rahul desai
portfolio.
MY WORK IS DRIVEN BY A DESIRE TO INNOVATE, WHETHER THROUGH ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS, REGENERATIVE MATERIALS, OR UNTESTED IDEAS, WITH THE GOAL OF CREATING ARCHITECTURE THAT IS ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE, IMAGINATIVE, AND FORWARD-LOOKING.
London
RAHUL DESAI
Part II Architectural Assistant
EDUCATION
Master of Architecture (RIBA Pt II)
• Ma with Distinction in Architecture
• Foster + Partners Prize for ‘Technical Innovation in Design’ winner for second year project, ‘Hemp-Stead Base.’
• RIBA West London Architects Prize nominee for first year project, ‘Euston Events Circuit.’
• Winner of the ‘Inventive Award’ at Westminster University’s Fabrication Lab event.
Bachelor of Architecture (RIBA Pt I)
• BSc with Honours First Class in Architecture
• Winner of the ‘Sensitivity to Context Prize’ awarded for final year proposal, ‘The Pool Meadow Project.’
Secondary Education
• A-levels: Mathematics, Physics, Product Design, grades A-B.
• 10 GCSEs, grades A*-A.
• CAD Software
• Rendering and Visualisation
• 3D Modeling
• Graphics and Presentation
• Office and documentation
• Part I Architectural Assistant
SKILL SUMMARY
rahuld.2202@gmail.com
07759198320
University of Westminster September 2023 - June 2025
Coventry University
September 2019 - June 2022
Oaks Park High School September 2011 - June 2019
Revit (5 years, academic), Archicad (1 year, industry), AutoCAD (3 years, academic and industry), Rhino (2 years, academic)
D5 Render (2 years, academic), V-Ray (2 years, academic)
SketchUp (8 years, academic and industry), Maya (2 years, academic) Full Adobe Suite (6 years, academic and industry) Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint (8 years, academic and industry)
WORK EXPERIENCE
• Experience preparing project programmes, briefs, design processes and technical drawings, taking projects from RIBA stage 0 to 4.
• Preparing architectural concepts and design programmes through safety conscious and logical design.
• Drawing in 2D and 3D using ArchiCAD, AutoCAD and Revit to produce floor plans, sections and 3D massing of a proposal.
• Exercising clear and effective communication between architects, clients, M&E and structural engineers to ensure involvement in a project is professional and in the clients best interests.
• Student Internship
• Practiced 2D/3D visualization and AutoCAD for drawing buildings and objects.
• Gained insights into site analysis, client meetings, and effective architectclient relationships.
• Presented personal project in a critique format to mentors and peers.
• Student Internship
• Attended meetings to learn project planning and client interaction.
• Created massing diagrams using Photoshop, SketchUp, and AutoCAD.
• Presented project in a critique format to mentors and peers.
IDP West-midlands August 2022 - August 2023
Pollard Thomas Edwards February 2019 - March 2019
April 2019 - May 2019
EUSTON EVENT’S CIRCUIT Masters Project (2024)
RIBA West London Architect’s Prize Nominee
HEMP-STEAD BASE
Masters Thesis (2025)
Foster + Partners Prize for Technical Innovation in Design
(2022)
Winner of the ‘Sensitivity to context prize‘ at Undergraduate exhibition
GEOMETRIC EXPLORATIONS
Masters Project (2024)
INDIVIDUAL PROJECT PORTFOLIOS OR FURTHER PROJECT EXAMPLES CAN BE PROVIDED UPON REQUEST.
Hemp-Stead Base
Project type
Year
Location
Programme
Accolades
Masters Thesis
2025
RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire
Sustainable hemp based village with circular production and living
Foster + Partners Prize for Technical Innovation in Design
Hemp-Stead Base is a sustainable village producing locally sourced hemp-based construction materials. It replaces high-emission materials like steel and concrete with carbon-negative alternatives such as hempcrete, hemp-rebar, and hemp-stalk trusses. Operating on a circular economy, hemp is grown, processed, and later repurposed into compost and animal bedding. A bioplant powers the site with renewable hemp ethanol. Located at the disused RAF Upper Heyford airbase, the project reuses Cold War-era buildings alongside temporary structures and homes made from hemp-based materials.
Farm equipment storage
Farm workers operations and amenities
Pre-processing zone
Storage facility
Deconstruction facility
Hemp cultivation farm land
Visitors centre (Control tower)
Hemp curing
Passive hemp drying barn
Reception
Bioplant
Microfactories
Hemp-ethanol silos
The proposal introduces hemp-based truss systems to adapt the derelict structures for new, flexible uses without destructive intervention.
A hands-on exploration of hempbased construction, focusing on joints, bracing, truss elements, and hempcrete walls. The handmade prototypes helped refine the structural logic and material performance of the final design.
The bio-plant processes raw hemp and produces bioethanol to power homes, and microfactories on the site.
Internal view of the bio-plant’s raw hemp processing facility.
with intumescent paint to enhance fire resistance.
Hemp-lime elements include fire-retardant additives within the mix. Ground floor of the workers commune and a detail of its upper floor to external wall connection.
hemp-based components are treated intumescent paint to fire resistance.
Hemp-lime elements
fire-retardant additives within the mix.
Upper floor beam to wall connection
floor screed finish hemp fibre slab cast in situ ceiling plasterboard hemp fibre reinforced concrete beam hardened hemp rope reinforcing bar natural hemp fibreglass reinforcing stirrups engineered natural hempwood hemp-lime render infil hempcrete hemp stalk frame formwork
reinforcing engineered
hempwood battons corrugated hemp fibre cladding
Upper floor of the workers commune and a detail of its modular hemp space frame system.
Upper floor to column junction
hemp fibre cluster columns
straight reinforcing bar connecting columns to floor slabs
hempcrete column stump floor screed finish
hemp fibre slab cast in situ
hemp based rebar slab reinforcment mesh
ceiling plasterboard
secondary hemp cluster joists
primary hemp cluster beams
Project type
Year
Location Programme
Accolades
Masters Project 2024
Euston, London
Prefabricated construction and community-led housing
RIBA West London Architects Prize nominee
Emerging from the remnants of a failed HS2 endeavour at Euston Station, the proposal stands as a beacon of renewal and innovation in a dormant space. The site hosts a factory churning out pre-fabricated panels to create trolley cars that host pop-up events around London while simultaneously crafting bespoke apartments that reflect the diversity and dynamism of their inhabitants. The proposal also aims to act in stark contrast to HS2, and seeks to connect London through instant architecture to facilitate local community engagement and cultural exchange.
Map of the proposed transport route around London
ARRIVAL
Vehicle ‘bases’ arrive at the factory from Derby’s tram manufacturing facility
ARRIVAL
ARRIVAL
Vehicle ‘bases’ arrive at the factory from Derby’s tram manufacturing facility
Vehicle ‘bases’ arrive at the factory from Derby’s tram manufacturing facility
ARRIVAL
Vehicle ‘bases’ arrive at the factory from Derby’s tram manufacturing facility
EVENT
They are prepared and then open to the public in designated spaces
EVENT
EVENT
They are prepared and then open to the public in designated spaces
They are prepared and then open to the public in designated spaces
ASSEMBLY
Vehicles are assembled on site to create stages, cafe’s, libraries etc
EVENT
They are prepared and then open to the public in designated spaces
ASSEMBLY
Vehicles are assembled on site to create stages, cafe’s, libraries etc
ASSEMBLY
ASSEMBLY
Vehicles are assembled on site to create stages, cafe’s, libraries etc
Vehicles are assembled on site to create stages, cafe’s, libraries etc
ASSEMBLY
Vehicles are assembled on site to create stages, cafe’s, libraries etc
TRANSPORT
They are then take around London to various locations via a transport network
TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT
They are then take around London to various locations via a transport network
They are then take around London to various locations via a transport network
TRANSPORT
They are then take around London to various locations via a transport network
DISASSEMBLY
The vehicles return to the factory where materials are stripped and stored for reuse.
DISASSEMBLY
DISASSEMBLY
The vehicles return to the factory where materials are stripped and stored for reuse.
The vehicles return to the factory where materials are stripped and stored for reuse.
STORAGE/DEPARTURE
STORAGE/DEPARTURE
STORAGE/DEPARTURE
The ‘bases’ are then either stored underground, taken to other cities via national rail, or returned to Derby
The ‘bases’ are then either stored underground, taken to other cities via national rail, or returned to Derby
The ‘bases’ are then either stored underground, taken to other cities via national rail, or returned to Derby
STORAGE/DEPARTURE
DISASSEMBLY
TRANSPORT
They are then take around London to various locations via a transport network
The vehicles return to the factory where materials are stripped and stored for reuse.
The ‘bases’ are then either stored underground, taken to other cities via national rail, or returned to Derby
An exploded axonometric view of the ground and upper floor spaces, along with an event being set up in the adjacent green space.
Technical drawings of the housing complex
The Pool Meadow Project serves as a new central hub for Coventry, encompassing a transport centre, social hub, affordable housing complex, and urban farm. This project aims to highlight pressing issues in Coventry and celebrates solutions to these challenges through its striking design and multi-functionality. The prominent use of timber, integration of green spaces, and combination of practical elements give the building a distinct identity, emphasizing community, sustainability, and social change.
Ground floor plan
First floor plan
Green roof and drainage detail
Curtain wall detail
of a site, programmatic diagrams, floor plan design, technical design and fire strategy drawings. These projects include a leisure centre, various residential schemes and a care home for SEN children.
Leisure centre spatial planning- Ground Floor
Leisure centre spatial planning- First Floor
Experimenting with spatial arrangements helped refine room placement and circulation, improving my ability to design with user experience in mind. The image shows a floor plan variation developed to support phased construction, allowing for the demolition of the existing leisure centre.
The early stages of the project involved research into user needs to ensure comfortable, accessible living with spaces designed for daily tasks. The images show bubble diagrams exploring spatial adjacencies to support this layout.
The site, pre-development. A disused school caretakers bungalow
Render of the proposal (produced after my time at the practice)
Geometric Exploration
Project type
Year
Exploration
Masters Project 2024
Parametric design, dynamic facade design, procedural modelling, computational design
This chapter showcases a series of explorations in geometric modelling using Autodesk Maya. Through these experiments, I have focused on creating intricate shapes and structures that highlight the intersection of form and spatial design. These studies also explore the potential application of complex geometries in architectural façades, demonstrating both technical proficiency and creative thinking.
