Jordanka Peycheva Professional and Academic Portfolio

jpeycheva@gmail.com

ham close community centre, london, 2020

type - professional stages involved - RIBA 0-3

client - Richmond Housing Partnership - Richmond Council - Hill Group procurement - design and build status - tender

role - RIBA Part II Architectural Assistant + Project Runner

The Ham Community Centre forms part of the overall regeneration of Ham Close in Richmond. Working collaboratively alongside the client team which includes Hill Group UK, RHP Group and Richmond Council, the new community centre will replace the existing accommodation of the Youth Centre, with more modern and suitably sized spaces to fit the current and changing needs of Achieving for Children (AfC). The scheme employs the idea of open social spaces within the public realm, specifically loggias. The typology of loggias has historically and today, remained a signifier of social space, as such these semi-public / semi private spaces allow for opportunities for interaction. The chosen materiality and tectonic expression of the new centre, such as white architectural masonry blockwork, green brick arched loggia and yellow fenestration aim to form a building type that feels grounded in its location yet civic and modern. The project gained planning approval in 2023.

Role includes:

• Working alongside a director to develop the concept design scheme within the planning + regulatory context;

• Co-ordination, design development with the design team, including client, planning consultant, landscape architects and engineers;

• Attending biweekly design & progress team meeting and relaying information back to team;

• Overseeing the production of the planning documents including 2 pre-applications, 2 design review panels and final submission. Securing planning permission for the new Ham Community Centre;

• Programme and resource management.

WR-AP Architects

achilles housing estate, london 2021

WR-AP Architects

type - professional stages involved - RIBA 0-2

client - Lewisham Homes - Lewisham Council procurement - design and build status - planning

role - RIBA Part II Architectural Assistant

The project is a part of the wider housing regeneration in Lewisham, working in collaboration with Levitt Bernstein and ZCD Architects, with the goal of delivering 350 to 400 units. The proposed scheme sets ambitious targets to set a new standard for affordable housing, dynamic commercial spaces, and a well-connected public realm, envisioned to be a catalyst for change in the wider area. Central to the brief is the preservation of the tight-knit local community and the provision of well build, user-friendly homes for the long term. Additionally, a key aspect of the redevelopment strategy is to increase the quantity of Council-owned homes available for social rent and private sale.

Role includes:

• Appraisal of building within planning + regulatory context;

• Attending bi-weekly design & progress team meetings;

• Co-ordination, design development with the design team, including client, planning consultant, Levitt Bernstein and ZCD Architects;

• Overseeing the production of the planning documents including 2 pre-applications;

• Attending and presenting the scheme to the current residents at two public consultations held on site.

25 coleshill road, london, 2021

WR-AP Architects

type - professional stages involved - RIBA 0-6

client - private procurement - traditional status - completed 2023

role - RIBA Part II Architectural Assistant + Project Architect

25 Coleshill Road is a total reinvention of ‘the ugly duckling’ on the street into a sustainable, contemporary detached family home. The clients brief included the reconfiguration of all the internal spaces, a near rear/side extension to incorporate a family area and the addition of new modern dormers to the top floor to improve usability. The existing dwelling had a very distinctive presence on the street as a standalone three-storey house painted in white, that differed from the surrounding Victorian traditional red-brick dwellings. The design of the new side and rear extension is respectful to the existing property profiles and its vernacular follows the pitch of the existing roof for both new extensions, which in-turn provides a playful outlook to the overall property when seen from the private rear garden.

Role includes:

• Working closely with the client to develop the brief that will best suit the family’s needs;

• Overseeing the production of the planning documents including the final submission, alongside securing planning permission;

• Working closely with contractor, MEP and structural engineers to deliver a negotiated tender package and subsequent construction package;

• Drafted the RIBA Domestic Building Contract 2018;

• Attended bi-weekly meetings on site, initially shadowing project architect in contract administrator role, and eventually taking over as project architect, issuing certificates and assessing valuations; carrying out final defects.

vincent court london, 2017

type - professional stages involved - RIBA 0-3 client - undisclosed procurement - traditional status - 2020 - ongoing role - RIBA part 1 architectural assistant Architecture Initiative

Vincent Court is an existing 1950’s residential development in the heart of central London, located within a complex architectural, cultural and historic setting. The proposed retrofit scheme seeks to increase the amount of residential accommodation through air rights development. Given the sensitive nature of the conservation area, the materiality, height and scale of the proposed extension were of particular concern. The scheme comprises of a rooftop extension that provides eight new residential dwellings with a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments, two new lift cores external to the existing building with high quality external cladding to suit the conservation context, replacement windows to the existing building and new balconies on the rear façade to all existing dwellings

Role includes:

Working alongside project architect to develop initial feasibility and design strategy for the proposal;

Co-ordinate and develop design after bi-weekly design team meetings with client and planning consultant;

Production of the planning documents including two preapp applications, two design review panel presentations and final submission;

Production of models and visualisations of the proposed scheme.

‘the city - a space for us’ somers town community centre, london

Kingston School of Art

type - MArch univeristy project (fifth year) year - 2021

professor - Nicholas Lobo Brennan and Theo Thysiades team - Jordanka Peycheva location -Kings Cross, London, UK

Building, unbuilding and rebuilding - Architecture as an environmental art.

No matter where, when or how public places and the cities we occupy, make us feel a certain way. In everyday life people talk about places from memory or experience, the way a neighbourhood has changed, what building has gone up or down. Cities grow larger or smaller, develop or decay, yet they remain, if not in the physical landscape, within the mental contours of the mind. This serves as the the starting point of a reflection on the role of building (and unbuilding) has in the shaping of the city. We currently live in a world of vast technical innovation and even faster progress, and amidst such urban chaos places change owners and design purpose quickly or simple disappear from the city landscape altogether. This poises the ultimate question of how do we want to live?

The project is located in the intricate area that is caught between the railway tracks of Euston and St Pancreas Station London- Somers Town, or as its famously known ‘that accidental enclave formed from the offcuts of historic transport engineering.’ The thesis project is response to this current condition of rapid development within the city and the impact this poses on the surrounding community. Within any area of regeneration the community facilities play vital role in the overall development of the area, as such the proposed scheme offers an alternative proposal with the aim of liberating the community spaces from burden of memory. The community centre and its walled gardens aims for the movement of people and things towards the spaces outside, redefining the parameters of public and private. The spatial relationship within the proposed project are about in-betweenness, generosity and an awareness of time. This thesis project is a response not only of how we want to shape our cities, but is also rooted in an understanding and exploration of the ancient technique of earth construction.

‘the useless cinema’

london

Kingston School of Art

type - MArch univeristy project (fourth year)

(project shortlisted for the RIBA SWLAG Awards) year - 2019/20

professor - Simon Henley and Matthew Blunderfield

team - Jordanka Peycheva

location -Richmond, London, UK

‘Nothing is harder to do than nothing!’

This project is a critical study and analysis of the architecture and symbolism. The project aims to become a pure composition of forms, which can be read in two ways - as the modest building set within the landscape, or a kind of sculptural form, with an isolating position in space and completely detached from gravity. The project aims to distort this initial idea of the relationship between signs and buildings, between architecture and symbolisms, between form and meaning.

Consequently, if we assume that everything is meaningful, we can either become instantly aware of the building’s meaning through semiology with its hypothetical flashy sign, or we can remain still and content with our intuition. Therefore, this project aims to bring the intuitive to the conscious level without the direct use of semiology. The scheme, although contradicting in its message at times, aims to portray architecture of communication over space, where each facade individually, might be completely silent, but together as a unity of pure forms, they become a communicative element within the landscape.

‘unsentimental contextualism’

Massachusetts, United States

Kingston School of Art

type - BA(hons) univeristy project (third year) year - 2017/18

professor - Rob Owens, Tony Fretton

team - Jordanka Peycheva location -Massachusetts, United States

Minimalism or minimalist art at its core can be seen as extending the abstract idea that art should have its own reality and not be an imitation of some other thing. We usually think of art as representing an aspect of the real world (a landscape, a person, or even a tin of soup!); or reflecting an experience such as an emotion or feeling. With minimalism, no attempt is made to represent an outside reality, the artwork wants the viewer to respond only to what is in front of them. The medium, (or material) from which it is made, and the form of the work is the reality.

The project is located on a former shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. The character of the site is heavy, laden with remnants of a once flourishing ship building industry. Iron, steel, timber, munitions, submarines, engines, car parts, salt, brick, and concrete all roam free.

In considering the concept of minimalism in this project, the proposal sets out to evaluate the coherence and applicability of its principles, seeking to identify those elements that are enduring. In the case of the dance hall abstraction is understood as something that is deduced through observation of the real. That, in turn, leads to a simplification of forms, enabling us to see, for example the space created by the three dimensional object rather than the object itself. Thus, acknowledging architecture’s prime mission of making space, not shaping of form.

The design will aim to provide an inspiring vast space which will mirror the fluid movements of minimalist dance as well as reflect the complex relationship between the surrounding industrial context of the Quincy harbour.

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‘TILE TO TILE’ fragment model

london, uk

type - competition and exhibition year - 2023

insitution - Royal Academy of Arts

team - Jordanka Peycheva location - london, uk

In an age of vast technological progress there is an inherit strive within humanity, specifically within art and architecture, to create a perfect narrative for an imperfect reality. Instead of letting this dissonance affect the individual or collective perception of past and present selves, it can be used to create a continuum for redefinition and re-exploration.

On a functional level ‘Tile to Tile’ explores the versatility of the plain rectangular tile by discovering its potential to function as beams, columns, slabs, openings, and closures where each tile relies on the others structurally, forming an interconnected fragment. Theoretically the fragment explores the relationship we have as designers to the past and aims to re-frame our understanding of the processes of traditional materials and construction by embracing the concept of re-use in architectural practice.

The architecture room at the annual Royal Academy of Arts Summer Show, was curated by Peter Barber, which this year celebrated the process of making, where work is analogue, crafted and handmade.

beacon for nature falkand islands, scotland

type - competition year - 2022

team - Jordanka Peycheva location -falkand islands, scotland

Building on traditional forms combined with the everchanging presence of nature, the building form seeks to express the permeability of structures and our relationship with the natural world. Inspired by local vernacular, materials and traditions the beacon is primarily concerned with bringing the qualities of the surrounding environment into the private experience of the occupants.

Given the temporary nature of the structure and its remote location, it has led me to imagine a simple and prefabricated form in order to allow for quick assembly and future adaptability on different terrains.

The principle of the project is developed around a single half-triangular timber module on a structural, economic and symbolic level. As the beacon will not contain any electrics or heating, the whole construction is based on a bio-climatic principles in order to passively regulate the temperature. With a combination of primary polycarbonate sheets and a trombe wall using nothing more than gabion wood, wire mesh and local river rock taken from or near the site, along with straw insulation between roof joists, ensures a thermal mass is created which will collect heat in during the day and release it at night.

rwanda chapel

rwanda,

africa

type - competition year - 2019

insitution - YAC competitions

team - Jordanka Peycheva and Thom Wood Jones location -rwanda, africa

Catholicism has been marred by its actions throughout history and in particular its lack thereof throughout the Rwandan genocide. The proposed chapel paves a new beginning between the people of Rwanda and the Church.

A chapel represents the spiritual values and history of people, this the main ambition for the proposal is to provide both a religious and conscious sense of self and safety to all whom may visit.

The main external visual focus is around the entry point of the chapel where a twelve metre tall concrete cross stands as both a symbolic representation of both the Catholic faith and one of peace and forgiveness. Which is witnessed upon approach, this is accompanied by the perforate brick facade which acts to embody and represent the lives throughout the Rwandan genocide.

The chapel is a home away from home, where people can eat, drink, play, act and meet. It is part and parcel of everyday life - it is there to be used and enjoyed - sacred and secular as two unified aspects of an integral and deferential whole.

“MORRINHO” (Little Hill)

Competion with Thom Wood-Jones

- Awaiting Results

than ever as a a population ranging ideal base demographic community learning provide educational formal city into the that spans formality

favela which not only space, with the goal circulation, recreation The building itself spaces, a library, a recreation area.

in particular its lack thereof beginning between the people of spiritual values and history provide both a religious and for the local community, but both peaceful and engaging, selfof a new congregation.

The main external visual focus is around the entry point of the chapel where a twelve metre tall concrete cross stands as both a symbolic representation of both the Catholic faith and one of peace and forgiveness. Which is witnessed upon approach, this is accompanied by the perforate brick façade which acts

“MORRINHO”

Rwanda Chapel

Although education has been predominantly recognised as a core human right around the world, there is still a substantial need for the introduction of educational facilities into areas such as the Favela of Vidigal, Brazil.

It is important to note that the main intent of the proposal is to provide a congregation that is not already formed as a community. For those in need of a sacred space within which they can gather amongst each other and form a deeper bond not only with themselves but also with the catholic faith.

The composition of the plan is designed to raise the main congregation space above ground level and create a linear journey of both compression and expansion, passing through light and darkness before reaching the heart of the chapel. The design aims to instill a sense of movement and dynamism, but also of rest and stillness, and for the reverberation that mediates between the two.

The slum [favela] has emerged more prominently than ever as a theoretically productive spatial ecology. Vidigal has a population ranging between 11,000 to 40,000 which provides an ideal base demographic for the introduction of a new primary school and a community learning centre. The proposed scheme aims to not only provide educational facilities but also absorb the urban fabric of the formal city into the texture of favelas and produce a gradient typology that spans formality and informality.

“Every corner in a favela is a shared communal space”

The project aims to create a centre point within the favela which not only provides a primary school but a publicly accessible space, with the goal of amplifying three core principles of favela life - circulation, recreation and gathering. All important parts of everyday life. The building itself comprises of multiple facilities such as teaching spaces, a library, a community outreach office and communal sports recreation area.

The fundamental and prime goal is to initiate social change through architecture.

The main external visual focus is around the entry point of the chapel where

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mass and air, due torri, bologna, italy

type - YACademy, private project year - 2023

team - Jordanka Peycheva location - bologna, Italy

“The less memory is experienced from the inside, the more it exists through its exterior scaffolding and outward signs.”

Pierre Nora

Today the last standing ‘Due Torri’ remain as the only carriers of Bologna’s past. These structures aren’t just architectural landmarks; they’re woven into the very fabric of the city’s identity.

In today’s world, identity is a complex and multifaceted concept. It goes beyond mere physical structures and extends into the shared narratives, memories, and values that bind a community. The proposed installation will create a new temporary identity through erecting a box around the leaning tower, like scaffolding, for the duration of the restoration work, which it is thought could take ten years.

The new museum’s architectural identity will be a huge, abstracted pavilion whose walls are covered entirely with a stainless-steel chain-mail mesh. The delicate enclosure will allow uninterrupted views, night-and-day, to-and-from the two iconic due torri.

The proposed installation doesn’t seek to freeze the identity of Bologna in a particular moment but celebrates the city as a living entity, constantly evolving and redefining itself. It prompts viewers to question preconceived notions, inviting them to actively engage with and contribute to the ongoing narrative of their city’s identity.

pavillions

towards the sky, seating system bologna, italy

type - built structure

year - 2023

insitution - YACademy

team - Jordanka Peycheva in collaboration with Orrizontale location -bologna, italy

tensengrity pavillion

london, uk

type - built structure

year - 2020

insitution - Kingston School of Art

team - Jordanka Peycheva

location - london, uk

theatre seating pavillion

london, uk

drawings and models

UN-Sited Interior, Monoprint