Savannah Paap
B. Arch Portfolio
Fourth Year 2024
Savannah Paap
Contact:
Email: savannahpaap@vt.edu
Cell: 540-905-9580
Warrenton, VA \\ Chesterfield, VA
References*:
Kofi Akakpo
Mentor
Denise Dea Professor
Marissa Kasdan Former Employer
*contact information available upon request
Education
Virginia Tech
Bachelor of Architecture
Minor in Industrial Design
2020- Present (Expected graduation 2025)
CDR Payette OpenLab Boston Studio
August 2023-December 2023
Rigorous integrative studio experience at Payette through Virginia Tech Center for Design Research.
Appalachian Futures Lab
January 2024- May 2024
Options studio focusing on community outreach in the small town of Pocahantas, Virginia, producing concept designs with feedback from residents in hopes of applying for grant funding.
Work Experience
Intern Associate at KTGY
June 2023-August 2023
Assisted in various roles on nearly 10 multi- and single family projects located across the Mid-Atlantic.Tasks included sat in on design meetings, contributed to unit floor plans in Revit, calculated glazing ratios and graphically represented in design sets, created detailed site models in Sketchup.
Shift Supervisor at CVS Health
November 2021- June 2023
Worked 15 hours a week on average while managing a full course load as a college student. Acted as manager-on-duty when store mananger wasn’t available, counted down tills handling both cash and checks, and designed attractive store displays.
Front Store Cashier at CVS Health
August 2021- November 2021
Worked on register while handling cash and engaging with customers. Assisted customers in locating various items around the store.
Skills
Digital Skills
Rhino 6 and 7
Sketchup
Revit
Lumion
Enscape
Adobe Suite
Microsoft Suite
Analog Skills
Sketching
Drafting
Model Making
Metal Fabrication
Other Skills
Customer Service
Communication Skills
Photography
Staunton Public Libary
Spring
Ocean Race Pavillion
Fall
Music Nook
Fall
Arch IV.
Multigenerational housing concept located in
Table of Contents Sunday Dinner Fall
15 weeks. In collaboration with Cholena Walker.
Boston’s Historic North End.
Arch
Public libary with cafe located in
III. 15 weeks.
Staunton, Virginia.
Arch III.
Disassemblable team pavillion to follow Ocean Race from port to port.
8 weeks.
Arch III. 10 weeks. Intimate music performance space located on the Virginia Tech campus.-ullamcorper 3-14 15-22 23-30 31-38 2
“Down and down and down the stairs.
I turn Grandma’s doorknob to meet the familiar aromas of Sunday Dinner, with family in line right behind me.”
Sunday Dinner
Sunday Dinner is a dense multi-generational housing concept conceived of in Boston’s Historic North End. The project weaves together practical concerns over the tight nature of the site and a desire to preserve the culture of the former Italian immigrant neighborhood, long since gentrified and flattened into a tourist destination. The project has a focus on the tenets of food, family, and play.
Studying ways of laying out circulation ended up becoming a major formal driver in the project and the main stair is exposed throughout the facade, weaving together the different programs and unit types.
1 -0 4ie n e t han reet site location + dimensions tileston street site to open space surrounding ratio 60 FT south tileston street elevation left wall shared with adjacent building north tileston street site back neighbor “prado” winter 24° 71° sun diagram 4
About Stairs
What started out as a question of how to fit a set of stair in a project with a footprint this small became a major driver for the project. Stairs became a tool for exploring connectivity within a multi-generational apartment-style building. Connecting these themes of food, family, and play, the stairs weave through these different types of program vertically and horizontally. Allowing for double height spaces and two bedroom units.
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the “central” the “switchback” the “bump out” the “open arms” the “in and out”
Second Floor Plan Fifth Floor Plan Third Floor Plan Sixth Floor Plan Fourth Floor Plan Seventh Floor Plan
the Adults”
the Adults”
“For
“For
the Kids”
Cousin’s
“Auntie’s” 8
“For
“The Skip-Stop” “My
Place”
The East Facade
As the project developed the meandering stair became more and more of a focal point on the east facade. We were interested in keeping a visual continuity of the stairs, unmarred by mullions. So, we developed a spider bracket to hold the glass in place. Organic in form, we 3d printed the prototype and created a half scale mockup of the connection, pictured to the right.
8”x12” glue laminated column washer stainless steel spider bracket 1/8” screw stainless steel screw cover 1/4” glass gasket 1 2 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 12
Creating Order
Where the East Facade, meandering stairs, and integration of structure were moreso about the subversion of the narrative, order was created in other areas of the project to contrast. The wall section is a pretty standard brick veneer connected back to CLT panels, as well as using modular windows on the facade to create visual order.
Solar Energy: Taking advantage of our buildings south-facing facade, much of the electricity is supplied through solar.
Plumbing: Hot and cold water are piped through a plumbing chase to the basement and bathrooms are stacked to minimize soil pipe size.
HVAC: The building utilizes a variable refrigerant flow system to place discrete units amongst a sea of glulam columns and beams.
Structure: Composed of glulam columns and beams with CLT walls, the structure of the building offers a beautiful interior finish as well.
flashing granite veneer 8in. CMU block brick tie brick veneer OSB sheathing air/vapor barrier roof joist rigid insulation air/vapor barrier roof membrane cant strip 18” x16” glulam beam brick tie 2”cavity brick veneer batt insulation 3-ply clt wall OSB sheathing air/vapor barrier steel angle double pane glass aluminum window frame 18” x16” glulam beam 3-ply CLT ceiling finished floor boards 2x6 floor joists subfloor brick tie 2”cavity brick veneer batt insulation 3-ply clt wall OSB sheathing air/vapor barrier steel angle double pane glass aluminum window frame 18” x16” glulam beam steel angle climbing net bolt batt insulation 3-ply clt wall brick tie 2”cavity brick veneer flashing granite veneer drainage mat concrete wall rigid instulation steel plate steel angle OSB sheathing air/vapor barrier CLT wall 2x6 floor joist finished floor boards subfloor drainage mat air/vapor barrier rigid insulation loose gravel drainage pipe pressure treated 2x6 concrete footing
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A rotated form in a rectilinear grid, A sloping atrium set against the topography, A library not focused on books.
Staunton Public Library
Located in the small but historic town of Staunton, Virginia, in this project I studied critical regionalism as a way to subvert what a typical public library on this site could look like. Path was studied in the sketches below to explore the intersection of path and program on the site, hoping to connect the urban fabric.
Subverting what a typical library could like was also expressed through the facade of the building. I used a series of Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete fins to protect the atrium from too much southern sun.
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Slope
Slope was important to this project in many ways, the first being that the building was set on a street with a pretty steep slope. Deciding to contrast that there is an atrium sloping in the opposite direction to maximize the light brought through onto higher floors. The atrium serves a connection between all floors while changing in scale to further control daylighting.
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Ocean Race Pavilion
In this design brief we were tasked with designing a team base pavilion for the ocean race, a sailing competition taking place in port cities around the world.
Our design had to be able to be assembled and disassembled before being shipped to the next port city, with all elements of assembly being able to fit into a standard shipping container.
Programmatic requirements included an exhibition space, a small office and Conference room, a workshop for sailing equipment, and a team lounge.
I became interested in a pinwheeling form and the intersections in the legs of the pinwheeling being opportunities for invention.
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Design for Dissassembly
Knowing the entire structure had to be assembled and disassembled a number of times, I researched the tenets of design for disassembly and implemented them into my design. All connections are mechanical as opposed to using adhesive and i also developed a module of steel stud panels to streamline the construction and deconstruction process.
top track
interior finish
steel c-stud
steel z-track
stud assembly at corner
bottom track
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The Window Condition
As the project developed i became more interested in the sloped window condition i had created. Connecting the office and conference room below I first imagined what the head condition could look like, in a detail drawn below. I then decided to mock up a 1:1 prototype of the sill out of sheet metal, having had experience with the material. The result was a 8 inch section, pictured below.
1:1 sloped window sill prototype, 8” section
22 gauge stainless steel sheet metal 3/8” bolts 1/4” acrylic weatherstripping
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1.5 in 3.0 in 4 ft 8 ft 28
3/4” polycarbonate
service core modules with electrical, hvac, etc, located below
Service Core Modules
As I further studied how to design for disassembly in this project, I began locate places where services could more centrally be located. The structure only needed partially be conditioned and electricity was not necessary in all areas of the pavilion. As I was trying to subvert my pinwheel form in plan, I decided the spaces where the separate masses of the pinwheel “trade” space be ideal locations for some of these services be located, one being located in the conference room and the other in the workshop area. These service core modules could be separate from the rest of the structure, with these services such as electricity and conditioning being kept in partially in tact during transport, allowing for more ease of assembly and disassembly.
second floor plan
floor plan a b b open to below 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 7 program 1 covered exhibition space 2 outdoor exhibition space 3 workshop 4 storage 5 conference room 6 team lounge 7 team patio 8 office 4 ft 8 ft 4 ft 8 ft
first
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“Walking through a colonnade, interspersed with trees and benches. I follow such sweet music as I see more warm timber ahead, Before sitting in the shade near cool concrete.”
Music Nook
For this project, we had to design a small music performance space on the Virginia Tech campus. The site was located on a grassy plot of land bound by Stanger street, Prices Fork road, and the Surge Space Building to the east.
and concrete were the driving factors for the work. Through this i crafted a narrative as you ventured through and around the building for different users.
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The Colonnade
As our site was a park at the time with very little circulatory infrastructure already in place, I set my music nook deep into the site, allowing for a longer sequence of entry. The glulam columns that serve as the structure for the building extend into the landscape, signally what lies deeper from the street entrance. Some of the columns have “fallen over”, creating benches to listen for the distant music from the nook. other columns are replaced by trees altogether.
2 6 18 2 6 18
longitudinal section aa
transverse section bb
The Spirit
From the outset of this project i was incredibly interested in the sensations experienced by the occupant. How would it feel to hug a curved wall as you turned a corner when a more rhythmic, ordered system of wooden slats appears to your right? How would it feel to walk next to these warm wooden slats on the exterior, before descending into a covered space filled with cool concrete benches. These juxtapositions and phenomenological relationships became their own syntax as the project developed.
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