Rocaille Lelaina Argos Portfolio by Rocaille Argos

portfolio

B. Interior Architecture (Honours) Graduate Rocaille Lelaina Argos

p.01 (re): trouvaille

Hospitality

Interior

pRESERV-OUR Point

APRU Leadership for Sustainable Cities

Tuk Tuk House Street Life

p.09 The Lungs Innovative workplace interiors

p.11 Storytelling Centre Adaptive reuse interior

p.13

p.05 Threaded By Memory Temporary Interactive Exhibition

Glypto Apartment Renovation

Studies p.15

p.07 Sketch: Wonderland Pop up Cafe

(re): trouvaille

Accor Sofitel Competition: Hospitality Interior

Skills: Rhino3D, Photoshop, Enscape, Figma, Collaborative Teamwork

The brief for the Accor Design Award competition challenged participants to animate the Sofitel ground floor, reimagining the next generation of luxury hospitality by blending the local environment with the brand's French heritage through immersive and conscious design. The collaborative project, titled “(re): trouvaille” - a French term meaning something or someone lovely discovered by chance or a lucky find. The proposed design embodies the sense of discovery and chance encounters, creating a sanctuary that connects Country, sustainable practices, and an ethereal experience rooted in Australian Indigenous culture with a touch of French spirit.

As part of a four-person team, I co-developed the overall scheme and visualizations, transformed the meeting room into a café and retail hub, assisted in modeling the hallway, and designed the restaurant's organic facade and ceiling. The entry and hallway guide patrons through native plants, immersing them in the fragrance of flowers, tea, and pastries paying homage to Eleebana, the Australian Indigenous word for sweet and fragrant. Banquette seating offers a cozy spot for reading and tea, reflecting Sofitel’s 'Live the French Way' philosophy. Our design also champions sustainable fashion, featuring an interactive mirror for exploring eco-conscious apparel, aligning with Sofitel’s commitment to a sophisticated, sustainable lifestyle. This project earned us 3rd Place, marking a significant achievement in blending hospitality, sustainability and storytelling.

Proposed Ground Floor Axonometric

Conceptual Collage taking inspiration from nature in Australia and France

Hand-drawn analysis to explore and visualize the potential for community-led spaces to revitalize the heritage site

pRESERV-OUR Point

Critical Thinking and Design: APRU Leadership for Sustainable Cities

Skills: Rhino3D, Enscape, Illustrator

Research on Hong Kong’s existing heritage adaptive reuse strategies, as well as a detailed study of the chosen site, to inform design decisions and ensure contextual relevance.

As part of a two-week intensive program, I worked with students from 31 APRU universities around the world to address sustainability challenges in the Pacific Rim. In a team of five people from diverse disciplines, I co-developed the strategy and research for the "pRESERV-OUR Point" proposal.

Our proposal focused on the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings as public spaces in Hong Kong, specifically preserving Bishop Hill and the Ex-Sham Shui Po Service Reservoir. The project aims to transform these sites into vibrant community hubs that support local cultural heritage while fostering economic and social growth. Our proposal centers on three key interventions: creating community spaces that reflect the area's history and needs, designing an immersive hiking trail to enhance accessibility and promote local art, and establishing a reservoir museum to preserve and share the site's rich history. By combining sustainable design practices with community-driven solutions, we seek to revitalize these heritage sites, ensuring their long-term preservation and fostering a strong connection among local residents and visitors.

Presenting proposed strategy and research findings for the community

Developed a 3D model of the heritage site to conduct a thorough analysis, identifying opportunities for potential improvement

Visited heritage sites in Hong Kong, including the Blue House, to investigate existing adaptive reuse strategies and gain insights for potential applications

A laser-cut kit made from reclaimed timber provides an eco-friendly, dismantlable solution for creating safer and more transformable leisure pop-ups at heritage sites, replacing outdated metal structures and boosting social and economic development.

Plan I 10 AM I Alleyway Plan I 2 PM I Alleyway

Plan I 10 AM I Main Street

Plan I 2 PM I Main Street

Hand-drawn analysis of the community’s “Urban Room” activities throughout the day (Wat Chen Dam Daek. St.79 Alleyway)

Street Life Studies in Cambodia gave me the opportunity to interact with the community members in their neighborhood. Also to be able to research how they utilize the urban realm. And as a designer, it challenged my thinking of what I could do more to facilitate their needs sustainably without changing existing fabric completely. I designed with an existing vehicle called the tuk tuk and considered the existing community activity. Which was making the “urban room” . This was an issue as it tends to block an already

I made use of existing materials found in the area like stainless steel framing, mesh screen, and chalkboard as a foldable panel at the back of vehicle. This system facilitates not just domestic chores but also for businesses to have it all in one place. While offering a safe place for children to play and park their bicycles as they tend to stay on the street in my research. During feedback session, community members found the concept helpful to their daily life: extended the urban room for their domestic activities after using the Tuk Tuk for business during the day. While accommodating a safe place for children to play and retain the urban fabric of the neighborhood.

Brainstorming the concept of an Urban

Fosters existing communal activites

Tuk Tuk for extended urban room

Presenting proposed Tuk Tuk House Design to the community

Room

Communicating with Community Members

Visual concept of the proposed Tuk Tuk House

Tuk Tuk House Transformation

Section drawing showcasing the cafe’s playful lighting

Sketch:Wonderland

Interior Detailing: Pop up cafe

Skills: Rhino3D, Photoshop, Illustrator

The mood board collage reflects butterfly-inspired colors to create a whimsical lighting-driven atmosphere for the pop-up cafe.

The interior technical brief focuses on integrating natural and artificial lighting systems that align with the identity of the selected brand, Sketch, renowned for its whimsical high tea experience. The design embodies Sketch’s experiential ethos, immersing patrons in a world reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, where vibrant butterfly-inspired colors are reflected in the interior lighting, creating a whimsical, dreamlike environment.

This wonderland like atmosphere is enhanced by playful lighting during the day and dynamic projection mapping at night, casting graphic overlays on both sides of the architectural wing. The pop-up cafe reimagines the striking dome of Sketch London as an arched ceiling, allowing natural sunlight to filter through a colored skylight that evolves throughout the day, maintaining the whimsical ambiance. Arched windows, accented with LED strip lights and colored louvers, further enrich the experience, adding depth and vibrancy to the space. This project provided an opportunity to explore lighting strategies in detail, emphasizing the intended experience and narrative within the café. While the brief was challenging, it offered valuable insights into how lighting can be controlled to shape the atmosphere of the space.

Box pelmet with curtain and custom colored glass louvre detail NTS

Architectural wing with projector and skylight window detail NTS Pop up cafe floor plan NTS

BRONCHI / LUNG

ANCILLARY SPACES

A diagram inspired by the lung's form and process, illustrating its organic structure and efficient flow, translated into spatial design that emphasizes fluidity & connection.

The Lungs

Design Studio: Innovative Workplace Interiors

Skills: Rhino3D, Grasshopper, Illustrator, Photoshop, Enscape, Figma

My response to making an innovative workplace is fostering symbiotic relationships between workplace and people through bioinspired innovation to create a 'living workplace terrarium’. That reflects Oxman’s innovative lens towards nature and sustains the wellbeing of the people within the workplace. This concept is showcased by functioning the existing two floors as ‘the lungs’ that constantly grows with using the principles of a functioning ecosystem as a guide to nourish it.

In addition, the cellular/ biomimicry forms of these actions are created to further emphasize the programs generated and make the users feel a part of the “lung” circulation process that enhances their connection with each other. Moreover, I have incorporated an “algae” facade to further emphasize the idea of a “living workplace” to continuously nourish the people and the system within the space.

Proposed Workplace plan view

nutrient cells

Inspiration: Trachea structure

Inspiration: Cell oxygen exchange

Banquette

Workplace zone with algae facade

Algae Facade elevation and detail

Proposed site plan of Storyteller’s cove

Storytelling Centre

Design Studio: Adaptive reuse interior

Skills: Rhino3D, Photoshop, Enscape, Figma

This exploration highlights material choices and patterns inspired by Country, using natural textures with patterns reflecting Indigenous art and organic forms.

A diagram analyzing Country and mangrove resilience around Rozelle, translating their adaptive qualities into an open, organic spatial form for a cultural hub.

For my adaptive reuse project for White Bay Power Station is a Centre for Storytelling. This proposal revitalizes the dying “hearth” of the industrial beast by initiating active participation of immersive experiences to re-ignite the spark of lost creative expression. When we were walking on Country, I became inspired by how the mangrove tree is resilient and growing strong despite industrial development.

Therefore, my spaces take inspiration from how the tree is the visual connection between the water and the sky. In doing so, storytellers become the stars of these spaces , lighting up White Bay Power Station once more. Hence, it is a place that responds to the lack of cultural and recreation hubs in Rozelle. This gives storytellers the platform to share and learn stories while leaving their spark along the way. I have chosen to look into storytelling to foster creative communities when Caring for Country. Since stories are all around us and are an integral part of most art forms, music, and so on. But my pursuit of this concept made me realize that storytelling is such a broad topic and could be done in many ways. When we were walking on Country, I became inspired by how the mangrove tree is resilient and growing strong despite industrial development.

Re. connecting to storytelling craftmanship and taking inspiration from others

Rejoicing the knowledge learnt and sharing their stories to each other

Re.learning knowledge and finding their creative expression through the arts

Storyteller’s Cove perspective

Dindarra Exhibit perspective

Creative Seedling perspective

Interior Detailing: Apartment Renovation

Skills: ArchiCAD, Rhino3D, Photoshop, Enscape, Figma, Collaborative Teamwork

The Aria Apartment renovation project in Kirribilli, Sydney, was a collaborative effort aimed at designing a space that reflects the client's artistic lifestyle. Working as part of a four-person team, we developed the concept and design presentation with each team member focusing on specific areas of the apartment. My contributions included modelling the apartment base model, co-designing, modelling and rendering the living and kitchen spaces. Additionally, I worked in pairs on the apartment documentation package, then individually detailed the master ensuite and walk-in wardrobe using ArchiCAD.

The design concept, Glypto, draws inspiration from the art of sculpting—shaping and carving the space to embody self-expression. The interior features organic, arch-like forms, representing the process of carving the client’s personality into the apartment. Neutrals were used to create a sculptural atmosphere, with a material palette that reflects the idea of a blank canvas, allowing the client to infuse their artistic identity into the space.

Glypto

Bespoke shelf Detail

Living Room Perspective Render

Proposed Apartment Renovation Axonometric

Proposed apartment floor plan NTS

Proposed ensuite floor plan NTS

Proposed Walk in Robe short section NTS

Bathroom Dome Detail NTS

Concealed Floor Waste Detail NTS

Proposed ensuite long section NTS

Threaded By Memory

Exhibition Design: Temporary Interactive Exhibition

Skills: ArchiCAD, Rhino3D, Photoshop, Enscape, Figma

How can be memory be threaded through object and experiences?

The brief for this project was to select around 12 art pieces and create a temporary exhibit for the UNSW Paddington Campus Galleries. “Threaded by Memory" is an immersive exhibition that explores the sentimental connections we form with discarded objects, inviting visitors to reflect on the fleeting nature of the memories associated with these items. Featuring lightweight materials that enhance the temporary display like using curtains to create a visual transition, shifting from physical sentimental objects to nonphysical experiences through interactive activities, while incorporating recycled materials to construct the displays.

The showcased art pieces transform ordinary discarded items into extraordinary pieces, prompting visitors to appreciate live performances and engage with the displayed pieces up close. This design invites attendees to interact with the displayed items while reliving moments of joy and recognizing the value in what is often overlooked. Additionally, the exhibition highlights issues of waste and overconsumption driven by compulsive buying habits, prompting reflection on the impact of our consumer choices.