Design Portfolio

NICHOLAS POWELL DESIGN PORTFOLIO

I am a creative multidisciplinary designer with an interest in architecture, interior design, urban planning, and multimedia design. I was born and raised in Olympia, Washington. My experience growing up in the Pacific Northwest has given me an appreciation for social justice, the environment, and a desire to create spaces that work in concert with the natural world. I believe that by reimagining a built environment that is inclusive, resource-efficient, and supports individuals of all abilities, we can solve many issues facing us today. My approach to design is informed by a deep understanding of a place and the people who call it home; underpinned by research of history, culture, social and economic needs, and ecology. I am inspired by ancient building techniques, emerging technologies, and the potential applications of both to create innovative design solutions.

Nicholas Powell, AIAS

The purpose of this project was to select a household item to document, deconstruct, map, and reassemble as a completely new object. The project would serve as a catalyst for our design project later in the semester. I selected a toy accordion from the 1950’s because it’s unique shape, function, form, materials, and texture.

I documented each side of the original object in a series of photographs and created a threedimensional model in Rhino.

The dissembled parts were mapped and modeled Rhino showing the order in which they were assembled.

The reassembled object was documented in a photo series showing the

The reassembled object and the elevations of each side were documented.

WEST NORTH SOUTH EAST

The Seattle International District Opera House was inspired by the work of ARTIFACT. This was an individual project to design an Opera House that was at least ,000 square feet.

INITIAL SKETCHES

It became clear early in the process that the best way to accommodate the program on this site was to situate the majority of the stage facilities on the upper floor and to leave the ground floor as open as possible.

3D MODEL

Hallways on the North, West, and South side of the building provide vistas of downtown Seattle and Puget Sound.

The site is occupies half a block in Seattle’s International District. The site is sloped which presents an opportunity for access and egress on multiple levels. SITE MODEL

EXTERIOR RENDER

It became clear early in the process that the best way to accommodate the program on this site was to situate the majority of the stage facilities on the upper floor and to leave the ground floor as open as possible.

LOBBY

ORCHESTRA PIT

STAGE

NINE-SQUARE

Nine-Square is a personal project that is a study of how a traditional nine-square layout can be applied to modular housing units. I studied and applied passive house principles.

The structure is made of mass-timber construction which allows for maximum flexibility and accommodates future renovations.

The home is centered around a courtyard and each room has access to fresh air and daylight.

The floor plans place the service areas in the corners which allows the communal spaces which allows for connection between spaces and the outdoors, expanding the rooms beyond limitations of their walls.

Large windows into the courtyard connect the spaces visually, allowing occupants to be always feel connected even when in different areas of the home.

LOFT

BED

BED

LANDING

DINING

LIVING

FOYER

KITCHEN PORCH

COURTYARD

The Brown Residence is a project that was designed for a family of four utilizing traditional construction techniques. It was meant as an exploration of Revit and an exercise in construction document creation. This project was an individual project.

FRONT ELEVATION

The house is designed to be a contemporary house that would fit on a typical lot in a development.

3D SECTION

The house is designed to be a contemporary house that would fit on a typical lot in a development.

FIRST FLOOR

SECTION

CAPITOL HILL CO-OP

INITIAL STUDY MAQUETTES

Our study maquettes reveal a desire our desire to raise the bulk of the structure above the site and street level and to free up the lower levels for outdoor space.

Capitol Hill Co-Op is a team project submission for a competition showcasing the use of engineered timber product. My role on the team consisted of design development creation of three dimensional models using Sketchup and Revit. My team mates were Sydney Troy, Ethan Baum, and Dylan Moyano.

Our project was selected for first place by the jury.

The final model shows we elevated the residential portion of the building over the street level commercial and outdoor public terrace. Additionally, we subtract from the form to articulate the facade and allow for daylight to penetrate and allow for outdoor space for each unit.

It was our intention from the start to honor the slope of the site because it’s history as a “spite mound” is important part of Seattle history. We created stairs with stadium seating and later added a ramp.

EXISTING SLOPE TERRACED OUTDOOR SPACE

CAPITOL HILL CO-OP

Our model reveals how the interior walls can be rearranged, allowing for units to be combined as occupants family situations change over time.

CAPITOL HILL CO-OP

We utilize the rooftop of the neighboring building because they have the same ownership. We incorporate their rooftop into our open public terrace and effectively double the amount of outdoor space to nearly one acre in a neighborhood that lacks public park space.

FLEXICELL was an individual project to evaluate our skills. The projects were 50’ by 50’ and were meant to be arranged together in cells. We were to use as few traditional walls as possible and instead utilize various methods for visually and physically dividing spaces such as shelves, curtains, and levels.

We were given a short ani mation and were directed to pause it and use the colors as the basis for the layout of our building.

The final model for the floor plan articulates the forms of the floor plan into the vertical elements and openings of the structure.

3D MODEL

FLOOR PLAN

INTERIOR VIEW

3D FLOOR PLAN

The floor plan features different floor plate heights, curtains, shelves, and casework to divide the space.

This project was a submission to the 2022 Land Art Generator Initiative (L.A.G.I.) Competition. The directive was to design a renewable energy infrastructure is also beautiful. It was selected for publication in the 2023. My teammates were Alyssa Hall and Abigail Barnes. My role was to create the diagrams, write the narrative, and arrange the final presentation boards.

LOCATION

We designed a modular canopies featuring solar glass panels that can be config ured in a number of ways and meant to be scalable.

The competition project was developed to meet all seventeen United Nations Sustainability goals.

CONFIGURATIONS

HALF ARCH ARCH BUTTERFLY

Mannheim, Germany

The site is a former military installation that is being transformed into a park. The prototype design is meant to be deployed on the pathways within the park and to preserve the maximum amount of open space.

CONFLUENCE AQUAGRID

This is an individual project to develop renewable energy infrastructure based off our previous Powerwalk project. This prototypical design deployed solar panels over the irrigation canals of the Columbia Basin in order to generate clean power and conserve water resources.

LOCATION

The design consists of 20-foot modules with paved pathways on either side that provide opportunity for recreation.

The modular units would be deployed over the 2200 miles of irrigation canals.

The volume of the structure could be used for a hanging gar den that would provide year-round agricultural opportunities and help clean the air in this wildfire-prone region.

ALLIED ARTS

I am always learning about new things and I have many interests outside of architecture. I have used my education as an opportunity to learn about other creative disciplines and to broaden my design skills. These are a few examples of my explorations into new

EDITING

is a short video that examines the built environment as text and the history of human wayfinding techniques and devices.

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Some examples of school work and personal work.

This

SUPPORTED BY

Whitney Museum of American Art

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

This is an example of web page from a site I designed for a fictional non-profit using Word Press.

PHOTOGRAPHY

ARTS

DASHBOARDS

MOBILE LEARNERS

INTERNET PENETRATION

GLOBAL SKILLS RANKING

Architecture for Humanity, editor. Design like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises. Metropolis Books, 2007.

Botton, Alain De. The Architecture of Happiness. Vintage International, 2008.

Huxtable, Ada Louise. On Architecture: Collected Reflections on a Century of Change. Walker & Company, 2008.

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities: Orig. Published 1961. Vintage Books, 1992.

Kennon, Katherine E., et al. The Codes Guidebook for Interiors. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2018.

Knott, Mary Fisher. Kitchen and Bath Design: A Guide to Planning Basics. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011.

Lai, Jimenez. Citizens of No Place: An Architectural Graphic Novel. Princeton Architectural Press, 2012.

MacCarthy, Fiona. Walter Gropius: Visionary Founder of the Bauhaus. Faber & Faber, 2020.

Mars, Roman, and Kurt Kohlstedt. The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020.

McCamant, Kathryn, and Charles Durrett. Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities. New Society Publishers, 2011.

Miyasaka, Taiji. Seeing and Making in Architecture: Design Exercises. Routledge, 2014.

Mori, Alejandro Aravena, and Iacobelli Andrés. Elemental: Incremental Housing and Participatory Design Manual. Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2016.

Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books, 2021.

Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. Vintage Books, 1993.

Reinholdt, Eric W. Architect + Entrepreneur: A Field Guide to Building, Branding, and Marketing Your Startup Design Business. Eric W. Reinholdt, (Thirtybyforty.com), 2015.

Rocca, Alessandro. Natural Architecture. Princeton Architectural Press, 2011.

Simitch, Andrea, and Val K. Warke. The Language of Architecture: 26 Principles Every Architect Should Know. Rockport Publishers, 2014.

Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, et al. In Praise of Shadows Leete’s Island Books, 2008.

Venturi, Robert, et al. Learning from Las Vegas. The MIT Press, 2017.

INFLUENTIAL WORKS

A selection of works that have influenced my views about design and architecture.

THANK YOU

/NicholasCPowell /n.c.powell ncpowell.com ncpowell@icloud.com