Nic ho l a s D. Tor r e s Architectural Portfolio
Design Statement When I begin to conceptualize a design I am guided by certain principles which relate to its form and context. A project should always be influenced by the context that surrounds it whether it be historic, cultural, material, social, etc, but not a direct reproduction of it. It should be part of and contribute to the urban fabric. The project’s interior should respond to the human scale and intercommunication through spatial connections, openness, and warmth. The project should finally take advantage of environmental opportunities for sensitive design through passive ventilation and reuse. Together these elements with the collaborative process can we produce the best outcome. Goals I am planning on working to receive my architectural licence within the next few years and increase my knowledge of healthcare and research design, as well as urban and institutional planning. I also hope to expand my experience with historic preservation and adaptation, particularly mid-century modern structures, and also project management and construction administration.
TAB LE O F CONT E NT S Columbia Point Master Plan Jackson Square Master Plan Centre/Columbus Housing Xylohistoric Museum of New England New Bedford Waterfront Professional Work
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FALL 2013 - PRO F. LAWRE N CE CHAN
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Proposed Plan (Watercoloring by Ximena Cruz)
Challenge: Design a transit-oriented, human scaled master plan for Columbia Point, reconnecting back to Dorchester and UMass Boston. Vision: Columbia Point, part of the Dorchester neighborhood is currently home to UMass Boston, the Harbor Point Apartment Complex, Sovereign Bank Regional Headquarters, The Boston Globe, and the former Bayside Expo Center. However, due to piecemeal development over the past several decades the peninsula with excellent transportation connections and dramatic water views has languished under auto-dominance and lack of coordination. The goal of this redevelopment proposal is to re-design the peninsula into a cohesive urban environment taking advantage of its natural environment and connectiveness. The new fabric is laid out in a grid system consisting of three main hubs, a commercial hub, a community hub, and an institutional hub. From each of these hubs the transportation nodes (road, rail, and green) radiate into the surrounding neighborhoods of Dorchester, Savin Hill, and South Boston, re-connecting the peninsula back to the city. As the southern end of the Innovation Corridor the commercial core will be attractive to the growing biomedical industry and the amount of new mixed income housing created will help keep graduates in the city. UMass Boston will be reconnected as well by integrating Mount Vernon Street into the campus gateway and the campus itself will be urbanized. Our ultimate goal is to have an inclusive, vibrant community, easily connected to the city, and become a new hub of development for Boston.
COLUMB IA P OINT
Concept Parti
Designed with Ximena Cruz
Existing Opportunities
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Existing Conditions & Progress Sketches
Urban Square
Community Square
University Square
Proposed Condition & Phases
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Health Center Supermarket Hotel
Library
Train Station
Mattaponnock Square
Middle School Common
Urban Core
Elementary. School
ay
nw
ee Gr
Community Center
Urban Square Axon
Campus Center
Community Square Axon
South Square
Library
Lighthouse
Main Quad
Performing Arts Center
Edward Kennedy Institute
Pump House
North (Gateway) Square
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University Square Axon
rwalk
Harbo
e Park
Baysid
M
oa
kle
yP
Greenway
Quad
ark
Athletic Facilities
Harborwalk
Landscape Diagram
Site Sections taken at UMass Boston (Bottom) and the Urban Square/T Station (Top)
Mid-Crit Aerial Rendering
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SPRIN G 2013 - P RO F. MAR K PASN IK
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Existing
Proposed
Challenge:
JAC KSO N SQUARE
Create a group master plan for the reinvigoration of the Jackson Square neighborhood.
Vision:
Acting as project manger for our studio class, I led the design of a master plan for a new Jackson Square. Our primary concept was “Stitching the Grid�, reconnecting the neighborhoods of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury through a common ground. The square has been ravaged by disconnection and lack of care since most of the neighborhood was demolished for the construction of I-95 which ended up being cancelled. With it being such a natural area for connections at the intersection of two major city roadways, the Orange Line, five bus lines, and the Southwest Corridor Linear park we decided to play off all these elements to reinvigorate the square. The main hub of our concept is an urban plaza from our two main landmarks, the renovated MBTA station and the old Rockland Brewery which would act as a new community center. The plaza would contain a farmers market and pass through retail. The new development would be primarily residential, allowing for different types of hosing facilitating a community driven, long-term sustainable development and different income levels ranging from market rate 4-6 story young professional based apartment blocks to mid to low income family based townhouses with backyards. Students Participating: Nicholas Torres (Project Manger), Anette Balestrand, Carly Spink, Casey Delia, Erin Hartmann, Jillian Zerbinopoulos, Nathan Neff, Paul Woodworth, Stephanie Greenlaw, Teresa Le, Tyler Moriarty
Final Plan
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Train Station
g Sittin s Step
e
enad
Prom Reflecting Pool
Brewery Chimney
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Parti
Plaza Detail
Main Plaza looking towards the Brewery
Section through Plaza and Amory Street
Green Connections to the Emerald Necklace & Southwest Corridor
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SPRIN G 2013 - P RO F. MAR K PASN IK
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View from the corner of Columbus & Centre
Challenge:
CENT RE /COLU M BUS
Select a parcel after designing a master plan for Jackson Square and design a multi-family, mixeduse residential building that reflects the new vision for the neighborhood and innovative housing.
Vision:
Together with my classmate Erin Hartmann, we decided to tackle this parcel together, but separately. We designed our concept, massing, material choices, and ground floor together so our respective buildings would read as part of the same mass, but approach how we viewed our residences separately, in order to provide maximum amount of residence types for our site. I focused on the northeast building, Erin the Southwest. The concept to my building was “zoning by spatial experience and facade treatments” The units, all duplexes except for studios on the top floor, are set up three-dimensionally with the lower floor being public, and the upper being private. On both floors, the services are kept in the back and you transfer through the “dark” and “light” areas through a breakthrough point. Using Unit A as a template, the basic formula is modified to other units to better represent their position in the building and provide multiple types of housing ranging from studios up to three bedrooms.
Concept Diagram
Building Parti
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Unit Axons
Courtyard Facade
Section
Unit A from Living Area
Fenestration Order
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SUMM ER 2013 - P ROF. CHARLES CI MIN O
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Exterior From The Gardner Museum
XY LOHIS TORIC MUSE UM
Challenge: Design a 50,000 GSF art museum for Wooden Objects on Evans Way Park in Boston, MA.
Vision: I was guided by several things on the site for my placement, one being the line of sight connection from the entrances to the Park from Evans Way and Louis Prang, another being the main circulation spine that seemed to diagonally cut across the park from the North to Southwest. This allows visitors to the site to move around the building, while still being subconsciously drawn in, by the organization of the paths. With the building itself I was guided by the idea that I wanted to showcase a wooden boat in the large gallery. My museum would be set up to show the history of wood making in New England. Within the site parameters it was clear that my building would have a larger “head” in the North and a smaller “tail” in the South. The head of the building would house the galleries and public functions including an education center and restaurant while the tail would house the more private functions like the lecture hall, laboratories, and administration. These two modules would be joined together by a circulation core in the form of an atrium, allowing visual communication across the modules, that is lined up with the Gardner Museum entrance as a show of friendship between the two museums. I organized my galleries in the head on several floors, rotating around and growing outward like a tree around the large galleries holding the ship. The galleries on the 3rd and 4th floors are open to the atrium through galleries and allowing viewing the ship from multiple angles. Overall I wanted to provide a straightforward circulation system for my visitors, allowing them to experience the objects and rooms themselves in a spatially complex way.
Entrance Hall
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Wall Sections & Details
Progress Development
Concept Diagram
Boat Rotunda With Galleries Surrounding
Structural Model
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FALL 2011 - PRO F. M u h a mma d Abdu s sabur
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Existing Plan
Proposed Plan
NEW BEDF OR D WAT ERFRO NT
Challenge: Design a transportation oriented urban intervention in an area of your choice.
Vision: When deciding on an area to design an urban intervention for my elective “Transportation Intervention & Urban Design� I immediately chose my hometown of New Bedford, MA. More specifically the harbor front area of the downtown. Our final project was to redesign a neighborhood in our area to conform to transit oriented design principals. My main goal was to transform the desolate industrial waterfront into a responsible, bustling, fully fledged neighborhood of the city, respecting its maritime heritage, but also exploring new frontiers. One of the primary aspects of my design is burying the Route 18 Expressway, allowing crucial North-South traffic to continue, but putting it out of sight and allowing new development above. Next most of the fishing industry would be moved to new docks north and south of downtown, allowing the wharves to be activated. These aspects will allow the waterfront of downtown New Bedford to re densify, similar to what it was before the highway plowed through.
Proposed Aerial of Wharves District
Existing Working Waterfront
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Station District
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Powerhouse District
Wharves District
Existing Condition of State Pier
Concept Sketch
Proposed Condition of State Pier
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T HREE- BAY LABORATORY RE N OVAT IO N - D FCI Schematic Design and Construction Documentation of the renovation of a 1970s era multi-bench laboratory for the use of an experimental medicine group. I also participated in client meetings and change orders during construction, working within a very tight budget.
Demolition Plan
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Equipment Plan
Lab Bench Details
PROF ESSION AL WORK
CAM P U S P LA N N I N G & GRAPHICS - D FCI
I worked on multiple planning projects including Long-Range Research Backfill Planning, a new Parking Wayfinding system, several department moves, ADA planning, and revising all CAD floor plans for the campus.
Pediatrics Temporary Move Planning
Revised Parking Signage
Longwood Center Backfill Planning
New Campus Map
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MISCELLA NEO U S P ROJECT S - DFCI I frequently took on the initiative to take on new projects no matter how small, from single room renovations, to an AV addition in the Dining Pavilion, to patient space renovations.
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Section from Dining Pavilion AV Addition
Pharmacy Clean Room Renovation
Real Time Locater Service Instillation Drawings
Human Resources Move Coordination
WARREN SEN IOR HO U SIN G - CON SULT IN G I acted as a schematic design consultant for the Caribbean Integration Community Development. I was tasked to design a four-story mixed-use building on a Warren Street (between Clifford & Waverly Streets) site, which is just over 5,600 square feet. The program called for street retail, office space, a community room, and eight one-bedroom apartments for seniors living on social security.
Rendering of the Warren Street Facade
Ground Floor Plan
Typical Apartment Level Plan
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FAMILY VACAT IO N COMP O U N D - SK A I was lead designer/drafter for a multi-phase family vacation compound that included multiple options for different style vacation homes, the renovation of the existing homestead and addition of a barn. This project also included reconciliation with multiple agencies due to its location adjacent to the shoreline and coastal marsh.
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Compound Option Plan
Original Planning Sketch (By Principal Architect)
House Option
Barn Option
DCR COMF ORT S TAT IO N PROTOT Y PE - SK A I was co-drafter for the construction documentation of a prototype comfort station for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation. This prototype is now completed at Myles Standish State Park and Pittsfield State Forest.
Restroom Enlarged Plan
Pittsfield State Forest Comfort Station
Restroom Interior Elevations
Rendering of Prototype
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Nicholas D. Torres 41 Castle Ave Fairhaven, MA 02719 P. 508-264-3384 E. ntorres2009@gmail.com W. http://ntorres2009.wix.com/torresportfolio