic, Samantha Weidner, and Amanda Willen.

Phoenix House was designed and built by Dirt Works Studio for Tenants to Homeowners. This mass timber home is small, solar-powered, and affordable and is intended to assist individuals in our community transitioning from homelessness to secure housing. This project provided Tenants to Homeowners with a reproducible model for a low-maintenance, durable, and easy-to-live-in home that uplifts its occupant helping them rise similar to a phoenix. The first resident of Phoenix House moved in early Fall, 2024.

West View

Hobbs Park

Project Site

CROSS LAMINATED TIMBER

Wood materials are proven to provide stress reduction and resorative benefits due to the appeal in smell, touch, and sight and because it improves indoor air quality especially through humidity regulation. Because of these reasons exposing wood throughout the exterior and interior was a priority in the design of the house.

Phoenix House’s structure in all of the exterior walls is 3-ply CLT. Cross Laminated Timber is panelized solid engineered mass timber. These panels are made by alternating directions of layered lumber boards bonded with structural adhesives. CLT is prefabricated and is cut to size (including door and window openings) using CNC routers at the mill which makes it quick and easy to install with very little waste on site. The final product is extremely strong being able to handle load transfer in all directions with good acoustic, thermal, seismic, and fire performance.

Mass timber construction is a form of CO2 removal when sustainably produced because the wood can store the carbon dioxide captured through photosynthesis. This is a type of carbon sequestrationthe capturing and storing of CO2 from the atmosphere, mitigating climate change.

Living Room Corner, Photo by Chad Kraus

The two interior walls are to account for plumbing, HVAC, the bedroom has the electric is a plumbing wall with a

collaborative effort in studio kitchen/bathroom wall interior the house that I had an active

Kitchen Wall Framing

Finished Kitchen

Finished Living Room

Kitchen/Bathroom Wall Shop Drawing

are stud-walls and the bathroom and vestibule have drop-down ceilings HVAC, electric, and lighting. The wall that seperates the vestibule and electric acess panel while the wall that seperates the bathroom and kitchen mini-split on the kitchen side of the wall. The SD and CD sets were a studio and I worked primarily on the lighting plan, the exploded axo, and the interior details and shop drawing. The kitchen/bathroom wall is a piece of active role in during every step of the design-build process.

In the earliest stage of Construction Document Set bathroom appliances and cabinetry worked on the exact dimensions Immediately after the shop When the framing was brought the finishes.

Finished Bathroom

Finished Bedroom

the design process I advocated for a singular plumbing wall. For the Set I created the interior details drawing which specifies the kitchen and cabinetry with the soffit along the peak of the wall. In the shop drawing I dimensions and cuts of lumber and the connections of lumber were defined. drawings were done I built the stud framing with other studio members. brought to site we installed it, the gypsum, the appliances, cabinetry and Kitchen/Bathroom

Design decisions were made as a studio with the future occupant in the forefront of our minds. We designed it to be efficient in both energy and user functionality. To make a durable and low maintence house, we decided to wrap a CLT structural system in a highly insulated, air-tight envelope sheathed in a Zip sysem and cladded with a wood rainscreen with high quality finishes. Using a mini-spit heat pump, energy recovery ventilator, radiant floor heating, and solar panels, the active environmental systems are also affordable and sustainable.

Aesthetically, we designed the house to have contrasting materials. Originally, we planned to use shou sugi ban (a traditional Japanese wood burning technique) to protect the wood from the elements and to darken it. In order to maintain low-maintance materials, we decided to use stain to create the desired visual effect on the house and used the traditional wood-burning process on the CLT planter box.

Shou Sugi Ban

Sealed Envelope West View

The design process in the fall was 8 weeks long after which we submitted for permits. Some students including myself participated in a 3 week long prefab winter course to build the stud framing and the kitchen island. The entire on-site build was 8 weeks long.

Alongside designer, drafter, and construction worker, I was also Communications Manager This position included social media management, project documentation, event planning, fundraising, and communications with the public and Tenants to Homeowners. This project has provided me the opportunity to better understand how design and construction affect eachother.

Bedroom Fire Escape

China

This site is in Schenzhen, China which is a high-density city in the Guangdong Province. Before Schenzhen was established as the first Special Economic Zone in 1979, it was a small fishing village. Since then, the city has become one of the most rapidly growing cities in Southern China. Schenzhen is known for being a global hub for high-tech industry.

The design of this masterplan acts as a connection between the low-rise industrial buildings to the South and the high-rise residential buildings to the North-West. The form fits well within the surrounding context with a podium design that consists of a porous base and sloped roofs.

With the prompt of “Smart Ecology” this design prioritizes the same things as the city of Schenzhen-reducing carbon emissions, using renewable resources, maximizing green spaces, designing for drainage and shading due to the subtropical monsoon climate, and creating effecient high-density architecture.

High-rise Residential to the North

Project Site

Low-rise Industrial to the South

Fall 2024

Schenzhen,

North East Render

Road Setbacks on Site

Low-Rise Densification

Maximum footprint of low-rise building.

Natural Ventilation Cut

Building mass split in two oriented towards winds from the South-East.

Lower Wind Flow

Upper Wind Flow

Connectivity Cuts

Building masses split further to create walkways.

Courtyard Spaces

Courtyards to allow for maximum natural ventilation.

High-Rise Densification

Possible Built Area:

430,000 sf

Possible Green

Coverage: 94%

Solar Angled Roofs

Roofs angled toward the South to allow for best solar exposure for PV panels on roofs.

Connection Bridges

Building masses connected to create community feel.

All Bathrooms are ADA accessible with area for a 5’ turn diameter

User Profiles

1. Young Power Couple: This young couple is looking for a space to live and work in. They are extremely motivated in their careers and are moving to Schenzhen for opportunities in the tech-industry. They are looking for an apartment where there are a variety of areas they can bring their laptop to and work in such as private gardens, e-cafe’s, and maybe even their own office. They are also hoping for amenities such as a gym, retail, and restaurants nearby since they won’t have much time to explore the area or cook. Tilt is the perfect place for them to live and grow within their careers.

2. Tech Industry “Family”: This “family” is comprised of individuals who recently graduated from the Schenzhen Technology University and are hoping to jump-start their career in the nearby tech industry. They want to live in a spacious apartment, but are willing to share the space with their like-minded friends. They are hoping for an apartment where they have their individual spaces for sleep, work calls, etc. and a shared space where they can collaborate. They are hoping for spaces where they can celebrate their accomplishments such as a pub. They can find all of this and more at Tilt.

Apartment C

Apartment A

0’ 5’ 10’ 20’

South Facade

North Facade 0’ 15’ 30’ 60’

Materiality

On the lower podium levels, the facade consists of sliding polycarbonate panels so that the walls can open up, maximizing natural ventilation capabilities. The floors on these levels are polished concrete to allow for easy cleaning. The upper highrise levels have a terracotta facade due to the abundancy of the material in this area. The floors on these levels are cladded with bamboo to improve the mental health of the residents.

Structure

Corrugated Structural Concrete Floors

Standard Steel

I-Beams, 18-24’ Spans

1’x1’ Concrete Columns Reinforced with Steel

0’ 15’ 30’ 60’

9 mm

Gypsum

30 mm

Terracotta Rainscreen Cladding

Gradclip System

Vapor Barrier

1/4” Plywood Blocking

Steel Connector Plate Corrugated Structural Concrete Leveling Concrete Bamboo Flooring

HVAC Vent with Insulation Ceiling Tie Wire Steel I-Beam

4” XPS Insulation Bamboo Ceiling

Section

1. Terracotta Rainscreen Wall Detail

2. Typ. Floor Detail

CUMULUS CITY

Fall 2022

Massachusetts St. Lawrence, KS

This project is a 3-story shopping center meant for start-up businesses in the heart of Lawrence, KS. The site is on the North side of Massachusetts Street between a historic hotel and a popular restuarant.

The program includes retail and restuarant spaces, flex spaces, offices, and courtyards. Through abstract concepting including drawings made from stains and bead sculptures where the beads represented different spaces, the design became focused on organic shapes that are stacked in a way that creates a canyon-like outdoor space. The ravine form draws one in from the busy sidewalks to the serene setting created by the overlapping curves of the building. The different areas created provide space to connect, work, shop, and relax.

Courtyard Render

From Mass. Street, you can either walk along bottom of the ravine or up a ramp that winds through the buildings and around a courtyard. On the ground floor, you can find cafes and small restaurants with a central pavilion. While on the 2nd floor, you go into one of the small, locally owned shops can follow the pathway to an outdoor flex space. go up the stairs, you’ll find offices, conference spaces, and a private courtyard for individuals trying their small business off the ground.

Flex Space Render

Circulation Render along the through ground along you can or you space. If you spaces, to get

Section

West Render

East Render

0’ 2.5’ 5’ 10’

View From Sidewalk Render

Concept Collage

OTHER WORKS

Spring 2021-Fall 2024

I express myself and communicate through the arts. To see the marks of human hands on ceramics or the touch of an individual on graphics. To see how a person captured a moment or how they communicated visually is to interpret their view of the world. Architecture and all forms of art create communities. I hope to be able to see design in different cultures and to understand how people throughout the world are connected. By constantly learning from art and the world around me, I will be able to better contribute to the communities design for.

Ceramic Chess Set

Ceramic

1924 Core and Center Stacks

1930s Sub-basement and Stairs

1950s West Wing and East Stacks

1960s East Wing and West Stacks

1980s Front Entrance and Interior Renovation

This past summer, I was employed by the KU Watson Library to 3D model a century of changes for the centennial celebration this fall. I went through all of the plans and drawings of the designs and constructions some of which were hand drawn over 100 years ago. To determine what pieces of documentation were accurate and to fill in parts of the building that weren’t documented, I spent time looking at the building’s details in person.

The building had five significant periods of construction. The final product was a 3D model that visually shows these changes over time and is published on the KU Watson Library Centennial website. From this, I also created a large scale and a miniature 3D printable model of the original library in 1924. I enjoyed every part of this project and was happy to be apart of the centennial celebration of such an important building on the KU campus.

Watson Library Centennial Model

Metal Bending Process

In Novemver their first ARCH analyze the building is required hoping would more room Corrie project. plywood product and is extremely 300 lbs. the day curved and reduces

Kit of Parts by Reese Gilmore

Folding

Novemver of 2024, Family Promise opened first multi-family shelter in Lawrence, KS. Our 600 furniture studio partnered with them to analyze their space and design furniture to make building feel more like a home. The intake office required to be staffed 24/7, so the FPL Staff was hoping for a bed that would fit in the space and be able to compact during the day to give room to the desk and filing cabinets.

Corrie Bolton, Reese Gilmore, and I took on this project. To keep costs minimal, we decided to use plywood and recycled lumber bracing. The final product fits a typical tri-fold twin-sized mattress extremely sturdy, capable of supporting over lbs. The bed can fold into a wide chair during day with little effort due to the piano hinge and cutouts in the plywood that act as handles reduces weight.