PORTLAND’S COMMUNITY THINK TANK
As the culmination of my undergrad studies, the comprehensive design studio flipped the traditional design sequence on its head, by first analyzing a structural system, integrating environmentally resilient enclosure and comfort systems, and finally aggregating and siting the experimental prototype. This heavy timber building is a proposed academic space for the future Roux Institute campus in Portland, ME, including critical resources to meet local neighborhood needs, and is designed for adaptability as future scenarios demand.
40’ 20’ 12’
2
Phase 1 iterative models
Ruby Kenausis - 2023
Program axon
Solar
Envelope section
1- Steel tie-backs
2- Heat-treated timber louvers
3- Steel maintenance catwalk
4- Inlet airflow
1 1 2 5 6 7 8 4 3 1 18” 2’-7” 12’-8” 10’-1” Classrooms Study Rooms Atrium Library Restrooms Circulation Public Amenity O ces Apartments
5- Single glazed outer skin
6- Double glazed inner skin
7- Operable inlet
Operable interior windows
GALLERY
Air-source heat pump
Triple-height atrium
Radiant
Integrated systems
Double-skin facade system
2’ Air insulation barrier
Stilted structure
floor assembly
PV
Clerestory windows 3
PANTRY CAFE DAYCARE CAREERS THERAPY THRIFT
8- Operable outlet
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 1 1 1 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 444 4 4 4 44
Site plan
1- Grocery
2- Cafe
3- Student housing
4- Admin/maintenance
1 2 3 4 Ruby Kenausis - 2023 4
- Permeable pavers
0 Level 1 50 25 N 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 5 6 2 2 2 1 - Laboratory 2- Classroom 3- Library 4- Cafe 5- Food Pantry 6- Freight Elevator 7- Gallery Space Level 3 1 - Laboratory 2- Classroom 3- Library 4- O ce 5- Career Center 6- Counseling O ces 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 5 2 2 1 - Laboratory 2- Classroom 3- Library 4- Study Room 5- Day Care 6- Thrift Store 7- Greenhouse 8- Water Storage 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 5 7 8 8 2 2 Level 2 1 - Mail Room 2- Trash Room Level 4 1 2 5
Ruby Kenausis - 2023 6
1/16”=1’0” scale model
7 Atrium interior
perspective
Northern
Pedestrian pathways
Early 1800s: First railroads chartered
1856: Earliest streetcar system launched in Boston
1897: MBTA Green line launched T T
1901: MBTA Orange line launched T
1912: MBTA Red line launched
1964: MBTA Commuter Rail launched
T T T
T T Park St Boylston Chinatown Downtown Crossing Tufts Medical T T
Andrew South
1964: MBTA bus system launched T
2002: MBTA Silver line launched
2021: Present day
2011:
Bluebike system launched
Broadway
Station
Courthouse World Trade Center Silver Line Way 2030: Proposed
MicroHUBs
Ruby Kenausis - 2023 Street configuration Greenspace network
Integrated with my earlier urban walk-up housing typology (see p. 12-13), as well as amenities both at public and community scales, my framework acts as a bu er zone between the various land uses surrounding the site, setting a precedent for the dynamic hybridity we should expect in future developments of the waterfront South Boston neighborhood.
8
URBANISM STUDIO: CHANNELSIDE RENEWAL
Site aerial
Bioswale courtyard
Waterfront recreation
Retail boardwalk
9
Welcoming plaza
I borrowed the idea of stringing the first iteration of my “pop-up” library proposal between two adjacent poles from the lightness and whimsy of the lanterns which float across the district. My second iteration, designed for permanence in a nearby site, features two of the same cone forms, one inverted and partially buried.
Circulation
Multipurpose Study Space
Library Collection
Sta Services
Culture/Arts Space
STEM Maker Space
Restroom
10
Iteration 1 study model
Ruby Kenausis - 2023
Program diagram
Siteplan
11 Level-1 Level0 Level1 Level2 Level3 Level4 Level5
Spatial model
Massing axonometric
Section
The spring 2020 semester provided an opportunity to examine an important residential strategy addressing the “missing middle” of urban density in housing: 3- and 4-story walk up apartment complexes. My proposal’s modest facade gives way to a glass-encased rear, whose shared circulation space also functions as a light well and greenhouse, allowing for a unique horticultural environment otherwise unprecedented for Boston.
FURNITURE URBANISM STUDIO
This unique course allowed me to generate iterative furniture designs from home under evolving constraints, manifesting into a final, modular prototype created with teammates, which was then enjoyed by members of the Northeastern community for several months.
14
Iteration 1: “sitting object” using found household materials
Iteration 2: programmed “sitting object” using construction materials
24” 24” 12” 6” Ruby Kenausis - 2023 18”
Iteration 3: further developed/finished “sitting object” using construction materials
Iteration 4: team-generated furniture module to encourage human interaction
15
