Selected Works by
Delight and Beauty Counter
Ugliness: Jenga Tower pg. 4-11
Experience Forces: Physics Based
Design pgs. 12-15
Social Connections are
Vital: Sandy Housing pgs. 18-33
Design for Dignity: Portual Elderly
Home pgs. 24-31
Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School Modernization pgs. 32-35
Design is in the Details: Pebble
Luminaire pgs. 36-39
Community Connection is Vital: Delta Park Urban Design pgs. 40-43
Who am I?: Resume pg. 44
Nichols
This project explores development of a 10 story infill building on a very visible corner in Portlands Central Eastside Industrial District. A building this visible belongs to the city. This concept creates flexbible spaces whose program can be reimagned over time.
This project was developed primarily by model building. Large volumes were shifted to develop a dynamic courtyard space - a secret gift to those who know the shortcut through the block. Texture and Form followed an initial massing model and developed with the project.
Partner Project with Jorge Burke
Physical models and model photography was an essential part of the design process.
The quality of light that was achieved in the physical model was carried through to the design by the use of relentless wooden screens.
Creating a hidden courtyard connection with layers of building scale and a ton of light was a key design move.
The interstitial spaces created by the massing were key to the experience of the building throughout all it’s layers.
Physical model light quality studies.
Birds eye view of a courtyard that makes you linger.
This project was program-less but instead designed to be flexible in it’s use over time. In the plans on the right, we imagined one floor to house a day care and community gardens, and in the other plan we imagined housing.
Section views of the project show the variety of spaces created on different floors as well as the huge double height openings that give the building it’s formal interest.
The series of chunk models that follow are an exploration of showing physical forces through visual architectural elements. They were created in grasshopper.
This design was about showing the strength of forces required by creating a gradient effect of elements towards the structural columns. The thickness and length of the design elements increase as they get close to the supporting structure, ultimately turning into the columns. This same effect starts to become the facade of the design by creating openings that respond to the forces.
On the left I was exploring the voronoi pattern to create maps of thickness at the center of floor plates where the floor/ceiling meets the columns. This exploration was a study in structural efficiency based on physics. The skin of the building also reflects a density of variation depending on the distance to the openings.
This building was designed as a physics based vault with a Kangaroo simulation in grasshopper, the mesh of the done was rationalised to become the supporting structure. The floor plates here follow the voronoi structure.
This project seeks to create better missing middle scale multi-family housing by improving access to natural light, addressing the need for quiet and privacy, encouraging social connectedness through a socio-petal design, and incorporating passive cooling for resiliency.
By Awar Meman
The site straddles a noisy commercial road, Sandy Boulevard which cuts the Portland grid at an angle, and a quiet residential neighborhood.
To address this, the Sandy edge is created and activated with a public interactive theater space and an art deco nod to the historic theater at the site which burned down.
The neighborhood is addressed with a roof line that provides natural light and matching the setback of the neighborhood, as well as an iconographic gabled silhouette.
Parti - showing sanctuary in the center of the project, a quiet response to the neighborhood on the right side, a public response to the busy street that cuts diagonally across the bottom of the project.
2.5D Unfolded Elevation study of the transition from the residential street to sandy. Paper model.
Floor Plan N
Above: Ground Floor Plan showing a cinema club in the old cinema space facing Sandy Blvd. .
Right: Plans showing the double courtyards on the first and second floors in addition to a typical unit.
Design development of a home for the elderly on a steep site in rural Portugal. The project aims to open both to the community and create a private garden the opens to the vineyards in the hills below.
The project opens up to the community by creation of a plaza and greating area in the front and opens up to the countryside via a private residential garden in the back.
All units have a southern facing protected balcony for access to light and shadow, open cross ventilaion, and a variety of public spaces are created on each floor.
Partner Project with Caitlyn Tino.
or connection, is an essential component to well-being and longevity. We wish to express the essential aspect of touch through the creation of two volumes which converge at a single point. These volumes connect by opening up to the public realm on one side and opening up to a private garden on the other side. The units each have own space to connect to nature, light, shadow, and air. Community connection forms a central place in the program with varied layers of privacy and social space. Visual connection to each other and to nature is emphasized by the building organization.
This project is about connection through a steep site and connection at the center of the x for residents.
This site has double plazas that are created through form - one opens up to the main road in the village and is designed for greetings. The other is more private and creates a connection and views to the vineyards below.
GARDEN community, it becomes a place to greet transition to the home.
PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL GARDEN
The residential garden at the back opens to the landscape and view beyond. The space is sheltered by the building and connects to the lower road for access to quiet paths.
PUBLIC SEMI-PUBLIC SEMI-PRIVATE PRIVATE
Each floor is created to have two different “neighborhoods” which meet in the center for games and connection. Every floor has ample shared outdoor space via tiered terraces and the entrances are all exterior, taking advantage of the beautiful Mediterranean weather.
Every unit is designed to have a southfacing outdoor patio which allows cross-ventilation and access to light and shadows for all residents. The patio also gives a place for gardening, ritual, or hobby space for the residents.
The community space on the bottom floor is an essential place of connection for residents to both connect with each other and with nature through the stunning views and adjacent garden.
Lastly, a private prayer room is accessed through a journey down a ramp and around a corner only to be revealed after turning the corner, the room has spectacular western light in the afternoons through seven floor to ceiling windows.
Although places to connect are scattered throughout the building, the community room is a core location with a strong indoor-outdoor connection. It frames a beautiful view of the vineyards beyond.
The prayer room is accessed through an entry sequence that takes one into the landscape before revealing the sacred space. Seven full height south-facing windows cast light and shaodow. The space is welcoming to all.
SEVEN PRAYER ROOM WINDOWS CONTEMPLATIVE PATH TO PRAYER ROOM
CONNECTION TO NATURE
COMMUNITY SPACE
INDOOR/OUTDOOR COMMUNITY SPACE PATH TO QUIET ROAD PARKING
These Schematic Design renderings were done at Bora Architecture and Interiors primarily for community engagement meeting with the Design Advisory Group - these rendings were set up, rendered in Enscape, and photoshopped primarily by me but with contributions from other team members as well.
This exterior rendering was used for OA Meeting, in addition to Land Use Signage and is now on the Bora website.
This image depicts the commons connection to an exterior terrace.
Renderings of the upstairs and downstairs commons areas at Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School Modernization.
This design and prototyping of a biophilic luminaire is inspired by pebbles on the beach. This project aims to bring a natrual element and a warm focal glow to a libary redesign.
Partner Project with Melanie Guyer and Lydia Black.
embodies the concept of comprehensive sustainability, aiming to uses only recycled cardboard, biodegradable glue, and milk paint, designed to be repurposed after small-animal habitat or nesting cradle cycle, maximizing utility
Design and Prototyping of a biophilic luminaire design. This luminare is built from recycled corrugated cardboard.
This project uses recycled corrugated cardboard to create a pendant light for a libary redesign. The intention is to create a soft focal glow to add ambiance to the redesigned space.
Partner Project with Melanie Guyer and Lydia Black.
Above: Plan/Section/Elevation
Below: Concept Rendering Sketch
Pebble, designed for the Price Science Commons cafe, is a glowing, biophilic luminaire that provides soft, diffused
Its organic, undulating form mimics the shape of a smooth pebble, a subtle nod to the natural and physical sciences library
Pebble’s cardboard enclosure facilitates a dynamic user experience, shifting the viewing angle into the luminaire’s glowing
ambient glow is diffused through its enclosure, minimizing glare from the LED lamp and improving the ambiance of the
This urban design plan is intended to redevelop an existing shopping mall as a mixed housing area with an array of housing from market rate to tiny home both temporary and permanent housing. We draw on a connection to the nearby sports field park to create connection and commerce.
As an urban design group project with Caitlyn Tino and Rae McKenna - I personally worked a lot on the street design. Above you will see a diagram of the street types.
A few plans and sections of the different street types in the project.
Masters of Architecture Student
University of Oregon
education
Masters of Architecture
University of Oregon
expected June 2025
PhD Electrical Engineering
University of New Mexico
November 2014
BA Liberal Arts
St. John’s College - Santa Fe
May 2008
skills
Revit
Rhino and Grasshopper
Adobe Creative Suite
Enscape
Vray
Karamba - Structure Simulator
Microsoft Office Products
Project management
Proposal and grant writing
work experience
Architectural Intern
June 2024 - December 2024
Bora Architecture and Interiors
Graduate Employee
Teaching Assistant: Physics, Building Enclosures
University of Oregon 2022-2023
Research Scientist
Los Alamos National Laboratory
November 2014 - December 2021
more available upon request
activities
Living Future Ambassador - 2022
Design Futures Conference Attendee - 2023
patents and publications
available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kimberley-Nichols-3
nichols.kimberley@gmail.com
505.709.0611 Abbreviated
