02 PANORAMA HUB

Opatija-Rijeka, Croatia

Graduate Studio Spring 2022

Supervisor: Ar. Jörg Rügemer

AIA Utah Student Design Competition - 2022

Graduate Student Category - Merit Award

Team: Aastha Shrestha & Jaden Robertson

Motel panorama, designed by architect ivan vitić, is situated near rijeka in croatia. The area where the motel is located offers great views of the Adriatic sea and of the adjacent hills. At present, the motel is abandoned and in a dilapidated condition. Motel Panorama is a great architectural example of a building from Modernist era, listed as a cultural heritage site in 2015. Despite the level of deterioration, there is still a chance to revive the building and site. The location and the flexibility offered by the Modern floor plan provide substantial potential for its adaptive reuse into the “Panorama Hub.”

Panorama Hub is a proposal to establish a platform to facilitate connection and interaction between tourists and locals by creating spaces for shared activities and living. Furthermore, Panorama Hub strives to incorporate resiliency by developing a close relationship with nature by utilizing passive design strategies, framing views, and minimizing overall ecological impact. Access to and from the site is facilitated through an interface with public transportation as well as a gondola providing direct access to the popular beaches on the Adriatic, of which comprises a large cultural component of coastal Croatia.

The existing building is 31,700 sqft with 23,200 sqft of new construction, with the primary components of the program consisting of classrooms, library, gallery space, a restaurant, and a hostel. The organization of each program has been designed around flexibility with reconfigurable layouts utilizing movable partitions and furniture.

Panorama Hub is designed to facilitate connection and interaction between people and nature. It is respectful of the original architect intent, utilizing low impact high durable materials. Passive design strategies paired with innovative active systems allow for a complete EUI offset. A focus on circulation and accessibility allows for opportunities for users of any ability.

GLUE-LAMINATED WAFFLE BEAMS

SHEAR WALLS

GLUE-LAMINATED TIMBER POST

CONCRETE FOOTINGS

GLUELAMSTRUCTURE

GLUELAM STRUCTURE

BRACINGSTRAPS

FOOTING

FOOTING

BRACING STRAPS GROUND PLANE

GOUNDPLANE

The Design Build Salt Lake Summer program is an immersive program for students studying architecture that is focused on exposure to real life construction practice. The School of Architecture at the University of Utah collaborated with The Other Side Village to design and construct a tiny house. The Tiny House is a 280-square-foot dwelling that integrates sustainable materials and high-performance building systems. The design of the tiny house was developed by the students and faculty in the Fall 2021 semester. Our class was involved in the build phase of the Design-build which started in mid-May, with initial wood framing and structural system, and the home was completed in August. The construction took place on the concrete pad outside of our school, using the available resources, materials, and tools.

A group of 16 students worked in alternate days to complete the house. I was in Mon-Wed schedule with other 6 classmates. We were involved in almost all phases of the construction starting from levelling the floor beams to finsihing the interior and exterior of the house. It was a great hands-on experience where we learned various skills like construction, teamwork, tool handling, co-ordination,et cetera and also gained knowledge on stud wall construction, structure, fenestrations, rainscreen technology, HVAC, materials, building envelope, installation of equipments, et cetera.

DESIGN BUILD: TINY HOUSE

Salt Lake City, Utah

Design Build @ SLC Summer 2022

Supervisor: Sarah Winkler & Grant Marriott

Building the exterior wall was the massive task among all the other tasks. We had different layers to build like installing hunter panels, moisture barrier, metal channels both horizontally and vertically and then installing the concrete finished panels and C channels for final exterior layer.

Doing the interior side of the house was also exciting where I was mostly involved in the installation of membrane, fur, wooden planks, window, window frames, and gyp boards. I was also involved in painting the gyp walls, doors and kitchen cabinets, and caulking.

Overall, it was really fun and exciting semester that enriched our design build experience.

The studio extensively focused on exposure to real life architectural practice. The project involved shadowing an actual project being done by MHTN Architects in the studio. The project was designing a 70,000 sq ft office space along with pickle ball court and basket ball court. The client was TaxHawk.

The project involved learning different applications like Revit, Enscape, and Cove Tool to design the office space like a professional. An architectural set comprising of drawings, renderings, and energy analsyis were developed at the end of the studio.