Tessa Cowan Portfolio for Hiring Firm

Tessa Cowan

Interior Design Portfolio

University of Florida Expected Graduation - May 2025

ABOUT ME

My name is Tessa, I am an interior design student at the University of Florida.

Research, details, and experiences are where my passions for design reside. In every project I work on, my main goal is to create thoughtful design solutions to the issues faced within each space. I firmly believe that interiors are meant to be a place where you feel like you belong and are welcome to stay.

The style of each interior space is designed to feel whimsical and detailed.

I feel that a person’s experiences are the most important aspect of any design and want them to have been immersed in comfortable and relaxing spaces. At the same time, I design spaces that reflect the importance of supporting multiple different types of needs. I strive to improve human condition one project at a time.

CONTENT

2023

Experience Restaurant

2022

Architectural Ruins

RESTAURANT Experience Restaurant - 2023 Cali, Colombia Maya Flor

Named after Cali Colombia’s famous flower, the Cattleya Trianeae, or the May Flower, this restaurant serves to open your senses to the wonders of Colombia’s botanicals. More popular for the varieties of coffee and coffee-like teas, here you can try different types according to your preferences and learn about the chemistry behind the tastes.

Like white wine being a good pairing with caviar, you can learn to mair mild chocolate with a Colombian coffee that has caramel and nutty notes. Then, after dusk, you can try a botanical cocktail infused with refreshing basil and mangotino for a sweet and earthy tasting drink.

Users should leave this space feeling inspired and with just a little bit more information on the details that make wonderful foods and drinks such good

Floor Plan Legend 1. Entrance 2. Waiting Area 3. Casual Dining 4. Private Dining 5. Bar 6. Private Lounge 7. Bathrooms 8/9. BOH

Floor Finishes

Wall Finishes

Customized restaurant menu

The experience of the restaurant can occur in many different spaces. There is a private dining area for a quieter one-on-one dining experience, a casual space in the center of the restaurant for a lively time, and a bar that is good for a group of restaurant goers to gather at.

The purpose of having multiple types of spaces for the same experience is because the restaurant was designed for the user to choose their desired level of involvement. Some users may prefer a more intimate experience over a lively and loud one.

ARCHITECTURE 2014

It's Not Even Spring

2017

Resin Patterns by Artist Chun Hei Kim

Ruins - 2022

Cape Canaveral, FL Space Station Ruins - Launch Pad 34 A study looking at ruins and transforming the existing area into a space honoring the tragedy of this deactivated launch site.

This set of drawings and models are the works produced from the study conducted on the site. Multiple models were built and each built off the one before. The models were accompanied by several drawings and section drawings to further delve into the study of the site.

The basis of this project is centered around ascension and traveling ever onwards to discovery.

The premise of the work alludes to the idea of ascension. The focus is based on the Apollo missions where the goal was to ascend to higher levels of understanding space. For the model, the main intervention is through observation. The space is resemblant of the way that planetariums or observatories are used, in the sense that you occupy a space that is sunken into the ground and look up towards the sky, stars, and planets. In the model, the atmosphere is represented by creating a cut that sinks into the earth with an overhead arch that encloses the underground space. The arch was the chosen method to enclose the space, and as a recurring element in the model, is because of the nature of arches.

Arches are a way to connect people with the heavens and the sky above them within interior spaces.

An element of the planes of the arch is that they are constructed with linears in ascending sizes, the closer to the ground the plane begins, the larger the linear elements are. So, the highest point in the arch is the thinnest plane of the arch, which is also resemblant of the way that things which are closer appear larger, in comparison to how things farther appear smaller in space.