AUSTIN BECK ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
A U S T I N
B E C K
austinbeck.co ajbbeck@gmail.com | 717-673-3075
EXPERIENCE HGA | Alexandria, VA | Septermber 2017-July 2020 Design Coordinator (WELL AP): Working across multiple project typologies, yet primarily in the Public/ Corporate studio. Responsible for project development and documentation, as well as assisting in developing presentation materials, construction administration, consultant coordination, and client relations.
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh, and Associates Architects | Mechanicsburg, PA | Summer 2016 Architectural Intern: Role included developing design development and construction documents for a university building and a prison, digital modeling for rendering, creating existing drawings, site surveying and preparing client presentation materials.
EDUC ATION Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies | Blacksburg, VA | 2012-2017 Bachelor of Architecture - May 2017
Architecture Travel Program | Europe | Fall 2015 Semester Study Abroad: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Netherlands, England, France, & Spain
ACTIVITIES HGA Community Action | 2017-2020 A grassroots effort to enhance social impact and create positive change in the community through engagements such as Canstruction, Parking Day, the Children’s National 5K, design services, and river cleanups. Member of the American Institute of Architecture Students | 2012-2017 Digital Mentorship Collaborative Mentor | 2014-2017 A student led initiative that teaches foundation studios and any interested students how to use digital technologies to re-think, explore, and communicate design. Cru Media Team Member | 2012-2017 Designed weekly slides for announcements and planned promotional videos and advertisements.
SKILLS Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro, Revit, Rhino, AutoCAD, V-Ray, Enscape, Newforma, Bluebeam, sketching, model making, screen printing.
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House with Aviary
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NYC Mixed Use
Public Library
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Room and Garden
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Parklet
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Architecture Travel
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Thesis
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430 8th ST. SE MIXED-USE 3,000 sf | 2019 Washington, D.C. SD - CA Phase The project is a mixed-use typology, comprised of a retail space at ground level, an office space on the second level, and a two bedroom apartment on the top level. The project is located in Historic Capitol Hill and is an alteration and adaptation to the existing building originally built in 1870. The first floor is lowered back down to grade and the current brick storefront is re-designed to welcome guests into the retail space. The interior of the office and apartment spaces are completely demolished and are re-configured. As Design Coordinator, my role has included creating and modeling the existing building, developing and modeling schemes for the office and apartment spaces, coordinating with MEP & Structural engineers, collaborating with designers on the storefront design, developing the life safety analysis, details and managing the model and sheet documentation. I also have aided directly in client relations working with the developer and acting as their agent while engaging with the Historic Preservation Review Board and DCRA for permit submission. As construction went underway, I handled logging and reviewing the RFI’s and submittals, as well as, attending construction progress meetings and visiting the site.
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HOSPITAL CAMPUS TRANSFORMATION 720,000 sf | 2018 Cleveland, OH DD - CD Phase The project is a campus masterplan for the MetroHealth system. I joined the exterior envelope team at the beginning of design development. As part of the exterior envelope team, my responsibilities included implementing the terracotta rainscreen and unitized curtain wall of the entry, tower, and dining areas, and facade stacking layout and jointing management. I also developed exterior plan and section details, roofs and components, and collaborated in the sheet documentation and management of those elements.
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PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 215,000 sf | 2018 Tysons, VA CD Phase The performing arts center is part of the development surrounding the new Capital One headquarters in Tysons, Va. I joined the team shortly into the construction documents phase. My role included integrating the curtain wall system, facade paneling and jointing into the Revit model from the Rhino basis of design model. I was responsible for modeling various components such as railings, backpans, radiators, and other components along the exterior envelope as well as aiding in the sheet documentation of the system and facade.
NYC MIXED USE 4th Year New York, NY 12 Weeks ACSA Mass Timber Competition
Housing
Museum
Market
Delancey Street
Essex Street
Suffolk Street
Broome Street
The ground floor is dedicated to the Essex Street Market and operates as a pedestrian link between Essex Street and Suffolk Street with tangents to Delancey Street and Broome Street. The market is divided by a path separating permanent and temporary stalls, with access to the open space on the south side, leading to the entrance of the museum, and also the apartments. The apartments are divided into four autonomous volumes each self-reliant. The volumes are positioned to take advantage of natural light offering a southfacing balcony for each apartment.
The museum floats weightlessly above the market. Its primary support is traversed by a large-scale truss resting on pairs of massive glulam columns, which pierce the roof of the market. The snakelike tubular structure of the museum is suspended from the trusses and framed by the vertical geometry of the columns. Although the museum tube appears unusual, perhaps daring or even delicate from the outside, the interior experience, with only four exceptions, denies any views to the New York surroundings, focusing, instead, one’s attention toward Warhol’s artwork.
Section through market + museum
Micro-unit
1 Bedroom
Section through market + housing
2 Bedroom
3 Bedroom
ROOM AND GARDEN 3rd Year Forest 12 Weeks Stacking concrete masonry units creates objects that are perceived as extruded from the ground. Multiply these objects and you are ensconced within concrete masonry units. However, a playful atmosphere emerges in front of you. Inviting you to step on them, jump on and off them. The action of stepping onto these blocks is continually being repeated. What would happen if you were to construct a stair out of these? What would happen if you were to take these objects and create a facade? Opportunities arise for certain moments to be revealed such as light beintg captured in pockets, ledges and steps emerging, and textures surfacing.
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1 | Concrete Footing 2 | Drainage Pipe 3 | Foundation Rebar 4 | Drainage Mat 5 | Cant Strip 6 | Flashing 7 | Concrete Foundation 8 | Porous Fill 9 | Finished Floor Slab 10 | Compressible Filler 11 | Continuous Wall Flashing 12 | Wall Rebar 13 | Vapor Barrier 14 | CMU Block Veneer 15 | Metal Wall Tie 16 | Structural CMU Wall 17 | Rigid Insulation 18 | Metal Panel Ceiling 19 | Structural Steel W-Section 20 | Metal Decking 21 | Waterproofing Membrane 22 | Steel Parapet Cap
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PARKLET 400 sf | 2019 Denver, CO Spin Spot Competition The project is comprised of a single element. The arch. Though structurally it is not of the same nature as a traditional arch, the arch acts as a gateway. A sign of entrance and exit. It defines boundaries. Repeating the arch allows for a form to develop from the thin plane of the single arch. The density and spacing of the arches can be utilized to provide shading, guide and direct people along the street, as well as create new shapes from the shadows.
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HOUSE WITH AN AVIARY 2nd Year Urban 4 Weeks The house is composed of an aviary within a large central core and living quarters suspended around the core. The central core allows for the family to view and interact openly with the birds from any floor. The floors are suspended from the ceiling at different intervals, creating the perception that the spaces are floating delicately like a bird. Platforms on the stairs act as perches, allowing the residents to stand and interact with the birds.w
PUBLIC LIBRARY 3rd Year Newcastle, VA 15 Weeks The massive colonnade is the backbone of the library as the library is the backbone of the town. It creates a central core and atrium, and allows there to be a lightweight skin wrapped around it, much like the human body. Shifts in the building’s plan offer a reveal for more light to enter the reading spaces. The angles on the building’s façade reflect the bookshelves on the interior as the books are a silhouette blocking the light that enters.
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Detailed wall construction assembly
ARCHITECTURE TRAVEL PROGRAM 4th Year Europe 12 Weeks
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The semester long study consisted of sketching, photographing, and discussing the buildings, sites, history and cultures as we ventured across 60+ cities in 9 countries.
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STUDY OF PATHS 5th Year Thesis Washington, D.C. 30 Weeks Paths are not only defined by human movement, but also architectural moments. How can architecture acknowledge and celebrate the constantly changing movement of humans, through built form, while still allowing for the freedom of other possibilities? The thesis explores such ideas through the creation of a series of moments along three different paths, suggesting the possibility of many routes. The placement and structure of each moment is greatly influenced by its surroundings. These new interventions into the city provide opportunities for new paths to be created while complimenting the existing paths and intersections of the city fabric. Each path has its own beginning point and leads to activities within the program of an urban recreation center near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.
Collage representation of various types of paths 23
East-West Section
The first encounter one has with the recreation center. The two parallel walls create the entrance and invite one to enter.
The grate allows light to enter the tunnel below. The arches provide guidance in where to walk. The wall provides a place to rest and enjoy the park.
The maze like field offers the opportunity for one to meander through and create his own path. 25
Activity 1 | Basketball The colors help create the lines of the basketball court. The rooftop court allows various sports to be played and offers views of the city.
The stairs guide one up into the second floor as light from above shines on the stairs
Activity 2 | Snacking and socializing The floor to ceiling windows offer views back to Dupont Circle. The placement of the columns and mullions provide a frame to view the city. 27
Path 1 | Ground Level
North-South Section 29
Rooftop
Ground Level
Second Floor