Architecture Portfolio

SHERYL BEH

PROFILE

+44 7522113172

sherylbws@gmail.com

I believe that architecture can make people happy. And that is where I derive the most satisfaction - in creating spaces that serve communities and the environment. Today, in the face of so many uncertainties with climate change and various socio-political issues, I believe that architecture can be a significant tool to explore new unions and relationships between different communities, as well as how humans may co-live with nature.

EDUCATION TECHNICAL SKILLS

Ma aRchiTecTuRe

Royal College of Art / 2020 - 2022.

BSc aRchiTecTuRe

Bartlett School of Architecture / 2016 - 2019.

2nd Class Honours a levelS

Concord College / 2015 - 2016. Physics (A), Mathematics (A), English Literature (A), Art (B).

REFEREE DETAILS

Randy Chan / Principal Architect of Zarch Collaboratives

+65 9770 7323 | admin@zarch.com.sg

Rhinoceros 3D

WORK EXPERIENCE

ArchitecturAl internship // linA Ghotmeh — Architecture

75, rue de la Fontaine au Roi, 75011 Paris, France

/ August 2020 - September 2020

- Actively participated in concept design, design and production from drawings, 3D modelling, to physical modelling for the bidding of a range of projects of different scales and type from residential to cultural spaces.

-Part of the design team of the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion.

- Assisted in historical and site research for residential competition projects.

ZArch collAborAtives

6001 Beach Road, Golden Mile ToweR #03-00 S 199589, SinGapoRe

/ October 2019 - April 2020

- Actively participated in concept design, design and production from drawings, 3D modelling to photoshop for the bidding of a range of projects of different scales and the submission of such for competitions.

-Worked on and won a bid for a government project for the firm by virtue of a concept design presentation submitted for a competition call. I was part of a two-person team who oversaw the entire concept design process.

-Composed narratives for several competition presentations and project write-ups.

-Designed the firm’s Christmas and Chinese New Year cards for clients.

personAl creAtive ventures //

bAkes & brews / January 2021 - March 2021

I founded an online home bakery in the midst of the pandemic. My aim was to bring cheer by sending personalised and motivational handwritten notes to accompany my home-baked goods and brews. This led to collaborations with other artists and home bakers which in turn led to a few catering orders.

-Baked and brewed all the brownies and cold brews. I created unique flavours which were inspired by local favourites combined with food encounters from my various travels - all with personalised bottles which could be reused, and inscribed with uplifting messages.

-Designed all the packaging and cards.

-Managed the Instagram page from the photography to the postings and engagement.

LANGUAGES

English - Native or bilingual proficiency

Mandarin - Native or bilingual proficiency

personAl bloG / February 2020 - September 2021

I founded this platform out of a passion for sharing my travels, experiences and my view of the world. A key aim was to spark conversations on personal growth, confidence and its relationship with fashion, culture, and architecture. It is also a creative outlet for my interests across a range of media, mainly photography, and writing.

Lina Ghotmeh Architecture, Paris

- Selected Work -

Serpentine Gallery 2023

[ Location ]

Kensington Gardens, London, United Kingdom

[ Client Brief ]

A sustainable pavilion that can be constructed and dismantled easily in any weather and enjoyed by the public.

[Role & Status]

- Collaborated with the civil engineer on the construction details of the pavillion.

- Built working models to test the design.

- Early research on the site context. The firm won the bid to design the 2023 Serpentine Gallery.

[ Software ]

Detail Sketches

in collaboration with the civil engineer

Physical Modeling, Laser Cutter, Rhinoceros 3D, Hand-drawings V1 natural light

Physical Working Model

Project Render

[ Client Brief ]

As part of Lyon’s urban regeneration project, this is Phase 2 of a mixed-use residential, public space and commercial project.

[Role & Status ]

- Collaborated with my colleagues on the overall design concept and approach.

- Site context research.

- Produced the diagrams, models and drawings for the client presentation. This project is still unpublished.

[ Software ]

Rhinoceros 3D, Adobe Illustrator and Indesign, AutoCad

Concept : A Garden Continued Within

Residential Plan Iterations

Les logements espaces verts

Concept Section -

Creating continuous green spaces as one moves up the building

Fruit Tree Netting Contraption

Signage

unggol Heritage Trail

Placemaking Art Sculpture

Zarch Collaboratives, Singapore

- Selected Work -

Punggol Heritage Trail

[ Location ]

Punggol Point District, Singapore

[ Client Brief ]

- A ‘heritage trail’ along Old Punggol Road to pay tribute to its history as the main transport route for farmers and fishermen.

- Curate this new pedestrianised road to offer a seamless connection between the new housing projects in the developing waterfront precinct.

- Collaborate with all adjacent developers.

[Role &

Status ]

I worked in a 2-person team on this proposal.

- Came up with the overall concept and design.

- Produced the renders, drawings and wrote the narrative.

- Collaborated with landscape architects on the landscape palette.

Our proposal won the competition and is now undergoing construction.

[ Software ]

Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, Hand-drawings

WILD BEGINNINGS

Bioretention Swale: Multi-Functional Amphitheatre

Conserved Rubber Trees: Lush Foliage to conserve the Green Tunnel effect of Old Punggol Rd

Entrance Signage

Bio-Swale: Enhancing Stormwater Management

Animal Crossing Bridge

Rainforest Boardwalk

Old Punggol Rd

Conserved Bus Stop Placemaking Sculpture

contexts. Here, nature envelopes all; it is the invisible guide of the

Phase 2 : Residential Node : The Modern Kampong

Walk beside luscious gardens that reminisce old kampong plantations; stroll amongst the magnificent roots of a mangrove swamp. Punggol’s beginnings as a fishing village inspired the idea of communal gardens as a way to engage the surrounding residents. Communal pavilions weaved out of local lightweight materials could host communal exercise sessions, or even dining. The landscape here is inspired by old kampong spice gardens that give way to coastal species and a mangrove swamp towards the jetty, as a symbol of Punggol’s waterfront identity and remembering the mangrove swamps of old.

Bioretention Swale: Dragonfly Pond

advocators to inspire, to bring humans and nature together, we endeavour to engage communities in the making of an integrated art trail of sculptures: both as a placemaking and navigation strategy for the trail. We intend to bring back the kampong tradition of co-existing with nature, tto continue a story in the very fabric that started it all.

Placemaking Art Sculpture

Section BB’

Maniltoa browneoides

Garcinia mangostana

Syzgium grande Dillenia grandifolia

Parkia speciosa

Mangrove Boardwalk

Section AA’

04

The Dialectic Kitchens

[ Location ]

Chinatown, London

[ Abstract ]

Chinese dialects begin around the table - from the cooking of food to the prepping, to the sharing of it. It takes place in any setting, any space between communities. In short, these dishes, created with and through dialects, are a way of life. They are spoken heritage devoid of a writing system, birthed within the home. The dynamics and motions that dialects incur across the table through the rituals of food sharing and cooking is a culture shared amongst the Chinese diaspora.

This project positions London’s Chinatown as an urban artifice to investigate ways that architecture could navigate questions of heritage, and the loss of dialectic and food diversity in the face of racial capitalism.

[ Issues ]

1 - A disappearing Chinese community :

The rocketing rents are driving out many old-school eateries and communities, leading to the eventual demise of ‘Chinatown’.

2 - A Chef shortage

3 - Lack of housing pool

4 - Safety issues at night :

Due to the many drinking facilities at night in the area.

[ Software ]

Rhinoceros 3D, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

[ The Lodging & The Market ]Community

Ultimately, dialects is about community, co-living and adaptation in terms of materiality. And in this case, cultural diversity is highlighted through dialects and food by working with gentrification to encourage a communal spirit within an otherwise commercial district of London.

The design of the lodging takes inspiration from traditional Chinese courtyard houses: where the courtyard is the centre of village and communal social life and hence, dialects.

Secondly, the street market / kitchen.

Traditionally, dialects are not limited to the architectural constraints of a ‘restaurant’. The restaurant is a concept that spills onto the streets, the alleys between homes.

In the morning rush hour, smoke and aromas fill the air. Here, the street becomes both a kitchen and a dining space. A long continuous table is set up underneath the wooden beams: where people are cooking, eating and conversing all at the same time.

The Lodging / Public Courtyard / Communal Space

The Street Market

The Kitchens / Cooking School ] -

Incurring Dialects through the Rituals of Food Cooking and Sharing

In these backalleys of Chinatown, the kitchen comes alive after restaurants close. Or during festivals, sometimes days in advance! Here, it is the rituals of cooking and food preparation that begin these dialectic conversations. For in the village, these are dishes made together, throughout the day.

Beginning in the morning, people start trickling in with food. Tables are brought from the surrounding restaurants. The cooking begins. The preparation tables become eating spaces during meal times as the restaurant staff or community share a meal. And finally, these stone wok stations could host coal - and become heating elements at night or in the winter. Alternatively, it could be used for yet another cooking technique - smoking.

Some of the restaurant kitchens could also be utilised in the winter as cooking schools and workshops to pass on this culinary knowledge.

Community Area. Teahouse. Public Courtyard.

It is a quiet, leisurely morning when communities gather for a round of tai chi. Staff are just arising from their temporary lodgings, chatting and having breakfast across its terraces. Throughout the day, different communities share a meal together in the public courtyard, or a cup of tea and a chat across the many terraces of the lodging.

05

Human / Nature

[ Location ]

S outhern Sakha-Yakutia region, Russia

[ Abstract ]

In northeastern Siberia, in the Sakha Republic, sits Pleistocene Park: the Zimovs’ large-scale biological experiment to restore the steppe grassland ecosystem in an attempt to stop the rapidly thawing permafrost. Meanwhile, in the southern Sakha-Yakutia region lies one of the largest nomadic Evenki areas of Russia - a region traumatised by industrialisation.

This project explores this possible union between the Evenki and Pleistocene Park via a carefully planned route that is as cyclical and transient as Evenki knowledge, an architecture that, too, can disappear without a trace. The project is designed with scientific and Indigenous knowledge to fight climate change and help preserve a disappearing culture and language.

[ Issues ]

1 - Thawing permafrost is endangering nomadic tribes

2 - Industrialisation leading to cultural loss

3 - Disappearing Evenki knowledge and language

Evenki language is transient and seasonal due to its oral nature. It is the core of how their detailed knowledge of the landscape functions. However, as English cannot properly translate their practical know-how, their knowledge is often dismissed, and will eventually disappear with the lack of usage.

[ Software ]

Rhinoceros 3D, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Hand-drawings

Key

1 Utilising the same water pump, a slush of 90% water to 10% sawdust is sprayed on the membrane and allowed to freeze to a Pykrete shell.

2 Pykrete shell

[ Site ] - A Traumatised Land

Here is a region laden with Evenki culture and history, but traumatised by industrialisation. Most significantly, the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline: the last major Soviet industrialisation project. An event that drove young herders to suicide with the dramatic changes imposed on their lands, reinforced by feelings of irrelevance in terms of their traditional skills and knowledge.

Today, the Soviet legacy that discourages the use of ancestral knowledge still exists - causing a rift not just between scientific knowledge and indigenous knowledge, but also between Evenki elders and the ‘urbanised’ Evenki.

Evenki mobility begins with the installation of the snow cover. The Taiga becomes an open book. As the Evenki move across the vast landscape, nature unfolds itself in frames of logical landscape sequences known as ‘term-concepts’.

There are two aspects to the proposal. One, a carefully planned route that follows the Evenki calendar of mobility; and second, a cyclical ice tent that, too, can disappear without a trace.

[Proposal] 1 / The Route

The proposed project is to be carried out in two phases, following the core principle of Evenki nomadism which emphasises the importance of not exhausting a landscape’s resources by allowing it time to replenish, untouched.

checKpoinT 2 KnowledGe exchanGe & co-oBSeRvaTion aRea Accustomed herbivores will be moved to this area to be released into the wild also as to not deplete the resources in Checkpoint 1. These are very temporal gathering points where scientists and the Evenki can exchange knowledge and co-observe the results of the animals on the landscape.

checKpoinT 1 MoniToRinG & aniMal caRe aRea Main ice tent location where the newly introduced herbivores can adapt to the surroundings under intensive human care and observation between scientists and the Evenki.

PHASE 1

PHASE 2

a u T u M n 2 w in T e R S p R in G 1

2 / A Cyclical Ice Tent

Drawing inspiration from traditional Evenki construction techniques, it is a structure that can be erected quickly during times of need, and reinforced with Pykrete. But one that melts when it is not in use in the summer. And lastly, when the project is over, one that can be dismantled, leaving only traces of a union that might have been to dissolve into the landscape.

2 3 4 5

6 7 1

Scale 1

Key

1 Valve to drain water from melted ice pockets

2 External tension wire

3 Ice pockets

4 Inflatable air insulation membrane

5 Air pump and air lock

6 Flue insulating sleeve / skylight keystone to attach

membrane

Checkpoint 1 / The Main Tent Site

Checkpoint 1 is the main ice tent location. And is hence the focus in the design process.

Built amongst existing trees for wind protection.

tent locAtion & foundAtion

As inspired by traditional Evenki foundations, the positioning of the tent is largely dependant on the location of the existing trees. Here, two larch trees will be cut down to form the foundation. The felled timber will be used for the supporting beams and poles.

Summer sun path

dAyliGhtinG

Structure is built between the trees. Offering it wind protection.

Main grazing area Lab / discussion area

Entrance/Exit

The lab or discussion area [the main workspace throughout the day] is positioned such that they would be able to observe the animals from inside the

Winter sun path

The structure is orientated such as to maximise daylighting for the mental wellbeing of the occupants. As Pykrete is opaque, it will be built below the sun path angle as to maximise the entry of daylight.

Central hearth Sleeping areas

heAtinG

The sleeping areas are positioned around the central hearth which is both the main heating element and the social core of the tent.

Site Context

The Urban Oasis

[ Location ]

Djemaa el-fna, Marrakech, Morocco

[ Abstract ]

Through food, language and culture, this project aims to create more opportunities for cultural exchange and learning between the locals and the Chinese. And in the process, help revitalise the Morocco’s tourism industry and economy.

[ Issue ]

Lack of Mandarin-speaking local tour guides & means of learning

In recent years, the increase in Chinese tourists had greatly contributed to Morocco’s economic growth. However, the country struggles with the lack of Mandarin-speaking tour guides, and a big lack of Chinese restaurants - an important factor to attract Chinese tourists.

[ Software ]

Rhinoceros 3D, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, VRay

djemaa el-Fna Square

[Concepts]

1- the Refuge & Prospect Theorysuggests that people prefer the edges, rather than middles of spaces as one feels more secure.

2/ Visibilitywithin the oasis and from the outside

3/ A transformational aspect of the project that mirrors that of the Djemaa el-Fna Square.

The existing building is retrofitted to become office spaces, Chinese language learning spaces, and a Chinese restaurant. Beyond that, the project inhabits a wall: a thick adobe ‘refuge’ space that encircles an urban oasis of peaceful courtyards by day that turn into a food market by night in conjunction to the transformation of the Djemaa el-Fna Square.

Inspired by the maze of the local souks, timber screens divide the wall into private enclaves for visitors to rest and enjoy the [exterior prospect] Square’s transformation and the [interior prospects]courtyards.

THIRD YEAR FINAL PROJECT

Inspired by traditional Chinese and Moroccan courtyard houses, as well as the smoky spectacle of the outdoor food market that comes alive at night at the Djemaa el-fna square (that my site faces), the reason behind the skylights is to allow the entry of sunlight into the interior spaces as well as to turn the building itself into a spectacle: with angled vents for the puffing of smoke from the night market.

Section A

3D Printing - Early Model Experiment

In - Exteriors 07

[ Context ] Penang, Malaysia

Chinese heritage shophouses are the visual identity of Penang, Malaysia, and have long been an appeal to tourists for their beautiful pre-war facades — a front which served as Chinese identity during the British colonial period. Today, the spotlight shines on their trendy interiors as cafes and hotels with the coming of ‘heritage’ as a new industry.

[ Project Description ]

Lived and perceived ‘culture’ is a compilation of fact, traditions and fiction in the form of romanticised notions from the media or influences from colonial cultures. The project speculates an alternative digital museum where the life of buildings and the lived experiences of the people can be uploaded unto an archive. There, one will experience the lives of communities both past and present in a blur of exteriors and interiors as their consciousness are continually being uploaded.

[ Software ]

Writing, photography, photogrammetry, film.

Adobe Photoshop & Premier Pro, Metashape Pro

Bakes & Brews

I founded an online home bakery in the midst of the pandemic. Due to the lockdown in my country, I found morale low and many unable to reach out to their loved ones. My aim was to bring cheer by sending personalised and motivational handwritten notes to accompany my home-baked goods and brews. This led to a synergistic and creative collaboration with other artists and home bakers which in turn led to a few catering orders. [ Role ]

Baker, Barista, - Oversaw all creative direction, photography, social media, communications & collaborations, and logistics.

09

Travel Photography & Blog

I founded this platform out of a passion for sharing my travels, experiences and my view of the world. A key aim was to spark conversations on personal growth, confidence and its relationships with fashion, culture, and architecture. It is also a creative outlet for my interests across a range of media - mainly photography, writing.

[ Role ]

Photographer, Writer, Graphic & Website Designer

- Oversaw all creative direction, photography, writing, and social media.

- General maintenance of the website and Google SEO.