ZJ Ruan Architectural Portfolio 2022

Portfolio

ZhenJian Ruan

Preferred Name ZJ Seleted Professional / Academic Work

2022 2022 Victoria University of Wellington

(He / Him)

ZhenJian Ruan

BAS, MArch (Prof) Candidate

DOB 21/12/1995

Preferred Name ZJ +64 211 670 690

Ngaio, Wellington zj.ruan.nz@gmail.com

The word 'design' has always held a special place in my vocabulary, and I enjoy discovering the 'designed environment' that surrounds us. Graphic design helps me express my individuality, and architecture introduces me to a new universe of human creation. I appreciate every project I've worked on and am enthusiastic about working with others. My key quote is 'Always wanting to wonder and expect the unexpected.'.

EDUCATION

ADNZ Intern Member Since Aug 2019

Bilingual

Since 2015 NZIA Student member English & Chinese (Mandarin)

Residency New Zealander Nationality Chinese References

Hardik Devani Devani Architecture Director h.devani@devani.co.nz +64 22 392 0817

Tane Moleta

VUW School of Architecture Curator, Senior Lecturer Thesis Supervisor tane.moleta@vuw.ac.nz

David Leng

Noah's Ark Teahouse

Former Inventory Control dleng97@gmail.com +64 210 576 005

Victoria University of Wellington - School of Architecture 2021 - Current Wellington, New Zealand Master of Architecture (Prof) Candidate Research Stream

DARA / Digital Architecture Rsearch Alliance dara.digital Thesis in Computational Design Dreaming the architectural bridge: Design explorations examining creative practices between the conscious world and the unconscious mind

Victoria University of Wellington - School of Architecture 2015 - 2017 Wellington, New Zealand Bachelor of Architectural Studies in Architecture

Yoobee College of Creative Innovation 2014 Auckland, New Zealand Graphic Design Diploma

SKILLS

Practical

Branding Craft & Build Layout & Print Furniture Design Maintenance Skills Project Management Account Management System Operation Problem Sloving Communication

AWARDS

Resene Total Colour Award

Tools

Photoshop Illustrator Indesign Lightroom SketchUp Rhinoceros Revit V-Ray Houdini Microsoft

Commercial Interior Public + Retail Colour Maestro Award 2022

Noah's Ark Teahouse, 128 Cuba Street

WORK EXPERIENCE

Victoria University of Wellington - School of Architecture

Feb - June 2022

Teaching Assistant SARC161 Introduction to Design Communication Lecturer: Tane Moleta

Noah's Ark Teahouse

April 2015 - Current Multi-Roles / Wellington, New Zealand

Operations Manager

May 2018 - Current

Responsible for the daily business operations, both external (admin and customers) and internal (office and multi-stores), and system management to ensure seamless support for the business and franchisees. This role covers a wide range of operational tasks; these include Team Leadership, Brand and Business Development, Project Management, Technical Operations Support, Account Management, Inventory Management, Property Maintenance, Policy Development and Report Production.

Project Lead Architectural Designer

Oct 2017 - Current

Responsible for leading, managing and overseeing the entire commercial fit-out projects on a day-to-day basis from the conception phase through to design development, construction drawings, bidding negotiation, construction administration, building consent and closeout phases (Including store/business setup).

Design Manager

Oct 2017 - Current Work and manage on a wide range of projects and media, using various computer software to visualise and develop innovative graphic designs that meet business goals. Task includes Web Design, Photography, Product Development, Advertising and any imagery production design.

Assistant Manager

Oct 2017 - May 2018

Team leadership, recruiting and training staff, and effective communication improves staff performance and morale. Operate and manage multiple sites on a daily basis.

Customer Services

Apr 2015 - Sep 2017

ZHUBO DESIGN

Nov 2016 - Feb 2017

Architectural Intern / Shenzhen, China

Assist and collaborate with lead Architects and the team in producing architectural design and drawings. Participate in the conceptualisation and preparation of the proposal for clients. Assist on various projects, including large scale residential complexes, commercial projects, and event planning.

Achievement

During my employment at Noah's Ark Teahouse, I have successfully rebranded the business, created a new identity and promoted it in the local community. I focused on brand development and quality control after accepting the position of Assistant Manager; within a year, the company's sales grew by over 300 percent. As a result, I was quickly promoted and given additional responsibilities for the company operation, including oversight of the design section. I then assisted the company in designing and expanding six new stores and establishing an office within two years.

The business was thriving before COVID arrived. Subsequently, my primary focus has been on growth strategies, particularly on improving the efficiency of current organisational processes and procedures in order to develop and maintain internal capacity. Establishing new systems, such as point-of-sale, online and delivery systems, mobile app, quality control, and franchising systems, to provide customers and the business with seamless support. I work directly with developers to create, update, and improve integrated systems to meet present and future needs. Currently, the company is in the final stages of franchise launch.

Architectural Projects

During my tenure at Noah's Ark, I completed seven hospitality fit-out projects for this Wellington-based bubble tea franchise company. I was responsible for leading, managing, and supervising the entire project on a daily basis from the concept phase to design development, construction drawings, bidding negotiation, construction administration, building consent, and closed-out phases, which included shop & business setup.

These projects aim to challenge the status quo of the fast-paced beverage sector by emphasising architectural enjoyment through quality finishes and installations.

Along with brand development, my project at Noah's Ark aims to create a distinctive and aesthetically pleasing experience at each specific site, as opposed to the typical approach of "copying and pasting" typography. Each project is located in a unique environment, such as a mall, food court, storefront, or heritage building. This offers a design solution that utilises the branding colour pattern and achieves a mixture of contemporary and vintage ambience in the interior while creating a new look to present this new beverage concept to the community in a different environmental context.

128 CUBA STREET

TE ARO

2019

Resene Total Colour Award 2022 Commercial Interior Public + Retail Colour Maestro Award

The project is located in the heritage Gear Meat Co. Building on Cuba Street, a prominent city street in Wellington Central. During the concept design phase, I spent considerable time observing the area's skin tone and details to ensure that the store's appearance was vibrant while being hidden around the corner of Cuba, focusing on maintaining the street's heritage tone.

The project's construction phase ran smoothly, and the Certificate of Public Use was issued before the final inspection; according to the WCC inspector, the project was wellmanaged, and communication was clear. This allowed the business to begin operations around two weeks before the handover date.

93 COURTENAY PLACE

TE ARO

2020

Renovation fit-out Area 55m²

Construction Tim Johnston Joinery Townshends Joinery

2017 was the inaugural year of Noah's Ark's bubble tea spread in the Event Cinema pop-up food court. Since then, a new store in the Courtenay Place area has been planned, thanks to the business's enormous success. After two years of establishing five new locations in the Wellington and Auckland area, the business has returned to its old ground.

Given the nature of the popular area, the store was approaching an ample customer seating and foot traffic area. With a few small constraints of the site, such as a narrow space and eco concerns, I overcame the issue by utilising wall mirrors to maximise the sight within the space and sound insulation foam cut into circles and hung from the ceiling to symbolise 'bubbles'. Notably, the project was completed two months before the start of the first quarantine; as a result, the intended plan to use wooden furniture was scrapped and black circular tables with black circular tops were fitted; yet, they appear to complement the black foam on the ceiling quite well.

Proposal Partition Wall 90 x 35mm

Radiata SG8 H1.2 Timber Framing Non Bearing Wall with 400mm stud spacing with 1 Layer 10mm standard GIB bothside. Top to be finished with top panel with 85x18mm Replica Arch moulding, fixed by concrete screw anchor with bottom plate to the concrete floor and ceiling. Paint Low Sheen bothside, apply wall tiles above counter as splashback. Comply with NZS3604:2011

2 A108 500 3000

100

2100

* Grooved panel apply to partition wall, detail refer to the sections 1000 900 1 A109

Wall Decoration 100x500mm Timber Framing with 10mm

180 LAMBTON QUAY

WELLINGTON CENTRAL

2019 Renovation fit-out Area 49m²

Construction Collins Carpentry LTD Joinery Manufactured Overseas

This is my first project in a mall setting, and it is located on the ground floor of Lambton Square, underneath the food court. The budget was the project's major challenge since the landlord expected a costly fit-out while the business owner could only afford a quality renovation. In order to make it even, other strategies were required, such as utilising acrylic sheets for the counter facade and manufacturing the joinery overseas, which resulted in significant cost savings for this 11-meter-long Caesarstone benchtop.

This project provided an excellent opportunity to practise interacting with overseas manufacturers, such as by almost double checking everything, because there are no returns once the product has been manufactured.

Academic Projects

This section presents some selected projects from my Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2017 and the first year of Masters of Architecture Professional completed in 2021.

Please Note

this section DO NOT present my thesis research in 2022.

SOTO TOWER

Shades of The Ocean

2021

ARCI412 Architecture Design Capstone Project Lecturer: Simon Twose Stream Leader: Derek Kawiti Tutor: Callum Vartha & Max Clifford

Typology: Digital Tall Building Augmentation, parametric design

Tools

Houdini, Rhino, Revit, V-ray

SOTO is a concept for a digital skyscraper aquarium built on the waterfront, 1 Victoria Street, Wellington in the year 2049. In addition to serving a meaningful purpose for human society, the architecture is intended to enhance public awareness of ocean species. 'Shades of The Ocean' is an architecture that is designed through parametric simulation, through the use of high end digital software (Houdini), and augmented reality tool (Swarm simulation). The apparent reality of overfishing as a threat to marine biodiversity, ocean species may become endangered in the near future. A data-gathering centre for regenerating ocean species into a virtual life that lives within the Cerebro Towers to record each marine organism’s life path, SOTO is required to create an artificially produced environment to sustain the ‘virtual life’ in architecture.

Structural Joint Frame

Steel Framing & Shear Wall Profiled Concrete Floor

Structural Mesh

Installation with Concrete Slab

Installation with Mesh

Partial node script in Houdini

Lobby

Educa� on

Servers

SOTO Construction

2021

ARCI421 Integrated Technologies Lecturer: Dr Morten Gjerde Tutor: Mark John Warren

Typology: Integrated Technologies Design For Studio Project

Shades of The Ocean Tools Autodesk Revit, Rhino

SOTO is a skyscraper composed by seven towers – a core tower, five Cerebro towers and one signal tower. This architecture was designed with parametric simulation to have unique characteristics that are unlikely to be achieved in today's construction context. Therefore, the building was composed of basic structural systems that maximise the likelihood of realising this design from a construction standpoint in 2021.

A possibility was found by using 3D printed diagrid systems, or as they are known as nodal joints systems, a relatively novel concept idea, it has been achieved on a small scale and with possibility to replicate in a skyscraper scale in the coming future. When it comes to structural design, there can be some major concern, especially given the Wellington environment's context with earthquakes and high wind zones, which has made it more difficult for any paramedic form to be erected within the region. The investigation into the construction of SOTO in today's environment has shown a potential, which can be attributed to the advancement of building technology. Despite the fact that there are a number of apparent difficulties and knowledge gaps, particularly in the challenging local environment setting, there is a chance that they may be addressed in the near future.

Technologies proposed in this project

Steel Framing

Concrete Shear Wall

Concrete Slab Diaphragm

SSG (Structural Silicone Glazed) unitised curtain panel system

ETFE Membranes System Diagrid / Nodal Joints Structure

The Path

A Living Path

2021

ARCI411 Architecture Design Research Lecturer: Daniel Brown Stream Leader: Daniele Abreu e Lima

Typology: Emergency Architecture / Student Accomodation

Tools Rhino, Revit, V-ray

The Path is a project focused on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of students in the Wellington region during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the project is to respond architecturally to the post-pandemic environment. During my investigation, the educational transformation COVID-19 symbolises draws my attention. More extensive research centred on the direction of daily living environment and the mental health response of university students to COVID19. Where a determination has been reached, proactive actions to promote the mental health and well-being of university students are required.

To address this issue architecturally. The Path is a planned concept to construct a new student accommodation complex with a strong community culture, biophilic architecture, consideration of COVID19, and mental health enhancement.

This project aims to use architecture as a form to handle contextual concerns (student living), to enrich human emotion and engagement with the environment, and to establish a self-contained community, generating its own bubble in a postpandemic world. It takes into account local conditions, solution design, context, and case studies.

Facilities

Studio

One Bedroom

Two Bedrooms

Three Bedrooms Bike Storage Carpark Admin Office Cafeteria

Shared Facilities Balcony Bathroom Study Room Common Room

The Path.

BLOCK A

BLOCK B

BLOCK

BLOCK E

kapu

Reform the space

2021

SARC412 Advanced Furniture Design Lecturer: Natasha Perkins Typology: Furniture Shelving System Tools: Rhino, Table Saw, CNC Cutter, Laser Cutter Materials: Plywood Panel, Super Magnet

The Living Pā’s cultural background gives a solid identity to the project before design iterating begins. Design thinking can be utilised to address the given brief, which supersedes the need to identify a problem - sustainability. Undertake fundamental steps such as material and processes research and selection, detail development, specification methods, and communication methods to support the design intention.

KAPU intends to maximise the use of material’s second life, to explore an opportunity for wasted furniture panels and convert them into a functional and aesthetically pleasing adjustable shelving system.

/ definition from Te Aka kapu

(noun) Hollow of the hand, palm.

(verb) To take hold of with the hollow of the hand facing upwards

The palm, or hollow of the hand, is represented by each unit of kapu. The human hand shape encourages natural engagement; when we shake hands, two hands interlock to form a close bond, with the palm as the central point of touch.

school of music

Cabinet of Curiosities

2017

ARCI312 Architecture Design & Structure

Lecturers: Daniele Abreu e Lima & Andrew Charleson

Tutor: Ryan Mitchell Typology: Univeristy School of Music Tool

Rhino, Revit, V-ray, illustrator

The location, in the heart of Cuba Street, attracts a large number of people on a daily basis. The project tends to carry on the Te Aro vibe, which is significantly more artistic, with structures appearing on a warmer tone.

Throughout the research, the design was driven by the Cabinet of Curiosities concept idea, which was also reflected in the neiboughours around Te Aro area, that contains a variety of styles of buildings with mix-use purposes. While keeping the project brief in mind: music. The exterior design was inspired by a symbol: a bold double bar line that serves as a "chair" for all other symbols to sit on. This concept was dramatically transformed into a symbolic architectural form.

The function of the building was carefully planned and considered from a university standpoint - a space provides for individual practise as well as a connection with people through various methods, both subtle and physical. There are numerous 'music pods' around the building, as well as enormous tutoral rooms. A feather roof design was also viewed as a good use of space, as a gathering place as well as a location for self-practice. To clarify, the space was created to separate the student and staff areas.

Facilities

Study Pods

Small Teaching Rooms

Learge Teaching Rooms

Post-grad Facilities

Tutorial Rooms

Large Auditorium

Small Auditorium

Library

Green Garden

Atrium Cafe

Public Stage

Changing/ Bathroom Facilities

Structural System

Moment Frame

Eccentric K Braced Frame

Secondary Steel Structure

Open Web Joist

Special Truss Design

Timber Joist Floor Diaphragm

Moment Frame Open Web Joist

Eccentric K Braced Frame Special Truss

Secondary Steel Structure Floor Diaphragm with Timber Joist

L e v e l 5

Level R

Green Garden

Study Pods

Rooms

G r e e n ga r d e n S t u d y p o d T u t o r i a l r o o m O c e s

L e v e l 4

Level 3

Small Teaching Rooms

Post-grad Facili� es

Tutorial Rooms

Study Pods

S ma l l T ea c h i n g r o o m P os t G r a d f a c i l it i e s T o t u r i a l r o o m S t u d y p o d

L e v e l 3

Level 2

Large Teaching Rooms

Small Auditorium

Small Teaching Rooms

Study Pods

Tutorial Rooms

L a r g e T ea c h i n g r o o m S m a l l A u d i t o t o r i u m S ma l l T ea c h i n g r o o m S t u d y p o d T u t o r i a l r o o m L i b r a r y

L e v e l 2

Level 1 1. Small Teaching Rooms

Study Pods

Tutorial Rooms 4. Library

- S ma l l T ea c h i n g r o o m T u t o r i a l r o o m S t u d y p o d L i b r a r y S t o r a g e

L e v e l 1

Level G

Large Auditorium

Rehearsal Room

on 4. Atrium

L a r g e A u d i t o r i u m R e h e a r s a l r o o m R e c e p ti o n A t r i u m Ca f e

Level -1 1. Large Auditorium with facili� es

U nd e r g r o u n d m u i r o t i d u A e g r a L w it h f a c i l i t i e s