Cecilia Lo - Portfolio of Selected Works

Cecilia Lo of selected works Portfolio

Projects

Academic

The Diverted Creek architecture comprehensive studio 04

Mountan Valley Park landscape comprehensive studio 20

Chinatown Collective heritage, culture, identity 36

Bitehaus dental Professional 44

Novel50

Blood Alley Square56

The Diverted Creek

Location: Britannia Beach, BC Architecture Comprehensive Studio

The Diverted Creek is an architectural exploration of the relationship between humans and nature through experiences with water.

Britannia Beach is a historic mining town, which has had an entangled relationship with water. The town’s water systems have been harmed by the mining industry, and in return it has caused harm though major flooding events. This project coordinates the inherent qualities of water with architecture in hopes to create spaces that are sensitive to and engage with changing conditions.

The project site is situated on the northwestern corner of Britannia Beach, within a proposed townhouse development. Directly north is Britannia creek, a rehabilitated stream that exits into the Howe Sound. To bring water closer, a diverted creek is introduced on the site.

Water Treatment PlantBritannia Mining Museum

Project Site

Britannia Creek site of proposed Britannia Beach townhome development

Howe So u n d

6 The Town of Britannia Beach

adjacent intersect suspend

Program Parti & Building Massing

The predetermined program consists of a community hall, bath house, hotel, dining area and shared offices, reception and service spaces. We separate these programs into 3 buildings and arrange each building so that they have spatially distinct relationships with the creek both horizontally and vertically.

Three relationships are defined: adjacency, intersection, and suspension. We acknowledge the diverted creek as an autonomous identity and respond to it by accounting for water’s ability to change. As a result, each building provides unique opportunities of interaction between water, the creek, and the body.

BrittanniaCreek

Proposed Townhome Development

The Diverted Creek

Programs are then arranged in response to site conditions, with spaces of rest being furthest away from the highway noise and commercial streets. The community hall adjacent to the creek, the bathhouse intersecting it, and the hotel rooms suspended above. On the north end of the site is a copper floodwall instead of the development’s proposed riprap. This material is an acknowledgement of the history of copper mining in the town.

Site Plan

Community hall Hotel (above)

Bathhouse

Entry is typically from the west, first encountering the community hall, then walking through a grass-paver walkway to the bathhouse and hotels.

The building forms respond to the creek through the pitch of the roofs and a staggering of its relative position to the creek. As one is welcomed to the site, the low pitch of the community hall roof acts as a visual cue to the building entrance. The change of roof pitch opens up an exterior covered corridor to enter into the space.

Mechanical Space & Cistern

Washrooms

Lounge Space Entry

Diverted Creek

10 1| Site Entry Perspective, Winter Morning

Opening for natural ventilation, protected with steel mesh screen

Twinwall polycarbonate (R-1.62)

Triple pane curtain wall

Materiality of these buildings emphasize the presence of water in different forms: Corrugated black metal roofing announces the sound of raindrops falling. The mass timber structure changes color as it interacts with moisture. Polycarbonate and glass dividers fog as water evaporates and condenses.

Stairway to Tearoom

Bathing Atrium

Outside the Community Hall, Autumn Evening

Detail Elevation,

towards

Standing seam metal roof

Roofing membrane

5” high density spray foam

Tongue-and-groove roof sheathing

Triple pane curtain wall overlooking bathing atrium

Wood plank finish

4” concrete screed with hydronic radiant tubing

2” XPS insulation Air barrier membrane 5-ply CLT panel 5x12” glulam spaced at 22” o.c.

Tatami mat Tatami cushion Vapour membrane

4” concrete screed with hydronic radiant tubing

2” XPS insulation Air barrier membrane 5-ply CLT panel 5x19” glulam spaced at 22” o.c.

Wood planks clad drop ceiling 12 x 12” supply air duct for tearoom above, hidden electrical systems

Pilkington Profilit Triple-Glazed Channel Glass System with thermal insulation (R-5.2)

3/8” mm toughened glass wearing layer with non-slip safety glass 5/8” cavity 5/8” double glazing

Double glazed window beyond

Two layers plaster finish

Waterproof membrane

Concrete slab supporting creek

Wood sealant Recessed 1x4 duckboard

Wood sleepers sloped towards drain

Aluminum vapour barrier

Epoxy primer

4” Concrete slab

Peel-and-stick waterproof membrane

6” XPS rigid insulation

Gravel

Compacted soil

Concrete slab

6 mil. polyethylene vapour barrier Gravel

Compacted soil

Concrete footing on piles beyond water table

2| Observing the diverted creek while basking in the sauna

3| A view into the Tea room

Offices / Back of House

Tearoom

Bathing Atrium

Mechanical Space

Sauna

25mm Vertical wooden planks

25mm Horizontal wood strapping Self-adhesive membrane 20mm Plywood sheathing

R-5.0 Insulation in between 152mm double stud wall with alternating 51 x 152mm studs

Vapour barrier

2-ply 13mm Gypsum wall board

27mm Transparent corrugated polycarbonate anchored to 38 x 191mm joists spaced 914mm o.c.

51mm dia. steel bar on sliding track

13 x 13mm White mesh polyester net fastened to 75mm steel bar

Drainage channel insert into beam and column

4mm Tile

4mm Waterproofing over tile backing board

25mm Backing board

122mm Precast concrete Self-adhesive membrane

R-5.0 Insulation in between 280mm double stud wall with alternating 51 x 140mm studs

Vapour barrier

2-ply 13mm Gypsum wall board

52mm Mulch

460mm Planting soil mix

250mm Rock lining 75mm Gravel filter layer

Existing subgrade

Small boulders & rock step mix

150mm Rock lining

460mm Sand setting bed

Existing subgrade

15 0 0.512m 4| Hotel Detail, suspending over the Diverted Creek Existing subgrade

On the very east of the hotels is where the diverted creek starts. A mini waterfall hides the outlet pipe and the gently sloping landscape invites walking along the creek bed. Visitors are offered various opportunities to interact with the diverted creek itself through the constructed landscape.

At the west, the creek is released off the site. It spills out the metal scupper welded onto the copper retaining wall, through the pedestrian path and returns to Britannia Creek.

Creek entrance on site Creek under the hotel

Creek entrance to Bathhouse

Creek through the Bathhouse

Creek adjacent to Community Hall

Creek adjacent to Community Hall

Creek released into Brittannia Creek

Overall, the project acknowledges the history Britannia Beach has had with water and represents how the town is adapting for future change. The community hall, bathhouse, and hotel compose a design that integrates water with architecture. It accepts water rather than rejecting it, offering a place of interaction and exploration of the relationship between humans and nature - a didactic approach to fostering recognition of water as a dynamic entity.

ADVISERS

RACHEL LASZLO TAIT DAVID ZIELNICKI

NATASHA DE VRIES CAROLYN WU

Mountain Valley Park

Location: North Vancouver, BC Landscape Comprehensive Studio

North Vancouver is known colloquially as Vancouver’s rugged backyard. Early Vancouverites would make the journey across the Burrard Inlet to visit the mountains. Through this, North Vancouver’s old age calling card has been “where the mountains meet the sea.”

However, with urban development, the gap between the mountains and the sea has grown.

Waterfront Park is located along the waterfront edge of North Vancouver. This park has been coined one of “Vancouver’s Saddest Parks”, with two large areas of lawn bisected by an active railway. This site is situated in an area where tidal mudflats and seasonal creeks used to be prominent.

Recognizing the history and importance of water on site, our project makes visible these processes to embrace the movement of water.

We construct a narrative of a raindrop to guide our design decisions.

Waterfront Park, Existing

Waterfront Park south

Waterfront Park north

BCIT Marine Campus

Residential Apartments

Boat Launch

It falls as snow and sits as the temperatures change.

Melted snow flows into the Capilano watershed that joins Mosquito Creek.

Water empties into the ocean where it then evaporates

Eventually, the water droplet rains into a reservoir and travels through pipes, winding down the streets of North Vancouver

It also falls onto the lawn of Waterfront Park

where it sits in an endless field of muddy grass and rests indefinitely with nowhere to go

The journey of a raindrop starts in the mountains

Rather than sitting indefinitely on the current lawn, we imagine a raindrop that would fall into the bioswale, wetland, onto the tidal mudflats, or into the water infrastructure, creating a variety of opportunities for users to engage with.

Entry Plaza Aspen Grove Seating Nook Valley

Bioswale Ridge Walk Lookout Railway Crossing

Wetland Habitat Dock Meditation Mound

Open Lawn Adventure Hill Boat Launch

Reflection Stroll River Promenade North Entry Plaza

Wetland

RidgeWalk

Train Platform

3/30

Aspen Grove

Seating Nook Valley

North Entry Plaza

1/26

South Entry Plaza

3/28

26 2/28 1/28

3/33

2| View South from the North Entry Plaza

3| View South from the Train Crossing

This narrative is translated to three main design moves:

1| Considering physical and visual accessibility by creating zones of adventure and respite through planting and materiality.

3| Aspen Grove to Seating Nook Valley Cross Section

1| Aspen Grove Extruded Section

Shorepine Planting Primary Path

Aspen Grove Path Shorepine Planting

Seating Nook Valley

2| Seating Nook Valley Extruded Section

2| Focusing on the human experience while maintaining a biophilic approach by creating opportunities for park users to immerse themselves in nature.

Walk Longitudinal Section

1| Deschampia drifts in the Aspen Valley

Aspen Grove Park Lookout

Ridge Walk

2| Looking out the Lookout point

Play AreaRidge Walk Reflection StrollPlay Area

2| Shifting the cut and fill of the site to direct water flow, enhance habitat and create viewpoints that encourage exploration.

Entry Plaza

Site

152 x 89 x 16mm Steel beam

152 x 152 x 23mm Steel Column 18mm Bar grating with 5mm bearing bar width, stainless steel finish

63mm

6.3mm anchor block welded to grating and fastened to beam below

Bar grating, stainless steel finish

152 x 89 x 16mm Steel beam

152 x 52 x 23mm Steel column, height varies Base plate Anchor rod

Concrete footing Compacted subgrade

33 0 5 110m 10mm 1219mm 914mm

3| North Entry Plaza Extruded Section

4| North Entry Plaza Trench Key Plan

Steel Grate Attachment Detail

0 5 110m 2 2| North Plaza Swale Planting

Through these design moves a condensed mountain to sea transect is created, transforming Waterfront Park to a new green retreat- the Mountain Valley Park.

ADVISERS

INGE ROECKER

HELEN MA

WAN QI

DOUGLAS ROBB KAREN WAN-GAUTHIER

Chinatown Collective

Location: Vancouver, BC Graduate Thesis

This thesis seeks to represent culture, heritage and identity through storytelling. Stories take us places, they allow us to understand different perspectives, memories, becomings and truths. Through storytelling, I explore how heritage can be spatialized and how its representation reframes culture and identity.

As a first generation Chinese-Canadian settler immigrant, I look to investigate the forces of the built environment that has shaped my personal identity and the forces that are shaping others perception of my identity. I situate my investigation in the context of North American Chinatowns, one of the most glaring examples of a Chinese-Canadian space. It is through this story that I explore Chinatown as a place.

Chinese person Chinese immigrant

Chinatowns are seen, felt, heard, smelt, understood and lived in through memories, meaning, culture and people. Its meaning is continually being written and rewritten. Its understanding changes as the community’s perspectives continually diverge and converge. Its spaces have been harmed by heritage conservation methods and regulation. By commodifying heritage, these naturally changing spaces have been forced into stagnation because of competing pressures of nationalism and consumerism. They’ve become representations of an ideal that is imposed on by designers, politicians, and government.

E. Pender Street

The goal of this thesis is to move past colonial habits of preserving the past and understand that places change with their people. Heritage must be sustained and defined by the everyday lived experiences in order to result in the creation of resilient cultural spaces.

Through my exploration of story, the capacity of design to respond to these dynamic meanings of culture, heritage and tradition is questioned. What do these places become when they are created, designed, and inhabited by the community living there? Where do designers stand in this process of identity building and placemaking?

The Characters

The story of Chinatown is a collective. This novel is just one fragment of a collective memoir. read the full thesis here

ARCHITECTURE INC.

ROLE SCHEMATIC DESIGN CONSTRUCTION PERMIT MILLWORK DRAWINGS

Bitehaus Dental

Location: Toronto, ON Completed Summer 2018

Striving to be Toronto’s best dental clinic, Bitehaus offers a contemporary approach to a thoughtful dental experience. Situated in the intimate Hillcrest Village neighbourhood, Bitehaus brings together design, technology and comprehensive care to cultivate conservative, kind and patient centered treatment.

Images and drawings are courtesy of PROP Architecture Inc. Images and drawings that I have contributed to will be indicated with ( * ).

Bitehaus Dental Clinic, photograph by Kuba Los

We made sure the interior design reflected these core values. The patient-oriented operation rooms and homey waiting area are bridged together with the curved and swooping stepped ceilings to create one seamless space. Finishes are chosen with consideration to comfort, elegance and branding to create a welcoming environment that challenge the sterile concepts of a regular dental office.

Waiting Area Conceptual Perspective*

Waiting Area as Built, photograph by Kuba Los

Op. Room as Built, Photographs by Kuba Los

ARCHITECTURE

ROLE SCHEMATIC DESIGN CONSTRUCTION PERMIT MILLWORK DRAWINGS

NovelLocation: Markham, ON Completed Summer 2018

This project converts an existing bubble tea shop into an electronics boutique located inside a strip mall in Markham, Ontario.

Novel, exterior rendering*

Images and drawings are courtesy of PROP Architecture Inc. Images and drawings that I have contributed to will be indicated with ( * ).

The storefront is unassuming yet welcoming. The materiality reflects a warm, inviting environment using woods, brass and white marble countertops. The custom millwork display tables give products emphasis while maximizing storage space. My role spanned from schematic design through to tender and construction drawings.

Material Palette*

drawing is the property of the

and may not be reproduced or used without the expressed consent of

contractor is responsible for checking and verifying

and

and shall report all discrepancies to the Architect and obtain clarification prior to commencing work.

FIRM GAUTHIER + ASSOCIATES LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS INC.

ROLE CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

CITY OF VANCOUVER

Blood Alley Square

Location: Vancouver, BC in construction

Located in the centre of Vancouver’s historic district Gastown, Blood Alley Square is “defined by the many social, cultural, and economic tensions that have existed in the Downtown Eastside for generations”. The square is cherished by residents and visitors, hosting community organized events and a crucial gathering space in the contested neighbourhood.

Images and drawings are courtesy of the City of Vancouver and Gauthier & Associates Landscape Architects. Images and drawings that I have contributed to will be indicated with ( * ).

Blood Alley Square, Aerial View*

ONTEXT recognized for qualities character.

The goal of the plaza redesign is “to improve the public realm, increase safety, and introduce programming with support for community stewardship as a shared space, including opportunities for lowincome residents”. The site is adjacent to a ground floor eateries and a new mixed use development that includes social and market rental housing with ground floor retail and restaurants.

Current Site Condition Circa 2017

Granville is original Vancouver. create friendly Gastown, the City of Vancouver purchased the rear Stanley/New Fountain Hotel, which included garages. These demolished and the spaced developed into a public plaza in Blood Alley Square. The original design of the square Associates, was envisioned as part of a larger series of interspread throughout Gastown.

EFINING ELEMENTS

Site, the rehabilitation of Blood Alley Square must Statement of Significance and recommended actions 4.1 of Parks Canada’s Standards & Guidelines for the Historic Places in Canada (Cultural Landscapes and Heritage guidelines must be woven into every aspect of the project.

SQUARE REDESIGN

Current Site Materials

1. Stone planters and retaining walls

2 Brick steps down to Blood Alley Square

3. Cobblestone paving

1. Stone planters and retaining walls

Brick steps down

Cobblestone paving

Alley Square

View of Trounce Alley, prior to removal of grage & creation of Blood Alley Square

Current

Context

Through open houses and design consultations, important characteristics of this site have been identified to be maintained: the cobblestone lanes, brick paving, streetlights, and trees.

Site Plan*

Existing Site Conditions

My role in this project considered how to maintain and enhance the existing character of the space through blending new materiality with the old. I contributed to the design of the plaza paving and new tree grates that allow users to engage with the protected existing trees.

Paving Detail 1* 1:5

Paving Detail 2* 1:5

Blood Alley Square, Day time

1:10

Custom Tree Grate Detail Plan*

Custom Tree Grate Detail Elevation* 1:10

Blood Alley Square, Night time

Thank you