ASHLEY COLQUHOUN Undergraduate Portfolio Fall 2011
ASHLEY COLQUHOUN Address: 5 Grove Park Ct. Taylors SC, 29687 Phone: (864) 386-2540 E-mail: acolquh@g.clemson.edu Position Sought: Intern
PERSONAL STATEMENT As an undergraduate student of architecture, I have learned a new way of thinking that has allowed me to explore the world more deeply and richly. I have learned that architecture is a discipline that requires thought, detail, and much iteration. An internship would allow me to continue this iteration process and give me the opportunity to explore the relationship between people and their surrounding environment. In order to connect with the architecture community over the course of my undergraduate career, I have involved myself in several architecture organizations, including AIAS, Architecture for Humanity, Freedom by Design, ArchiLAMP, and LEED, and Women in Architecture. These organizations have helped me to learn about how architecture can be practiced constructively in today’s society. I have been able to learn more about architecture through a variety of service activities as well, from working with Habitat for Humanity, to constructing a ramp for a disabled senior citizen, and to helping clean and renovate a house for ReWiGo, a local volunteer organization. My dedication to learning through all of these organizations has been complimented by my desire to be a leader both in and out of the architecture field. As a student of architecture, I have pursued leadership positions in both Freedom by Design (as Co-Fundraiser) and in Women in Architecture (as Secretary). Outside of the field of architecture, I have pursued leadership positions both professionally (being a manager and supervisor in jobs I have held while in school) and in my free time (leading three retreats through my local church). All of these opportunities have helped me learn how to interact constructively with the people around me and to work together in the community to accomplish a greater good. An internship will serve as an opportunity for me to explore the connection between architecture and the community. Through this investigation I will hone my own skills at creating spaces that speak to this understanding of architecture, and therefore have a stronger ability to help people engage with each other and their surroundings. I have a passion for bringing constructive change to my community through all of my work, especially in the academic environment. One of my professional goals is to become a licensed architect. This will help me as I strive to engage with the community and create awareness about the potential beauty of spaces and how they can provide positive opportunities for their users. An internship is an extremely important part of this process as it will give a new level of rigor to my studies and work, thereby allowing me to delve deeper into the potential effects of my design as a future architect and to learn how to make my designs more successful in forming these positive environments.
LOCATION: Clemson, SC SEMESTER: Spring 2010 PROFESSOR: Laurence PAGES: 1-4
PLATFORMS
LOCATION: Anderson, SC SEMESTER: Spring 2010 PROFESSOR: Laurence PAGES: 5-8
TRAIN STATION
LOCATION: Clemson, SC SEMESTER: Fall 2010 PROFESSOR: Verderber PAGES: 9-14
BIKE STATION
LOCATION: Port-Au-Prince, Haiti SEMESTER: Fall 2010 PROFESSOR: Verderber PAGES: 15-18
HAITI PROJECT
LOCATION: Greenville, SC SEMESTER: Spring 2011 PROFESSOR: Mills PAGES: 19-22
ART MUSEUM LOCATION: Charleston, SC SEMESTER: Fall 2011 PROFESSOR: Huff PAGES: 23-28
CAC.C: INSTRUMENT OF LEARNING LOCATION: Varied SEMESTER: Summer 2011 PROFESSOR: Harritos, Bruhns PAGES: 29-30
ARCHITECTURAL GRAPHICS
1 PLATFORMS The goal of this individual project was to create a space in which students could relax and take in the beauty of the surrounding environment. The task was to create a “Place to Study the Book of Nature”. Located directly in front of the Cooper Library, and along the main axis of Clemson’s campus, the structure needed to unite campus and create an opportunity for students to engage actively with their campus. This project was our first tangible experience studying the creation of a place through enclosure, materiality, texture, and inhabitation.
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LOCATION: Clemson, SC SEMESTER: Spring 2010 PROFESSOR: Laurence
Perspective, Facing South
The design of this project is intended to create a sense of path, to unite students with each other and give them a chance to experience their campus in a new way. Square platforms overlap, forming a maze-like path that guides the user from the base of the library to the main bridge (a major artery on the campus). Three enclosed cubes provide space for students to study, while the rest of the platforms remain open to the elements. Views are strategically placed along the path, providing sheltered spaces that encourage the passerby to pause and take in the surrounding scenery. Benches are provided in these spaces to allow for more personal interaction along the path.
Aerial, Physical Model, 1/16�=1’
Section Facing East
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This was the first time that I was able to look at the proportions of a space. By implementing the golden section as the guiding factor in the positioning of the platforms, I was able to create an experience with a strong rhythm to it that truly became about the journey.
Proportional Diagram
Perspective, Facing West
Three areas of access are available in the design at three different elevations. This was designed to provide the maximum amount of opportunities for students to use the space, thereby encouraging them to engage with the space. The structure itself is designed to have a steel structure clad in concrete with glass paneling for the three enclosed structures. This was designed to mimic the language of the Cooper Library directly adjacent to the space and fit within the fabric of Clemson University’s campus.
Site Plan
Aerial, Physical Model, 1/8”=1’
5 TRAIN STATION This individual project was designed to create a space in which passengers could rest and take in their surroundings as they wait for their train in downtown Anderson. This building is highly reactive to the site, opening out in a wedge-shaped form, giving every person who enters the building a sense of the grandeur and the beauty of the hills of Anderson. The atrium space is placed strategically to encourage the users to pause and react to the elegant simplicity of the nature surrounding them. This design gives the users an opportunity to be tranquil in what would otherwise be a hectic scene of transition.
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LOCATION: Anderson, SC SEMESTER: Spring 2010 PROFESSOR: Laurence
First Floor Perspective, Facing East
Aerial, Physical Model, 1/8”=1’
Second Floor Perspective, Facing East
Section, Facing West
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Roof Plan
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Aerial, Physical Model, 1/8”=1’
Second Floor Perspective, Facing West
9 BIKE STATION
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LOCATION: Clemson, SC SEMESTER: Fall 2010 PROFESSOR: Verderber
The intent of this individual project is to create a space that empowers and motivates the Clemson community to both interact with each other and become more aware of the potential for sustainability within the community. Based off an analysis of the song “Dissolve� by the Chemical Brothers (shown to the right), the projects takes the rhythm of music and forms an active structure, encouraging residents to interact with each other and their community in a sustainable way.
East Facing Section
The song “Dissolve”, by the Chemical Brothers served as a starting point to understanding the rhythm of activity that would be present in the bike station. The repetition and steady base line helped to guide the creation of a form for the bike station as it developed.
“Dissolve” Analysis
Bike hubs are placed strategically throughout the town and campus to give residents the incentive to choose to act and use eco-friendly routes of transportation. Solar panels on the roof are used to power the Bike Station on the first floor of the building, creating a noticeable icon for passerbys to remind them of the importance of sustainability in our culture. Finally, the apartments above are designed to have one common route of entry and departure, encouraging the residents of this community to engage with each other on a daily basis. North Facing Section
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Orientation
Several site and programmatic factors also played a role in the creation of the form of the building. First, the modules of the apartments were oriented facing north to maximize daylighting. Then, the flow of traffic on the street caused the modules to move along the street’s perimeter. Finally, the social function of the building (desiring a strong connection between the users of the space) brought the modules in and around the central circulation device.
Traffic
Circulation
North Facing Perspective
13 W H
W H
DN
DN UP
UP
UP
W H
W H
W H
W H
W H
W H
W H
W H
W H
DN
Third Floor Plan
N
N
N Second Floor Plan
Fourth Floor Plan
Hand-Crafted Model, 1/8”=1’, Perspective View
Hand-Crafted Model, 1/8’ = 1’, Aerial View
15 HAITI PROJECT
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LOCATION: Port-Au-Prince, Haiti SEMESTER: Fall 2010 PROFESSOR: Verderber
This project, created in collaboration with Joy Newberry creates a safe haven in the form of a dormitory school for young girls. Designed to create a sense of ownership, the school is centrally designed to focus on a garden atrium designed specifically for the use of the students. A greenhouse allows the girls to interact with their surroundings and develop a sense of empowerment and responsibility for their environment by enabling them to grow their own herbs and vegetables. Privacy screening provides privacy for the girls’ rooms as well as absorbing sound from the atrium to create a peaceful yet vibrant space where the girls are enabled to live, learn, and grow.
Hand-Crafted Model, 1/16” = 1’, Aerial View
The building form is comprised of 25 steel modular units. The modular truss system allows for efficient manufacturing and transportation in construction while adding structural stability to the building. Regional materials such as tin roofing and bamboo façade promote sustainability while also celebrating the local culture. The program of the building is divided by floors to give the students a sense of ownership and privacy in the building. At the same time, a central atrium allowed for visual connections within the space. Interior Atrium, Perspective
For this project Joy and I jointly designed the building itself. I developed the building in the physical model form and through Revit. From Revit I was able to develop the floorplans as well as the renderings for the project as illustrated.
Hand-Crafted Model, 1/16�=1’, Atrium Perspective
Exploded Module
Apartment, Perspective
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First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Third Floor Plan
Fourth Floor Plan
Hand-Crafted Model, 1/16”=1’, Interior Atrium Perspective
Interior Atrium Perspective
19 ART MUSEUM
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LOCATION: Greenville, SC SEMESTER: Spring 2011 PROFESSOR: Mills
This individual project creates a folk art museum in the heart of downtown Greenville. It was designed through multiple physical iterations of models based on analyses of the site (palimpsest drawings) and careful examinations of the site conditions. This design is an exploration of the idea of taking planes and folding them along key site lines to form spaces that engage the user and connect them to the art on display, the surrounding context, and the people using the space.
Developmental Models
Site Map
Palimpsest
Folding Diagram
Model, 1/16”=1’, Street View
Elevation Facing North
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First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
The intent of pursuing this line of design was to create a better understanding of spatial relationships and lighting conditions. By having a design which folded in on itself I was able to understand how the different pieces from one floor directly affected the surrounding floors. Once I had developed a form, I began to explore how to bring light into the structure in a way that respected this form.
Section Facing West
Third Floor Plan
Fourth Floor Plan
Fifth Floor Plan
Sixth Floor Plan
Hand-Crafted Model, 1/16”=1’, Street Perspective
23 CAC.C: INSTRUMENT OF LEARNING
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LOCATION: Charleston, SC SEMESTER: Fall 2011 PROFESSOR: Huff
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The intent of this project, designed in collaboration with Artemiy Zheltov was to design a building to house the Clemson Architectural Center in Charleston, the Historic Preservation Center, and a newly forming Planning, Development, Preservation, and Landscape Architecture (PDPLA) Center in the heart of downtown Charleston. Located on the intersection of Meeting St. (highly commercial) and George St. (residential), this building needs to respond to a variety of conditions.
Rendering, Corner of Meeting St. and George St. The Charleston Grid
CORNER OF GEORGE AND MEETING STREETS
GEORGE STREET CORNER
WALL SECTION NTS
Single House, Intersections Study, Diagram
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Section A
Section B
One of the challenges of this design is integrating the context of the city into the building. Charleston is famous for its single-house forms and oddities in the fabric of the city (for instance, in the intersections, seen in the diagram to the left). This design takes advantage of these aspects of the city by de-massing the building by programmatic elements. This not only tells the story of the function of the building, but also gives the building a much smaller feel to the scale, thereby integrating it into the local context. For this project Artemiy and I jointly designed the scheme of the building. I developed the study diagrams, physical model, and detail section. Meeting St. Perspective
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Perspective, Forum Space
Charleston is a city rich in texture. Therefore materiality became crucial to the development of the space. The studio space, located on the intersection of Meeting and George, is the most visible space in the building. Therefore the space is very transparent. In response to the shutters of Charleston, they are clad in a louvre system that responds to the weather, bringing more light in during darker periods, and then moving position to bring in less light during the heat of the day, helping to create a more sustainable environment. The other programmed “blocks� of the building are divided into thirds as are the typical Charleston single houses, creating an open space where the typical piazza would be.
First Floor Plan
The forum space (left) is crucial to the building, providing display space for student work and serving as a hub for interactions between the school and the community for holding social events, lectures, and even neighborhood meetings for the Ansonborough community. In this design the forum is the centerpiece of the building. Illuminated with natural light and ascending two stories, this space allows for visual connections throughout the building and encourages users of all kinds to interact with each other.
Second Floor Plan
George St. Perspective
Third Floor Plan
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By creating a skin that is adjustable, this design is not only energy efficient, but can also respond to the local context. The louvres can be used to prevent light pollution in the evenings. As the studios are highly active in the evenings during the schoolyear, they can serve as a showpiece to the city on the Meeting St. end, reinforcing the idea of the Cultural Arts District, while on the Meeting St. end the louvres can be used to shield the neighborhood from light. Detail Section
9 AM
12 PM
5 PM
Night Rendering, Corner of Meeting St. and George St.
29 ARCHITECTURAL GRAPHICS This is a compilation of works developed under the guidance of Professor Harritos and Professor Bruhns. Creating a sense of place was explored through ink, graphite, and color designs. From these exercises I learned to look at architecture as a more expressive and engaging art, learning how to convey the energy of a space.
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LOCATION: Varied SEMESTER: Summer 2011 PROFESSOR: Harritos, Bruhns
THANK-YOU