Gen Choong Architectural Academic Portfolio

Curriculum Vitae

Education 2007-2011 Malaysian Certicccate of Education 2012 Uniied Examination Certiicate Science Based 2013 Lim Kok Wing School of Architecture 2013-2018 Waterford Institute of Technology, Bsc Architecture Hons 2019-2021 Technology University of Dublin - Professional Diploma of Architectural Practice

Working Experience Lafferty Architects, Dublin.

JMA Architects, Dublin.

CCH Architects , Kilkenny .

Dorman Architects , Dublin.

Architect (2018 - current) Graduate Architect (3 months) Architectural Assistant (1 month) Architectural Assistant (2 months)

Software Proociency Graphisoft Archicad Lumion Autodesk Revit Architecture Sketchup Autodesk Auto Cad DraftSight

Wai Jian Choong Nationality: Malaysian

Microsoft Office Photoshop Rendering InDesign Basic

Languages

Age: 27, 15.04.1994

English / Chinese / Malay / Cantonese

Apartment 110, North Bank, Castleforbes Road, Dublin 1. e: genchoong94@gmail.com p: +353 86 4407137

Proole I am originally from Malaysia but now I live and work in Ireland after I’ve graduated from Waterford Institute of Technology. I am reliable and hardworking individual who enjoys the challenge of learning new skills. I am an excellent timekeeper and I can work on my own initiative as well as part of a team. One of my strengths is being well diciplined and creative. I’m also advanced in computer graphics such as architectural renders and visualisation work. I am currently working in Lafferty Architects as a graduate architect.

Professional Work Experience Dorman Architects Dublin July - August 2017 Architectural Assistant

+ Office t-out - Assist senior architects with t-out drawings and 3d modelling. + Sport changing room design + Assist senior architects with detail drawings and 3d modelling. Visualisation works.

JMA Architects Dublin July - September 2018 Graduate Architect

+ Office t-out + Site visit and surveys + Terrace House extension and renovation + Assist architect with detail drawings and 3d modelling. Concept presentation and visualisation works are required. Meeting clients and site surveys.

Lafferty Architects Dublin October 2018 – present Architect

+ Planning application - Assist project architect with planning application drawings, setting up required worksheets. + Shopping centre reconnguration - Assist project architect with redesigning food court, public plaza, demolitions and refurbishment. + Public squares concept design - Part of a master planning project. + 3D printing with Ultimaker p - Site model with concept blocks. + Office t-out - Test t and construction stage experience. + Commercial feasibility - Hotels and office purposes. Visualisation works. + Lumion Visualisation works - Assisting different projects in the office with Lumion rendering software. Producing videos and architectural images. +Liasing with project consultants,collaborting with suppliers towards tender and construction stage.

- Work alongside senior project architects at construction site, snag report, RFI and AI knowledge.

Small Projects ......

Theatre Design ...........

Cooking School ...........

Pony Trekking Centre ...........

Hydroponic Herbs Centre ..........

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Cohousing .........

Contents - Academic Work

This is a final project of Semester 4 which is a Cohousing project that based on an imaginary site that created by our year tutor. Project involved studying folding architecture where students are required to design through cut and fold model makings in order to create architectural spaces.

WORK AND LIVE | COHOUSING Imaginary site created by year tutor

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Studio 4 - residential project. In order to let the students experience a clear and unrestricted site we were given an imaginary site created by our year tutor which surrounded by a forest and a lake. Students are free to choose any site boundary within the provided site, I chose the area that’s close to the lake and away from the city centre.

Communal buildings including common kitchen, gymnasium and library building that serve the residents. The scheme involved cut and fold landscaping that linking the communal buildings acting as a green path that cross over water features leading onto the lake creating endless view.

Below section cutting through the gymnasium with a swimming pool on rooftop level that connects with the rooftop garden and common kitchen building with a guest rooms on upper level. Communal buildings encourage social activities that create a safe, intimate and harmony en environment for people to live in.

The main theme of the project is work and live cohousing scheme. Cohousing promote community and social spaces such as common hall, common kitchen, common leisure space etc. The idea is to enhance communication between the residents and therefore create a better and harmorny community. There are two parts of the overall scheme, frst being the residential part and second being the common buildings part. The whole concept is to encourage business people to work from home and even hosting meetings at their own home. The main challenge here is to separate the public and private spaces within the community and the house itself.

As for the house, the semi public space would be at the ground floor where the meetings can be held, and private spaces will be above such as personal working ofce is located at the top floor overlooking rooftop garden. It is like different layers of privacy from the ground accending to the top floor.

Common facilities such as common kitchen can hold different social activities that gathers and improve the quality of the residents community. Library and leisure space are neccessary to be included in the common facilities as the site is far from the city centre. Using the advantages of being close to a lake, residents are being more relaxed living close to the water. Folding architecture was introduced into the design of the building and landscape in order to blend into the provided site geometry.

Using the folding shape of the common building framing the main lake view meanwhile leaving private living space behind it. The site layout is design to be free flowing at the ground floor and focus towards the common building Creating artifcial water element flowing through houses to reflect the idea of being close to the lake.

Creating courtyards and green path in between the water and hard landscape to soften up the pedestrian experience.

Site plan

FOLDING ARCHITECTURE Using model making experimenting site layout, push and pull creating concept massing for the hierachy of the scheme - common area.

SEMI PUBLIC GROUND FLOOR As ground oor is the most important space, using hard and soft landscape encouraging free movement on the ground oor.

ELEVATED PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY To maximise and enhance the pedestrian experimence by elevating the footpath, creating a semi public mezzanine garden connecting all the blocks

WORK AND LIVE | COHOUSING Common Kitchen

Common kitchen is the most important space in the scheme as it brings the community together for the most important event of the day- eating. Cooking and sharing food together can also reduce daily food wastage and budget therefore promoting a more economic sustainable lifestyle.

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Typical Ground Floor Plan of housing unit

Typical Cross Section of housing unit

The house contains two separate entrances, one side is considered the private entrance while the other side is used mainly for the clients. The reason placing the kitchen and artifcial water feature right opposite the meeting room is to soften the business environment. Main service core located in the middle of the unit creating split levels which circulate the residents all the way up to the top and space around it maximise the living spa

ONE UNIT WITH SINGLE ROOF TOP GARDEN

TWO MIRROR UNIT CAN SHARE A BIGGER JOINT ROOF TOP TERRACE

Shared Roof Garden The main idea is to join the roof top terrace with the mirrored unit beside it therefore encouraging better neighbourhood lifestyle and eventually a better housing community.

THE WHOLE COMMUNITY CAN CREATE A LARGE GREEN SURFACE ON THE SIT

Library and Reading Area

Communal Kitchen

Gymnasium

SMALL PROJECTS | TOWNHALL MARKET Naas Town Hall, Kildare

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Studio 7 - Urban project. Student were free to choose a site in Naas town centre to create an intervention project that would contribute to the urban quality of town. I speciically chose Naas Town Hall because of its importance to Naas and it is located at the central of Nass town centre. Historically, there was a food market behind of the Town Hall building. Therefore, the idea of recreating a visually vibrant food market which could attract visitors and bring quality ur urban life to Naas town centre.

02a- Naas Town Hall Market

Town Hall

Naas Townhall Market at the back parking spaces (Autodesk Revit and Photoshop Rendering)

Naas Townhall Market footfall diagram (Autodesk Revit and Photoshop Rendering)

The Town Hall was originally built as a Jail in 1796 by the old Naas Corporation. That was abolished in 1840. The jail building lay empty and was acquired by their successors, the Naas Town Commission in 1854 as their new Municipal building. In 1900 the new Urban District Council took over the running of the town. In 1904 they renovated the Town Hall, and gave it the new facade including the twin-faced clock, that we know to this present day.

SMALL PROJECTS | MAHON FALLS REFUGE Mahon Falls, Comeragh Mountain, Waterford.

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Studio 8 - Landscape project. This is the rst rural landscape project in the entire architecture course. We visited Mahon Falls of Comeragh Mountain in Waterford, surveyed, photographed and sketched on site. I had captured a few photographs of the mountain to compose an eidetic image to represent the design idea of the refuge building. The refuge building is attached with a proposed visitor centre where people can take shelter in and enjoy the br breathtaking views. The refuge is designed to be easy accessible and well insulated as the site is rather windy and cold.

02b- Mahon Falls Refuge

PUBLIC BUILDING | THEATRE The Glen, Waterford city.

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Studio 6 - Public building project. Waterford Theatre.

I decided to looked into the important element of a theatre which is mainly focus around community and being able to overlook other people. The main idea was to create a circulation zone in which other can take part in a visual theatre and one can be or cannot be seen as they are approaching and moving through the staircase creating different articulation through space.

PUBLIC BUILDING | THEATRE Urban Staircase

Studio 7 - Mixed used building. Cooking school and residential blocks The main concept is to create a hybrid building that contain a culinary school under the residential blocks. It is intended to extend the original Friday County Market in the Town Hall to the new proposal scheme cooperating with the culinary school and open up the kitchens into the street and becomes restaurants. Therefore creating an active ground oor which is evident that will improve an urban experience.

04 - Mixed-used Residential Building

04 - Mixed-use Residential Building

Cooking kitchen for culinary class purposes, when the market is happening the classroom will turn into small individual street restaurant that open up to the street and create a welcoming facade that improve the urban lifestyle in Nass.

Auditorium space is the hierachy space in the project, its a demo kitchen space for chef to hold seminars to the local community. When the market is happening this space will turn into a street food market hall that open up to Abbey street.

3D site model by Autodesk Revit and Cloud Render

3D section model cutting through the residential units and cooking school

Circulation

Serve and Servant

Public and Private

Permeability

Master ground oor plan showing the market activities and circulation of the building.

Autodesk Autocad and Photoshop Rendering

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Mix-used Residential building

Main section through Naas Town hall building, Food market and the cooking school auditorium space connecting South Main Street and Abbey Strret.

Autodesk Autocad and Photoshop Rendering

Main Section

04 - Mixed-use Residential Building

Apartment Unit 3D section model by Autodesk Revit and Photoshop rendering

Housing units located on top of the cooking school, using the idea of interlocking spaces creating more private units and maximizing the amount of units in limited area behind Naas Town Hall. The two units share a same stair core but at the same time having their own private staircase level for example unit A will have the staircase from first to second floor meanwhile unit B will use the staircase from second to third floor. floo

RURAL LANDSCAPE | PONY TREKKING CENTRE Ballintlea, Waterford.

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Students were given a rural site in Ballintlea , co Waterford to develop a suitable scheme. Historically, people used horses as the main transport. The idea is to relink the new development to the history. Therefore I had chosen to develop a Pony Trekking Centre at the site. The main concept of the design is to blend in with the existing landscape and focus on how people experience the landscape as well as the approach of the building with the idea of folding. The circulation act as a journey, it started from two different apporach which one bring you to the ground oor reception another one ap provide a roof top garden journey before getting down to the building. The choices of materials are important as the timber represent new intervention on the landscape while stone represent the old.

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Pony Trekking Centre

Ballintlea After registration, the riders need to put on the required equipments from the tack room before starting the warm up in the indoor arena which is the hearachy of the design.

The circulation continue towards the existing old buildings area, The canopy outside the existing buildings is a space to demonstrate and give safety prep before riders start their journey towards the countryside.

Master Plan

The riders nish their journey.coming back from the back of the site sloping down to the ground oor level and return the ponies. The back road also use as a deliveries road. The materials chosen are timber and stone where timber represents new and stone represent the old. There’s a visual connection between the two distinct elements.

Longitudinal Section cutting through main circulation, rooftop garden and indoor arena looking out to the horizon (Autodesk Autocad and Photoshop Rendering)

Section drawing by Autodesk Autocad and Photoshop Rendering

all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.

Cross Section drawing by Autodesk Autocad and Photoshop Rendering

RURAL LANDSCAPE | PONY TREKKING CENTRE Roof Garden

The circulation act as a journey , it started from two different approach which one bring you straight to the ground oor reception and another one provide a roof top garden journey before getting down to the building which are hidden below the landscape. After registeration , the riders need to put on the required equipments from the tack room before starting the warm up in the indoor arena which is the hearachy of the design. The circulation continue towards the existing old buildings area . The canopy outside the existing buildings is a space to demonstrate and give safety prep before riders start their journey towards the countryside. The riders nish their journey coming back from the back of the site sloping down to the ground level and return the ponies. The back road use as a deliveries road as well when it’s not using for the pony trekking event.

Public Realm view walking towards arena

Indoor arenad view (Autodesk Revit Cloud Render and Photoshop Rendering)

Stable and water feature view (Autodesk Revit Cloud Render and Photoshop)

THESIS PROJECT | HYDROPONIC HERBS FACTORY O’Connell Street Upper , Dublin

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The position of this thesis is to focus on the quality of the ground oor, which eventually innuence the experience of public realm. The design aspect of the project should encourage social interaction between the buildings and passer-by, creates a spatial connection between inside and outside as a whole block and promote lingering and slow walking or turning with an animated ground oor. The brief connects with human sense such as sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. This can be related to an active and lively program, an urban he herbs garden that serves a cooking school.

The building is an urban farm that caters to different restaurants in the city and the private own cooking school within the building. It’s a building that designed for urban farmers that live in Dublin city center and culinary artists that serve the cooking school. The public engagement herbs park will be contributed to holding food festivals or social events that improve the urban experience at O’Connell Street Upper.

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PUBLIC REALM

CONNECTION BETWEEN STREETS

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ENCLOSED

ACTIVITIES AT DIFFERENT LEVELS

06 - Hydroponic Herbs Factory

Longitudinal Section

THESIS PROJECT | HYDROPONIC HERBS FACTORY Ground Floor Plan

The ground oor of the building contains a winter garden and a food market where public can linger and pass through as a semi public space. The front and back facades open up to both O’Connell Street and Moore Lane which invite also the public to come into the space. The idea of extending the public realm from the street into the building, merging with the building into one space. The journey continue upper oors where the herbs factory located, visitors can choose to participate a cooking course and a tasting session with the staff on the top oor where the tour ends.

06 - Hydroponic Herbs Factory

-Cross Section

Freeeow Grounddoor

This cross section showing different activities happening in the building, animating the front facade of the building which improves the urban experience of the street.

Daylighting

Diagrams above showing the thesis aspiration from my research of important urbanists.

Circulation

Sustainability

06 - Hydroponic Herbs Factory

Internal Views Solar Energy

Cooking

Cafe

Hydroponic Herbs Farm

Food Market with winter garden

Lab space

Food Market

O’Connell Street Elevation Building exploded view

THESIS PROJECT | HYDROPONIC HERBS FACTORY Winter garden space - Semi public realm

Thank you for your time.

Contact me at genchoong94@gmail.com.

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