William J. Collins, AIA: Portfolio

William J. Collins, AIA, NCARB

Portfolio | Selected Works

Selected Works

Professional Work

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola: New Lady Chapel

New York, NY

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners

Church of the Epiphany

New York, NY

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners

Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral

New York, NY

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners

Plaza Hotel

New York, NY

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners

Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center

New York, NY

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners

Mary, Help of Christians Academy

North Haledon, New Jersey

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners

Student Work

Rome of the West:

Graduate Thesis

University of Notre Dame

Professor Julio Cesar Pérez

Hernández

Town Hall Proposal for Bastogi

University of Notre Dame

Professor Ettore Mazzola

South Bend Civic Center Esquisse

University of Notre Dame

Professor Samantha Salden-Teach

Proposal for a Hotel in Utrecht University of Notre Dame

Professor Samantha Salden-Teach

Santa Maria Novellissima

Syracuse University

Professor Luca Ponsi

Piazzone delle Erbe

Syracuse University

Professor Matilde Cassani

Independent Work

St. Agatha’s Church

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Francis of Assisi Church

Hoboken, New Jersey

Papillion Wreckers Team Logo and Uniform Papillion, Nebraska

Mudéjar Palace

Florentine Gothic: Liturgical Fixtures

Federal-Style Pavilion

Observational Drawings

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola: New Lady Chapel

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners Architects

Commanding a presence on Park Avenue, the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola has been a fixture of Manhattan’s Upper East Side cityscape since the mid-19th Century. The church is a visually sublime structure that defines the neighborhood. Its academic RenaissanceRevival exterior was recognized as a New York City Landmark in 1969 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Its interior of polychrome marble, mosaics and metalwork is also renowned city-wide and is a favorite stop for both faithful and tourists alike.

My involvement in this project began in the Summer of 2020 when Acheson Doyle Partners was asked by the Church to submit a design proposal for a new daily mass chapel. Interest had grown in the then-current chapel after the Covid-19 shutdowns closed the Church and its priests began live-streaming daily mass from there. Recognizing the need for a new chapel emblematic of the parish community’s unity and resilience, St. Ignatius had approached a potential donor to totally renovate the chapel. Acheson Doyle Partners put me in charge of this effort, and I was tasked with putting together a design proposal and pitching it to the potential donors. Appropriately dedicated to Mary, Mother of the Church, the chapel proposal was accepted and the work began in earnest.

After an intensive survey of the existing space, I prepared design development and construction documents for the new chapel. During the design phase, I targeted several areas for improvement. I directed the removal of the imposing solid doors between the chapel and rectory, and the chapel and narthex of the main church. In their place, I designed two new glass and metal gates, as well as a decorative electrical panel cover. Working with J McDonald of Shape Studio, the new gates were inspired by those in the Church’s historic baptistery and incorporated Marian and Jesuit symbols.

While the chapel is fully accessible via an elevator in the adjoining rectory building, the steps leading from the narthex to the chapel, through a 6-foot party wall, were difficult to navigate . New stone steps, selected to match the adjacent, existing Tennessee Marble, were extended out into the narthex to create a more scalable entry. Additionally, I designed two new handrails to accompany the new entry steps that echo the historic detailing on those elsewhere in the space. The chapel’s historic reredos was also restored by master conservator and artist Ismael Checo under my direction. Mr. Checo also restored original Gothic stencil work on the reredos panels, hidden for decades under fabric, to its authentic condition. I also advised the Church on and submitted designs for appropriately styled liturgical furnishings, paint schemes, floor and pew refinishing and lighting fixtures. I managed the project through pre-design, design and construction phases and the work was completed ahead of schedule before the Easter 2021 deadline.

Shortly after completion I was approached by the NY Landmarks Conservancy to write an article about the project, which appeared in the August 2021 issue of their magazine “Common Bond.”

Exterior Photograph

Chapel and Narthex Gate

Chapel and Rectory Gate

Detail of Restored Historic Reredos Stencil work

Detail of Restored Historic

Reredos Millwork and Crucifix

CHURCH OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA LADY CHAPEL

03LADY CHAPEL - S

LADY CHAPEL ELEVATIONS

01LADY CHAPEL - N

LADY CHAPEL

Gates - Design Sketches

03 CHAPEL GATES

ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA

LADY CHAPEL SK3B

MATER ECCLESIAE

ORA PRO NOBIS

ACHESON DOYLE PARTNERS ARCHITECTS, P.C.

ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA LADY CHAPEL

Church of the Epiphany

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners Architects

The Church of the Epiphany initially approached Acheson Doyle Partners in late 2018 to provide design and construction administration services on a new church and school campus. Having outgrown its current site on York Avenue and East 74th Street, the Church had purchased the historic Jan Hus Presbyterian Church and its adjoining parish house. Acheson Doyle was tasked with restoring the historic buildings’ facades, renovating the existing church space to accommodate Episcopal liturgical ceremony, and renovating the former parish house to accommodate the Church’s day school, offices, a rooftop playground and a Parish Hall. One of the first projects by Acheson Doyle entirely using REVIT, I devised design, graphic and modeling standards that have been implemented office-wide.

I was tasked with the conversion of the former Presbyterian worship space into an Episcopal church. Working directly with the rector of the church with input from the parish’s vestry, I developed an English Gothic vocabulary for the architectural elements in the space, including sanctuary platforming, columns, arches, vaults, ribbing and windows. Additionally, I was responsible for the design of the sacristy, nave, sanctuary and apse millwork and new liturgical furnishings, as well as all finishes in the renovated space.

I was also directed involved in the space planning and design of the new programmatic elements, including the parish hall, classrooms and offices and rooftop playground and events space. During the design phase I participated and represented my firm in presentations to the client and parish community, coordinated consultants and vendors, and prepared contract documents to be used in construction. After a hiatus in construction work during the Spring and early Summer of 2020, the work is currently ongoing. Presently I am involved in the construction administration of the project, including reviewing shop drawings and submittals, representing ADP at CA meetings, issuing responses to RFIs and field sketches, creating punchlists and coordinating our work with consultants and the New York City Department of Buildings.

As of Spring 2023 the project is ongoing.

CM1, TO ALIGN WITH MOLDING AROUND ROOM

WOOD VENEER DOOR CABINET PULL

UNDER CABINET LIGHT AS SCHEDULED

COUNTERTOP AS SCHEDULED WOOD

RECESSED BASE

CM1, TO ALIGN WITH MOLDING AROUND ROOM

WOOD VENEER DOOR

CABINET PULL UNDER CABINET LIGHT AS SCHEDULED

PISCINA (SACRARIUM) SINK AS SCHED.

Details - Hand Sketch

Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners Architects

Located in the Little Italy neighborhood of downtown Manhattan, the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral is the borough’s only basilica and oldest Catholic church. The first cathedral of the Diocese of New York, the building was originally dedicated in 1815, and renovated in 1866 following a fire that gutted the interior. The Basilica hired Acheson Doyle Partners Architects to restore the landmarked building to prepare for its 200th anniversary in November 2015.

I worked on a renovation of the church’s old south exit and former baptistery. The vision was to transform these formerly utilitarian spaces into a well-articulated visitors’ entry sequence and welcome space. With direction from the project architect, I devised an ADA-compliant sequence that preserved the existing massing of the exterior, while creating a bright, contemporary space on the interior.

I was also directly involved with the restoration of the historic gates that surrounded the church’s main entrance. Originally part of the 1866 renovation, the gates and fence had since deteriorated and fallen into a state of disrepair. After extensive site surveys and drawing upon historical records I produced a new design for the gates that restored them to their former appearance and complied with the New York City Landmark codes.

I continued my direct involvement when Acheson Doyle Partners was retained to design a new chapel within the larger basilica. In order to relate the new chapel to its context within a gothic-revival structure, I designed a reveal along the east wall in the shape of a pointed arch. The arch showcases the historic masonry of the structure, and follows the same proportion of the church’s existing structure.

During these periods of my professional experience I participated in weekly construction meetings, presentations before the New York City Landmarks Commission, and prepared sketches, construction documents and coordinated various trades and vendors.

Photograph of Restored Church

Photograph of Completed South Exit

Plaza Hotel Residential Section Condominium

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners Architects

The Plaza Hotel Condominiums commissioned Acheson Doyle Partners to design a restoration of the landmarked building’s historic front entrance. I was entrusted with photographing and documenting the existing condition to present to the condo board. Once the restoration was approved by the board based on my survey, I performed research into the original design of the canopy and entry sequence, which had changed over time. From this research a designed a restoration of the canopy complete with correct historic details and material--as well as a new system for keeping pigeons off the canopy, which had plagued the existing structure.

The new entry involved design at multiple scales and the development of meticulous details, from the canopy as a structure down to decorative cast-iron filigree.

The scope of work was then expanded to include a restoration of the historic lobby. Using recently rediscovered photographs from the early 20th century, I developed a faithful rehabilitation of the space. Responding to a need for provide a sheltered space for visitors as well as residents waiting for transporation, I also devised a new wood, bronze and glass main entrance vestibule, harmonious with the historic detailing of the lobby.

As of Autumn 2021, the project is still ongoing.

Elevation of New Main Entry Vestibule

ArchCare at Terence Cardinal Cooke Healthcare Center

Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners Architects in Collaboration with Dalpos Architects

Located in the historic 5th Avenue “Flower” Hospital, Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center (TCC) is ArchCare’s flagship institution in the City of New York. Acheson Doyle Partners provides architectural design and construction administration services on a number of projects at TCC. I was directly involved in two: the renovation of the historic hospital’s lobby, and the renovation of the street level of the entire complex into a new assisted living center.

As part of a larger reworking of the hospital campus’ entry sequence, I was directly involved in the renovation of the existing lobby and development of a new marquee at the 5th Avenue entrance. Harmonizing with the elliptical plan and classical aesthetic of the lobby, I designed a mathematical “starburst” flooring pattern emanating from the center of the space. Constructed of precast terrazzo, I designed the pattern with regular sizes and joints for ease of fabrication and installation. Adjacent to the lobby on the 5th Avenue facade is the entrance marquee. Working with a senior associate, I assisted in the development of a new bronze marquee to replace the existing structure in bad repair. Based on historic photographs and original architectural drawings from the early 20th century, I developed the overall design and construction detailing for the new marquee.

In winter of 2020/2021 Archcare asked ADP to design a renovation of the street level of the entire health care center complex into a new adult, assisted-living Day Center. Spanning three connecting buildings and totalling about 75,000 square feet, I first conducted a detailed survey of the entire space. Once the survey was completed, I constructed a REVIT model based on the results. Working with a healthcare design specialist firm, I then further developed the model through the schematic, design development and construction document phases and was responsible for all documentation. Conceived of as a “small town,” we developed the program as a central town square surrounded by “shops” which contained programs such as crafts, exercise, movies, medical offices and a chapel. Additionally, I have represented the firm at design meetings with the client, coordinated with our healthcare, structural engineering and MEP engineering consultants.

As of Autumn 2021, the project is ongoing.

Sectional Rendering of 5th Avenue

Entry Sequence and Lobby Perspective

NEW LIGHT FIXTURES. SEE LIGHTING DRAWINGS.

PAINTED METAL ANGLE

NEW CAST-STONE LINTEL TO MATCH EXIST. LIMESTONE. SEE STRUC DRAWINGS

AUTOMATIC SWING OPERATOR - SEE SPEC

FASTEN TO CAST STONE LINTEL ABOVE

ALUM FRAME - SEE BALANCED DOOR SPEC

DOOR STOP

ALUMINUM AND GLASS BALANCED DOORS AS SCHEDULED, SEE SPEC

THINNER LINE REPRESENTS 1/16" JOINT, TYP.

HEAVIER THINE REPRESENTS 1/8" JOINT, TYP.

LASER JET CUT TILES (TYP.) WITH TINTED MORTAR

CENTER OF ELLIPSE

CEILING PLAN (FROM BELOW)

SCALE: 1 2" = 1'-0"

SCALE: 112" = 1'-0" 5 A-040.00

SECTION (FRONT)

SCALE: 112" = 1'-0" SECTION (SIDE)

MARQUEE

Day Center - Town Square Rendering

Mary, Help of Christians Academy Professional Project with Acheson Doyle Partners Architects

Mary, Help of Christians Academy approached Acheson Doyle Partners to design a new chapel after a fire destroyed their former space. The chapel was subject to many

I was entrusted by ADP to develop the campus master plan. Coordinating with a surveyor consultant, I devised a the plan and presented it to the school leadership. Once it was approved, I worked closely with ADP’s senior leadership on the concept design and construction documents of the new chapel. Enjoying the approbation of both the school leadership and Bishop of Paterson, construction is currently underway.

Perspective Rendering of Chapel

Rome of the West:

A Model for Civic Design in St. Louis, Missouri

Graduate Thesis | University of Notre Dame School of Architecture

At a moment in which more and more people are moving back into St. Louis, “Rome of the West” proposes the rehabilitation of an area of the former Kosciusko district. The goal was to design a district with its own sense of place that is comprised of three neighborhoods, each with their own character, planned around “teleological loci,” as all the traditional cities in the region were. The scope of the work includes a masterplan for the district (about 1 square mile in area), development of parks, squares, and spatial networks, a new design for a promenade to activiate the Mississippi River waterfront, the design of civic and vernacular building types, and the design of street furniture and neighborhood flags and symbols to reinforce a sense of place.

St. Louis: River District

River District Elevation from Across the Mississippi River

River District: Riviera Neighborhood Center Plan

River District: Riviera Neighborhood Center Section

River District: Cathedral Neighborhood Center Plan

River District: Cathedral Neighborhood Center Section

River District: West End Neighborhood Center Plan

River District: West End Neighborhood Center Section

River District: Designs for Civic Building Types - Fire Station

River District: Designs for Civic Building Types - Fire Station

River District: Designs for Building Types

River District: Designs for Building Types

River District: Designs for Building Types

River District: Designs for StreetTypes

River District: Plan of Mississippi Riverfront Esplanade

River District: Sections through Riverfront Esplanade

River District: Street Furniture Designs - Street Lamp

River District: Street Furniture Designs - Civic Flagpole

River District: Street Furniture Designs - Park Fence

Town Hall Proposal for Bastogi

Student Work | University of Notre Dame School of Architecture

Located on the outskirts of the Metropolitan City of Rome, the social housing district of Bastogi was originally planned in the 1970s as transient housing for All’Italia’s airline crews during stopovers in the city. Comprised of six identical blocks of a brutalist character, the district was eventually designated as temporary emergency housing for poor families, with permanent social housing planned to be built within a year. However, the project stalled and 496 families have been forced to remain in the decaying structures for decades. This project proposes a redevelopment of the Bastogi district along the lines of successful Città Giardino social housing projects built in Rome at the turn of the 20th Century. Walkability, civic participation, beauty, and a sense of place were the guiding principles of the masterplan.

These principles are also reflected in the design of the town hall. Forming the anchor of the district’s major piazza, the ground floor of the town hall hosts a portico complete with shopfronts for local businesses, as well as a sequence of spaces giving access to a giardino all’italiana and series of public pavilions with elevated views of the surrounding countryside. The design of the piano nobile is inspired by the classical appartement: a progression of alternating large and smaller spaces create moments of dynamic expansion and contraction that allow for a variety of activities. Aesthetically, the town hall exemplifies a sense of beauty and place through its showcase of the best archetypes of Roman architecture.

South Bend Civic Center Esquisse

Student Work | University of Notre Dame School of Architecture

The goal of this esquisse is to offer a proposal for the conversion of the former College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana into a new civic center for the town. Planimetrically, this proposal organizes both major and minor programs, such as public galleries, council chambers, and offices, around a gracious interior courtyard. The main tectonic and spatial organization is achieved through the use of the Colossal Corinthian Order, which results in large and graciously proporioned spaces and allows for large amounts of light to be brought to the interior from clerestory and peripheral windows. A smaller Tuscan Order imposed within the larger structure of the Corinthian proportions the space comfortably to the human scale. The tectonic language continues to the outside of the building, and is the driving proportional logic across all facades. Additionally, the Classical language employed has precedent in many of the other buildings in South Bend, and serves to connect the city’s past to its future.

Interior Courtyard Bay Detail

Longitudinal Section

Proposal for a Hotel in Utrecht

Student Work | University of Notre Dame School of Architecture

The City of Utrecht is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. Originally founded by Rome around 50 AD, the city became a center of religion and trade during the High Middle Ages. As with many other millenia-old European cities, Utrecht saw a number of periods of expansion. Usually, this expansion was organic in morphological character, which is the case in Utrecht. Looking at the city’s history, we see that the fabric of the city would expand along the river and along major armature, which would then create new urban centers. A result of this organic process is the formation of irregular sites. Our site is one such location on the eastern corner of the Neude Plein, the main market square of Utrecht.

Given a “commission” for a boutique hotel for business travellers, the goal of this project was to successfully integrate regular, gracious sequences of spaces for the hotel including a lobby, ballroom, lounges, restaurant and meeting rooms, along with secondary programming for kitchens and offices. The plan of the hotel is designed to take advantage of the given corner site. One enters the hotel and proceeds along the main sequence through the lobby, grand stair, and hall before arriving at the gracious ballroom. The two secondary sequences allow both sides of the hotel to engage with the adjacent street (to the north) and square (to the south). The hotel’s restaurant and cafe functions are sequenced at the north in order to integrate their programs with the life of the street. The southern sequence along the square includes a coworking space for the hotel’s business travellers, as well as spaces for independent retail. The site’s planimetric irrgeularities are absorbed into two courts flanking the ballroom. In addition to providing light and ventilation to the ballroom and adjacent spaces, they can also serve as overflow for the ballroom.

The hotel facades are sympathetic to Utrecht’s traditional architecture, especially rhat produced during the Dutch Golden Age.

Santa Maria Novellissima

Student Work | Syracuse University School of Architecture

Collaboration with Alexandra Allen

The goal of this project is to create a new entryway into and out of the city of Florence through the redevelopment of the currently under-utilized piazza in front of the city’s train station. The site is currently in tension between the train station--an entry point into the city for visitors--and the Santa Maria Novella Monastic complex, a reminder of Florence’s cultural past.

This entry would seek to create an architectural connection between the wider world and the culture of Florence. This project sought to activate the interstitial space between the train station and Santa Maria Novella monastic complex through the introduction of cultural and economic programs both inside the preexisting structures and the space between them.

Conceptual Diagrams

Grid of Existing Site Plan

Subtrative SMN Diagram

Additive SMN Station DIagram

Piazzone delle Erbe

Student Work | Syracuse University School of Architecture

Collaboration with Scott Krabath

Located in Padua, Italy, the Piazza delle Erbe is the historical economic center of the city. Originally the site of fashionable houses during the Roman era, the square began to take its current shape during the Middle Ages when merchants began selling herbs on the site. The market eventually grew to encompass not only herbs, but fruits, vegetables, meats and secondhand goods as well. This activity gave rise to a second square immediately adjacent to the Piazza delle Erbe, the Piazza delle Frutte. Between the two Piazzas is the Palazzo della Raggione. Originally the medieval town hall, the structure’s program began to absorb some of the piazzas’ market functions on its ground level. Today, both the Piazzas delle Erbe and delle Frutte retain their market functions. The market has also taken over the function of the nearby Piazza dei Signori.

It is for this reason that we decided to intervene in all three piazzas. Across the piazzas the paving is changed to react to the formal structure of the site-dominating structures. In addition, an existing line made of red marble is re-oriented according to conform to this new geometry. While it still serves as a guide for the market stalls, the “red line” is also re-imagined to bound other activities, such as movie-viewing and “silent parties” that happen during the summer nights after the market closes. Parts of the piazzas are also paved in different patterns in order to provide an organization basis for these events. Small stone markings on the piazzas reinforce the directionality of the “red line” and serve to inform organization of the various activities in the squares. Since trucks enter the city every weekday to bring wares to the market, we decided to continue the streets’ san pietrino paving into the space surrounding the squares. Thus, as shown in the rendering above,the squares are linked in program, formal strategy and connection to the city.

St. Agatha’s Polish Roman Catholic Church

Independent Work | St. Agatha’s Polish Roman Catholic Church, St. Louis, Missouri

Commission for an elevation of St. Agatha’s Church for the parish’s 150th Anniversary to be displayed and included on commemorative materials.

Palace

Independent Project

I became fascinated with the Mudéjar architectural movement after a trip to Seville and Córdoba. In this personal work, I explore the synthesis of traditional Islamic forms with Renaissance classical planning represented in a portion of a Mudéjar palace.

Mudéjar

Sectional Elevation Through Palace Courtyard

St. Francis of Assisi Church

Independent Work | St. Francis of Assisi Church, Hoboken, NJ

Commission for an elevation of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Hoboken, NJ

Papillion Wreckers Team Logo and Uniform Independent Work | Papillion, Nebraska

I was commissioned to design the logo and uniforms for Papillion, Nebraska’s Little League Team, the “Papillion Wreckers.” Working closely with team leadership and officials, I set out to design uniforms that were both unique to the team as well as within the tradition of “all-American” baseball teams, in terms of color and motifs, as desired by my clients.

Secondary Colors

Primary Colors

Alternate Colors

Sample Uniform - Front and Back

Final Cap

Florentine Gothic Independent Project

Designs for a Roman Catholic high altar, candlesticks, tabernacle and crucifix in the Flortentine Gothic Style

Altar Crucifix and Candlestick

Federal Style Pavilion Independent Project

This independent project explores the classicism of the early Federal Era of the United States. Imagined as an accessory pavilion to a larger estate, it is situated in a natural, "pastoral" area overlooking a river and forest. The pavilion itself is planned according to neoclassical principals. The large, public porch gives way to two smaller, private buildings hosting accessory programs: a study overlooking the landscape one one end, and a spa-like bathroom on the other. These were chosen because they are representative of the otium sought after by the villa architects of antiquity and their Renaissance and neoclassical heirs. The inclusion of the spa applies this principal to the 21st Century, while the study conceptually locates the pavilion within this architectural lineage. As a project in an American context, this pavilion is constructed according to the proportions of the Doric Order as popularized during the Federal Era.

Observational Sketch: Portrait of a Young Man

Observational Sketch: Bust of Cardinal Borghese (Bernini)

Observational Sketch: Roman Relief Profile

Hand Sketch:

Preliminary Design for St. Joseph

Retreat Advertisement for St. Francis Church, Hoboken, NJ

Hand Sketch: Antependium Embroidery Design for Rector of the Church of the Epiphany, NYC

Hand Sketch: Various Liturgical Designs

Major John André

Oil Sketch

General George Washington Oil Sketch

Art Deco Style Travel Poster for Darien, CT

DECEMBER 29, 2020

Art Deco Style Travel Poster for Rockefeller Center

Hand Sketch/Vector Drawing

Grand Marnier Bottle Hand Sketch/Vector Coloring

Cardenal Mendoza Bottle

Hand Sketch/Vector Coloring