Architecture Portfolio | 2023

REBECCA WOLFE

PORTFOLIO ARCHITECTURE

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL & ACADEMIC WORK

REBECCA WOLFE

ARCHITECT, NCARB

As a born-and-raised Alaskan, my home state inspires me with its extreme cycles of light, everchanging weather, and vast landscapes. The remarkable diversity of people and cultures in Alaska has enriched my worldview, igniting my sense of identity as citizen of the broader global community. As a newly-minted architect, I have launched from these early inspirations to develop a broad portfolio of work thus far, with specialties in designing for northern climates and devising compact yet comfortable living spaces. I firmly believe that architects have the responsibility to serve human society as a whole, and I aspire to contribute my skills and experiences to work that has a strong positive impact on the communities it serves, whether through the lens of climate justice, affordable housing, or civic projects. I am currently seeking job opportunities with teams who share my deep commitment to architecture that equitably uplifts people.

Please enjoy looking through this selection of my work, and I hope you will get in touch.

Rebecca Wolfe

907.570.6880

rebeccalnwolfe@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/rebeccalnwolfe

SELECTED WORK

PROFESSIONAL

ACADEMIC

ANCHORAGE: LIVING SMALL FOR ALL

RURAL TEACHER HOUSING PROJECT

UN-MEMORIAL

BOZEMAN CONVENTION CENTER

MUSEUM FOR NORTHERN SCIENCES

EARLY WORK OTHER

SELECTED CREATIVE WORKS

WOOLWORTH ADAPTIVE REUSE

The vision: create a mixed-use community space celebrating music and history within this beautiful streamline moderne building in downtown Bakersfield, purpose-built in 1949 for Woolworth’s five-and-dime. I was project designer on schematic through construction documentation phases, finessing a complex program featuring a restaurant, music retail store and practice rooms, 100-seat live performance venue, podcasting studio, offices, and apartments into the 44,000sf concrete structure. Don’t forget about preserving the historic stainless-and-Formica lunch counter, last of its kind in the country!

Place | Year:Bakersfield, CA | 2022-2023

Firm: Cater Design Group

Role: Project Designer

Principal:Daniel Cater

PRINCIPAL FACADE: 19TH STREET

ROOF

PRINCIPAL FACADE: K STREET

CLEO APARTMENTS

URBAN INFILL

Cleo is a 34-unit apartment building that is part of a movement to densify and revitalize downtown Bakersfield, where arts, retail, and food establishments abound and the potential to become a more walkable community is high. What’s lacking? Living spaces. I joined this project for design development and documentation phases with the goal of stretching an earlier design vertically, creating ground-floor “lofts” with mezzanine sleeping areas. The result is a series of efficient and airy apartments whose occupants will enjoy their front stoops leading straight into the heart of Bakersfield

Place | Year:Bakersfield, CA | 2022-2023

Firm: Cater Design Group

Role: Project Designer

Principal:Daniel Cater

NORTH (PRIMARY) ELEVATION

DOWNTOWN BAKERSFIELD

10minutewalk 5 minute walk

SOUTH ELEVATION

EAST ELEVATION

WEST ELEVATION

MIDCENTURY REMODEL + ADU

This quirky and colorful midcentury home needed an update that would respect its elegant bones. We proposed incorporating a skylit central stairwellgallery, shown here, to house the owner’s art collection and lighten the interior of the space. Other floor plan changes incorporated reuse of original wood panel finishes and delicate deference to the existing column grid. We also devised a new above-garage accessory dwelling unit in a second-story volume separated from the main house, allowing the simplicity of the original structure to shine on.

Place | Year Anchorage, AK | 2020

Firm: Lumen Design

Role: Designer

Principal: Petra Sattler-Smith

LAKESIDE REMODEL

The task: remove a massive, incongruous sunroom addition from this house and reharmonize the lake-facing facade. The existing interior felt like a dark maze, so the family desired more flow between the living, kitchen, and dining areas. By adding a structural beam, we blew the interior space open to create sightlines all the way through the house, with new windows on either end to accentuate the gesture. Even with less square footage, this house is now much more livable.

LAKEFRONT FACADE improvments

Place | Year:Anchorage, AK | 2020-2021

Firm: Lumen Design

Role: Designer

Principal:Petra Sattler-Smith

SOUTH ANCHORAGE

BUILDING ELEVATION

Donations Wayfinding

CASEWORK ELEVATION

Checkout - Employee View

CONCEPT RENDERING

GOODWILL ALASKA

These two large commercial projects, one a tenant improvement on a big-box strip and the other a successful conversion of an auto service garage, can hardly be called architectural masterpieces. However, they are notable exercises in how thoughtful design moves can make everyday architecture more pleasant for shoppers, employees, and passers-by. I worked on these projects from inception through construction and played a particularly involved role in the contract administration phase for the Wasilla store. Alaska’s Goodwills are some of the nicest stores, leading to some of the top sales records, in the country.

WASILLA

Place | Year:Anchorage, AK | 2018

Wasilla, AK | 2020

Firm: Lumen Design

Role: Designer

Principal:Petra Sattler-Smith

BOOTLEGGER’S LANDING TOWNHOMES

This lot presented a challenge: fit eight homes in a compact space, one of the last waterfront-adjacent parcels near downtown Anchorage, and give each a view of the ocean. The result is a unique staggered-unit site plan that allows for a sunset-and-sea-view balcony off each living room. The building is pushed to the street front to create a neighborly scale and relegate parking space to the rear. I joined this project for design development and documentation.

Place | Year:Anchorage, AK | 2017-2018

Firm: Lumen Design

Role: Designer Principal:Petra Sattler-Smith

Place | Year:Anchorage, AK | 2016

Firm: Willowridge Architects

Role: Designer

Principal:William Merriman

HYGGE HOUSE

Hygge is a Danish word that encompasses coziness, physical comfort, and being with loved ones. This home for a Danish family combined elements of a traditional Danish summer house, such as weathered cedar siding and decorative details, with contemporary clean lines and expansive glass to capture views from the hillside site. The transition between these two styles occurs gradually as the structure visually tumbles down the sloped site from the driveway entrance above.

SCHEMATIC SITE DESIGN

Place | Year:Anchorage, AK | 2016

Firm: Willowridge Architects

Role: Designer Principal:William Merriman

SWITCHBACK HOUSE

This house at the foothills of the Chugach Mountains is home to an active family of five. The clients’ strong connection to the natural world is evident in the design: a spruce tree on site that made way for construction now stands in its original spot, now the stairwell; an ample garage and daylight basement store kayaks and bicycles; an outdoor trellis supports hops plants. The clients’ desire to mimic the strong angles of a switchback trail cut into the hillside resulted in a dramatic shed roof.

NORTH ELEVATION

SOUTH ELEVATION

Thesis: Living Small for All

a master’s thesis by Rebecca Wolfe with advisors Ralph Johnson and Jaya Mukhopadhyay

a master’s thesis by Rebecca Wolfe with advisors Ralph Johnson and Jaya Mukhopadhyay

ANCHORAGE

1 : a means of securing : a source

Montana State University | 2019

2 : municipality in southcentral Alaska : by far Alaska’s most populous city •

Living small for all

e addi ion o accessib e a ordab e and e ficien * homes to single-family neighborhoods is an equity-minded, minimally-disruptive, and unconventionally mar e dri en a o im ro e ousin securi in nc ora e as a and ci ies nationwide.

Concept Diagram

an accessor d e in uni is a small house built in the back yard of a detached single- ami ome ddin s o exis in nc ora e nei bor oods cou d increase housing density by up to 68%, instead of adding sprawling new housing developments on the outskirts of the city. s ro ide assi e ren a income or omeo ners and affordable housing for renters close to urban jobs and amenities.

Thesis: Living Small for All 16

DESK

UTILITY MURPHY BED STORAGE WALL

12' - 0" 914 36"

914 36" 22'0"

a id

e er

FRIDGE BELOW STORAGE LOFT ABOVE (OPTIONAL)

Floor Plan basic dwelling 1/2” = 1’-0” 12’ x 22’ 264 ft2

americans with disabilities act (ADA) 60” min.  HIDDEN COUCH WET BATH

DINING TABLE

Customizability:

STOWED LADDER

1:12 ROLLING STORAGE

Young Professional Couple

are 30” min. 

• paying off student loans

• entertain friends often ome arden or res e ies

• walk or bike to work a eonecar or ee endou in s

• storage for outdoor gear

Elderly Retirees

• aging in place

• planning for decreased mobility fixedincome

s endmuc o imea ome

s ace or obbies o fice arden en er ain riends nei bors adu c dren i einmain ouse

• bonus space for visiting grandkids

or in aren ids

ids ee in a s ace i bud e

• saving for kids’ education nearc dcare rand aren se c a eonecar or or errands e c a bi e osc oo ene er ossib e

University Student

• study space

• walks, bikes, or uses public transit

• low storage needs ren s mon s ear s or ermren a or ouris sdurin

takes cost burden off student

Formerly Homeless Veteran

• works part-time ee soruses ub ic ransi

s ace or obbies o fice arden

roximi odo n o nser ices en er ains riends nei bors

The basic dwelling may not satisfy the needs of all demo ra ics o cou d benefi rom omes e nc ora e can be modified addi iona ro ram modules to suit the needs of other potential residents: families with children, elderly couples who may need storage for a lifetime of belongings, or just those who prefer a dedica ed bedroom i modes increases in oor area is modu ar s s em ex ands thus accommodating a muc ider rou o residen s

PROGRAM CUSTOMIZABILITY

Efficiency strategies:

RURAL TEACHER HOUSING PROJECT

SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

The Rural Teacher Housing Project is committed to building homes that will help, not hinder, the future of our planet, by providing examples of sustainable residential design that inspires others.

The design team has selected two performance metrics by which to measure the homes’ sustainability, to ensure that they will provide the most energy-efcient and healthy living environments possible.

The Living Building Petal Certication requires that the homes meet three of seven “petals” that make a holistically healthy living environment. We have set the goal to achieve the Energy Petal (the building must generate 105% of the energy it uses), the Health and Happiness Petal, and the Beauty Petal.

Additionally, we have set the goal of Passive House Certication, which ensures an optimal building in terms of heating and cooling. This goal will synergize with the LBC Petal Certication in terms of energy use and creating healthy, comfortable living environments as well.

As teaching + research assistant at Montana State University (MSU), I managed this collaborative study to design a small, prefab, modular home to be built by MSU’s Community Design Center and delivered to Montana towns to alleviate the intensifying rural teacher housing crisis. The design parameters were workshopped with community leaders in our pilot town of Augusta, soon-to-be teachers from MSU’s education department, and local sustainability specialists. Undergrads in an architecture studio course developed a wide range of designs that were critiqued by stakeholders, then synthesized into a single design that we built as a full-scale cardboard model and displayed at a public open house to collect feedback.

Programming interview with future teachers

Model review with Augusta community

Student designs

STUDENT DESIGN CONCEPTS

DESIGN-BUILD IN BOZEMAN

SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

MANUFACTURING + D C SUSTAINABILITY

The Rural Teacher Housing Project is committed to building homes that will help, not hinder, the future of our planet, by providing examples of sustainable residential design that inspires others.

The design team has selected two performance metrics by which to measure the homes’ sustainability, to ensure that they will provide the most energy-efcient and healthy living environments possible.

The Living Building Petal Certication requires that the homes meet three of seven “petals” that make a holistically healthy living environment. We have set the goal to achieve the Energy Petal (the building must generate 105% of the energy it uses), the Health and Happiness Petal, and the Beauty Petal.

Additionally, we have set the goal of Passive House Certication, which ensures an optimal building in terms of heating and cooling. This goal will synergize with the LBC Petal Certication in terms of energy use and creating healthy, comfortable living environments as well.

Relying only on current solar income.

Creating environments that optimize physical and psychological health and well being.

SYSTEMS DIAGRAM

to collectively remediate the memories that constitute our national bias called islamophobia.

This course explored the poetics of memory and its spatial manifestation in the design of memorials. After a tour of precedents in NYC and DC, each student picked a subject for memorial design. I chose to explore the heavy topic of Islamophobic bias in the American psyche, and how an “un-memorial” could help everyday Americans rewrite negative associations with their Muslim-American neighbors that are perpetrated by the media and public policy. This designed journey on the Second Ave Subway centers a portrait project that “showcase[s] the [Muslim] community’s diversity while giving it a human face.”*

Portraits of Muslim New Yorkers by Syed Yaqeen for Muslims for American Progress

Montana State University

BOZEMAN CONVENTION CENTER

This studio course began with two prompts: design a convention center with a 300-foot structural span and develop environmentally sustainable systems for its operation. This rigorous crash-course in integrating building systems from the start of the design process was a challenge, but I responded successfully with a long-span timber truss system supporting a ETFE (plastic) pneumatic building skin that responds to daily conditions by inflating (increased insulation and solar gain) or deflating (shading).

CONCEPT SKETCHES

Days

STRUCTURAL MODEL

WalkScore:Car-Dependent

TransitScore:MinimalTransit

BikeScore:Bikeable

AIA COTE Top Ten for Students Design for...

Total stormwater managed on site: 156%*

2-year, 24-hr event: 100%

Retention pond

TotalManagedOn 2-Year,24hrEvent RetentionPond

NativePlantings

Native plantings

Bioswale

Bioswale

PermeablePavers

Permeable pavers

*excess capacity treats Walmart runoff through shared bioswale

Level 1: Exhibitions Offices

Auditorium Cafe

MUSEUM OF NORTHERN SCIENCES

This building absorbs and emits light through a translucent tensile membrane that maximizes the availability of natural daylight for occupants and gives off a warming glow during long northern nights. The semi-conditioned interstitial space between the membrane roof and interior static structure functions as circulation space that alleviates energy use by preheating air for interior spaces and acting as an insulating layer.

University of Oulu, Finland | 2017

Level 2: Offices

Laboratory Living Pods

Level 3: Conference Saunas Living Pods

UNIVERSITY OF OULU EXISTING CAMPUS

The tensile structure that envelops the Museum of Northern Sciences acts as a biodynamic ”sky” for students studying within. The canopy bathes them in artificial light of a cool color temperature in the morning to simulate the blue tones of the sun’s early light, maximizes use of natural daylight during midday as it filters through the translucent tensile membrane, and then transitions back to artificial light in the evening, this time warm light to simulate sunset.

This method of lighting attempts to regulate circadian rhythms throughout the dark winter months when school is in session, countering the effects of seasonal affective disorder and increasing energy and productivity

MORNING

Mood: waking

Lighting: artificial

Color temp: 4000K

MIDDAY

Mood: alert

Lighting: daylight Color temp: 6000K

EVENING

Mood: winding down

Lighting: artificial Color temp: 2700K

NEW MUSEUM

ARBOR CAFÉ

EARLY WORK

University of Massachusetts, Amherst | 2015

Smith College

2011-2015

NORTHAMPTON TOWER:

FIRE AND EARTH

DIAGRAMMATIC LONGITUDINAL SECTION KEY FUNCTIONS

DIAGRAMMATIC LONGITUDINAL SECTION

RUNOFF FILTRATION

RUNOFF FILTRATION

PHOTOVOLTAICS FOR EV

SOLAR THERMAL PANELS

SOLAR THERMAL PANELS

PROCESS MODELS

RADIANT FLOOR SYSTEM

PARADISE PAVILION

OTHER CREATIVE WORKS

I really enjoy making things. From Norwegian sweaters to culinary treats, I like to spend my free time with hands-on projects. What’s that, there’s a wool scarf in the give-away box? The cat could use an elven cloak. Sometimes my pursuits are more serious, like rigging a sailboat, writing an outdoor adventure guidebook, or designing an accessible outhouse.