portfolio samples
DESCRIPTION
architectural portfolio samples from education and clientsTRANSCRIPT
This elegant and modern Japanese Hibachi res-
taurant is a beautiful mix of Old World Japan and modern
Tokyo. The structure is planned from the ancient writing
and symbol for Zen. The site is located in Kent, Ohio, on
the northeast corner of State Route 59 and Rhodes Road.
There are plenty of stereotypical Chinese restaurants, but
they don’t off er the experience of fi ne dining or entertain-
ment. The city would benefi t from additional fi ne dining
restaurants as well. The families living in Kent are limited
in their choices of family restaurants because of the many
college oriented restaurants. The parking I designed al-
lowed me to create an exterior space not required by the
program. I created a Zen walkway and garden. The walk-
way begins with a stone path leading from the outdoor
patio space of the restaurant to the Zen garden hidden
behind natural trees that existed on the site. Zen is har-
mony and balance. Hibachi restaurants strive for a balance
between entertainment, culinary skill, and quality of food;
a balance that every fi ne dining experience should have.
The Mansfi eld urbanization project was an 11 week long design problem
split into three phases: urban layout, town center design and the design of a civic
center. The design movement that became our studio’s guideline is new urbanism.
New urbanism is a movement that bases off a grid and includes boulevards with
alleys. The last phases (phases 2 and 3) of the Mansfi eld design is designing the
town center and civic center. A major design criteria to designing the civic center
was fi nding an architect that inspired us and study their architecture vocabulary to
design the center. I took this a couple steps further: I included this vocabulary into
the town center and part of the whole urban design. From the “city’s wings” to the
Calatravian civic center to the circular grid, this urban landscape becomes a blos-
soming development of beauty.
The Crawford-Hall Renovation was a full basement renovation from
water damage. The basement was gutted to studs and remodeled into a theater/
bar room, guest bedroom, scrap booking nook and bathroom. The existing work
room stayed the way it was with only some minor waterproofi ng/sealing done to
it. I was the designer and contractor on this job. I did everything from design-
ing the spaces to building the pilasters in the theater room. I even built the scrap
booking desk for the nook. The basement needed a huge upgrade into the present
and this design brings beauty, technology and sophistication to an area that didn’t
have any of it before.
The Ramos Deck project was a design proposal for the Ramos family. The
design included a new deck with a storm door installation from the breakfast nook.
A large patio design will be put in that will wrap around the house towards the drive-
way to the side entrance of the house and have a raised platform for a future ga-
zebo. I worked with Manfrass Architects and Planners on the project for design and
structural consultation.
The deck will have two levels. The fi rst level is an eight foot by eight foot
platform that the family will enter onto from the breakfast nook. The family needed
a more convenient way of getting to their backyard and soon to be deck, so a new
storm door will be installed on the west side of the house in the breakfast nook area
off the kitchen. The lower deck is a 16’ x 16’ platform that steps down from the fi rst
level. It steps down seven inches for a code required elevation change. The north-
west corner of the deck has steps leading down the ground. The site has a gradual
decline from the house to the back of the yard, which adds an extra step onto the
stairs leading off the deck.
The family loves the design and currently is trying to procure the fi nancial
stability in order to start construction.
The Penfi eld project is a sustainable design solution that involved two major
complications on one site. The fi rst is a fl oodplain; most of the site is actually located
in a fl oodplain so building anything on it has to be very particular in order to not con-
taminate natural environments. The second is a historical house. Frank Lloyd Wright
had designed a house for the Penfi eld family. This action was very inspirational to
the sustainability aspect of the design. The project lasted for the better part of a se-
mester. This project was a team eff ort. My partner and I managed to handle the site
with a great level of sustainable design. Methods like rip rap, terracing and increased
vegetation are all highly useful ways of dealing with our fl oodplain issue. There are
three basic zones to our design: river and fl oodplain, Penfi eld house and the Penfi eld
design school. The highlight of the design is the Penfi eld School for Sustainable De-
sign. The school is a small private establishment devoted to training a select number
of students in sustainable architecture. The Penfi eld project incorporates education,
community and privacy with sustainable practices in order to create a much more
unifi ed and healthy world without taking away the luxuries we have all come to ex-
pect.
Nike Chry-sol-is, or the Nike Headquarters for Innovative Design, in Baltimore utilizes
innovative sustainable systems and cutting-edge design to lead Baltimore into a new era of
architecture. This 14 story offi ce building uses green roof technology, hydronic heating and
cooling systems, rain water catchment systems and photo-voltaic panels to, in time, create a
building that is completely self-suffi cient.
The building is broken into two towers. Tower A, the tallest tower, and tower B, the
smaller tower. The towers are designed to naturally shade from southern light and allow as
much northern light into the spaces as possible. The fi rst and second fl oors of Chry-sol-is are
retail stores for Nike allowing the higher fl oors to be used as offi ce space. The bay off ers won-
derful views for the building; as well as looking down the boulevard.
The photo-voltaic system used on the sides of the building is a designed system that
will absorb sunlight to make energy in the daytime and use that energy to play moving pic-
tures, movies or shows at night time for the community. The Nike Headquarters for Innovative
Design in Baltimore is a structure that pushes boundaries and commands a higher class of
architecture; pushing Baltimore towards a new form of design.