Portfolio Amritha Thomas 2023

RESUME

AMRITHA MARYANN THOMAS ARCHITECT | ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGNER

22 Feb 1996

ABOUT

I am a highly motivated and dedicated architect with a passion for environmental design. I hold an MSc in Sustainable Architecture from the University of Westminster, and have a total of three years of experience as an architect. Daylighting in buildings, climate responsiveness in residences, net zero and carbon neutral buildings interests me. I am a quick learner and thrive in fast-paced environments. I am always looking for new opportunities to expand my knowledge and grow as a professional. I am a team player who enjoys collaborating with others and sharing ideas to achieve common goals.

INFO

Phone: +44 7435 6363 41

Email: amritamaryann@gmail.com

Address: Notting Hill, W11 3NN, London, UK

EDUCATION

Bachelors (B.Arch.)

Mysore School of Architecture

Aug 2014 - Aug 2019

FirstClass

Masters (MSc Architecture and Environmental Design)

University of Westminster, London

Sept 2021 - Sept 2022

FirstClasswithDistinction

(Modules: Post Carbon Culture, Fundamentals of Environmental Design, Climate Positive Environments, Evidence-Based Environmental Architecture, Thesis Project.)

Earth Building Workshop Sacred Groves, Auroville

Nov 2019 - Dec 2019

WORK EXPERIENCE

Junior Architect

DxD Architects, India

Jan 2021- Aug 2021

Key Roles: Designing, Planning, 3D Modelling, Working drawings, Client interactions, Site Visits

Junior Architect Studio abc Architects, India

Jan 2020- Dec 2020

Key Roles: Designing, Planning, 3D Modelling, Working drawings, Client interactions, Site Visits

Internship

Soho Architects, India

July 2018- July 2019

Key Roles: Working drawings, Site visits and Content creation for their website and social media

Miscellaneous

Freelance Designing and Content Writing

2018-2023

Key Roles: Designing residential projects across Kerala, writing descriptive texts for different firm’s websites and social media.

SKILLS

Conceptualisation and Design / Simulation / Visualisation and Presentation / Research and Writing / Client Management

Team Player / Fast Learner / Critical Thinking / Time Management / Active Listening

SOFTWARE

AutoCAD - Advanced

Sketchup - Advanced

Rhino - Intermediate

Vray - Intermediate

Grasshopper - Beginner

Ladybug, Honeybee - Beginner

Blue CFD, Eddy 3D -Advanced

Climate Studio - Advanced

EDSL TAS - Intermediate

ENVI-MET - Advanced

Adobe Photoshop - Advanced

Adobe Illustrator - Intermediate

Adobe Indesign - Advanced

Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

AWARDS

BREEAM Approved Graduate (AG)

BreACADEMY 2022

Honourable Mention at NCEUB MC 2022

People and Building Conference for Master’s Thesis “Flow: Social housing for the fishing community of Kerala, India”

(Proposed a series of architectural solutions and guidelines based on natural ventilation, courtyards, permeable materials, daylight and roof design to be considered while designing a community rehabilitation housing project in a warm and humid climate type.)

Certified Architect Council of Architecture, India, 2019

PUBLICATIONS

“Flow: Social housing for the fishing community of Kerala, India” Master’s thersis published at the 11th NCEUB MC 2022.

LANGUAGES

Malayalam - Native

English - Fluent (IELTS- 7.5)

Hindi - Intermediate

1 2 3 4

SELECTED WORKS

FLOW (MSc thesis)

Social housing for the fishing community of Kerala, India

RESTLESS (B.Arch thesis)

Revitalizing potential urban magnets at Calicut beach

COMMUNITY HOUSING

Community housing for different income groups of Mysore

MODULAR PAVILION

Modular temporary pavilion for artists at Kochi biennale

FLOW (SOCIAL HOUSING)

PROJECT INFO

YEAR: 2022

LEVEL: I YEAR, MSc (THESIS)

TYPE: ACADEMIC, INDIVIDUAL

LOCATION: TRIVANDRUM, KERALA

PROJECT BRIEF

Rehabilitation housing models usually account to maximise density by fitting large amounts of people into a small site, without catering to their quality of life and the general comfort of spaces. The “Pratheeksha” government housing in Trivandrum, Kerala is one such example where a large population of people from the local fishing community of the region were rehabilitated into an inadequate site area after losing their homes in the 2018 ‘Ockhi’ cyclone. This new housing type did not consider or prioritise the needs of the user or the climate of the region. Therefore this thesis project aims to better understand the socio-economic and cultural life of these fishing communities and redesign a better social housing model that is more apt to their livelihood and routine, which could also in turn positively influence their quality of spaces and communal life. The project focuses on recognising the role of sustainable architecture elements such as courtyards, roofs and permeable membranes in improving the living conditions in a warm and humid climate type.

Key words: Kerala, Fisherman, Social, Community, Responsive, Housing

Top to Bottom: 1. Basic row housing unit, 2. Creating cut outs along the SW direction to create open courtyards, 3. SW side lifted to shade NE side spaces, 4. Rows of houses align to create SW wind channels within a cluster of houses

Top: Main central courtyard with adequate seating

Bottom: Dining area between the central courtyards

Top: The different types of courtyards within one house

Bottom: Courtyard from the kitchen at the rear

Top: Air flow analysis within site using Rhino and Blue CFD

Bottom: Temperature analysis of the courtyards using ENVI-MET on an extreme summer day

Top: Thermal analysis of living room on a typical day

Bottom: Thermal analysis of living room on an extreme day using TAS

RESTLESS (URBAN MAGNETS)

PROJECT INFO

YEAR: 2018

LEVEL: IV YEAR, B.ARCH (THESIS)

TYPE: ACADEMIC, INDIVIDUAL

LOCATION: CALICUT, KERALA

PROJECT BRIEF

The project was based on finding design solutions to under utilized urban spaces through revitalizing and rehabilitating them.

Over the past ten years we have seen a global development of creative communities convening together to invent, to collaborate and to create. These communities form what we now call ‘CREATIVE HUBS’ and they represent the creative sector in the dawn of the 21st century. Creative hubs are platforms for artists, musicians, designers and young entrepreneurs to share their work and to grow.

Calicut is a district in the state of Kerala, India. It is the second largest urban area in the state. Calicut beach is situated on the western side of Calicut, and is 10 mins away from the town center. It has always been a prominent place for conducting public meetings and has thrice hosted the Kerala Literature Festival. It is also the highest crowd attracting magnet of the city with numerous commercial spaces surrounding it and the beach itself being the biggest magnet. There also exists a significant youth culture at the beach, with various venues opening up spots for open mic nights and other performances. ‘Aspin courtyards’ here also currently hosts flea markets round the year.

CIRCULATION

Parallelly running pedestrian and vehicular spines with more than five entry/ exit points connecting them together. The entry points are strategically placed at all magnetic points (high crowd attracting places) to reduce the walking time and distance. Each entry point has also been provided with an adjacent parking to make the circulation as smooth as possible.

MAGNETS AND MARKETS

The magnets as shown in the diagram are not concentrated at one place, instead they are placed so as to form a circuit. The magents include all performance areas, food courts, and the flea stores.

Urban markets are also called pause points. These are the points to which the magnets open out. From here the user is allowed to disperse from the circuit or carry on forward. Hence pathways to all possible directions are provided at the markets. This alternating arrangement of magnets and markets helps to maintain an equal crowd at all places and also prevents the formation of dead spots.

DYNAMIC NETWORKS

Youth hubs can not be static, instead they should be dynamic fields that can collect, hold, release and grow. Therefore it can’t be designed as a single monolithic structure, rather it should be designed as a sequence of spaces or as a flexible network of magnets; that way an experiential walk through is created where the user is allowed to think and grow.

FLEXIBLE MOVEMENTS

Continuity and overlapping of spaces helps to create flexible free flowing movement, through which the user is given a sense of direction from one space to the next and prevents him/ her from looping around.

COMMUNITY HOUSING

PROJECT INFO

YEAR: 2016

LEVEL: II YEAR, B.ARCH

TYPE: ACADEMIC, INDIVIDUAL LOCATION: MYSORE, KARNATAKA

PROJECT BRIEF

The project was based on finding different types of residential outputs for the different classes of a society. The brief was to design three types of residences for three social groups such as the H.I.G (High Income Group), M.I.G (Middle Income Group) and the L.I.G (Low Income Group). The project also, focused on the residential zone as a whole to bring out solutions for easy circulation, parking and the placement of shared spaces such as parks, playgrounds and other civic amenities based on the site context.

MIG HOUSING

GF AREA - 188 sq.m

FF AREA - 61 sq.m

TOTAL FLOOR AREA - 249 sq.m

The M I G residences are designed as row houses; meant for a nuclear family of four members or less. One prototype is mirrored and placed next to another to form a set of 2 houses. By mirroring the plans the courtyard space provided for each residence

joins together to form a much larger open area which is now at the center of one group. This central courtyard helps to bring in light and ventilation into rest of spaces and also functions as a spill out space for the family. The house is designed in such a way that all the spaces are cross ventilated, which aids in the free movement of air throughout the volume of the residence, thus keeping the interior spaces cool in the hot Indian climate. Ample terrace space is also provided for the family’s other extra needs.

CLUSTERISOMETRICVIEW

LIG HOUSING

UNIT AREA - 43 sq.m

CLUSTER G.F AREA - 576 sq.m

CLUSTER F.F AREA - 406 sq.m

CLUSTER S.F AREA - 225

TOTAL FLOOR AREA - 1207 sq.m

The LIG house is a studio apartment space designed as a mid rise cluster dwelling for a single person occupancy. 24 such houses are placed together to form one cluster with a large open space at

the center. This central area is restricted to only pedestrian and bicycle traffic so as to increase the quality of the space. The width of this path is restricted to 2.5 m so that other bigger vehicles can’t access this area.

The Ground Floor of each cluster has 12 houses where as the first and second floors have 8 and 4 houses respectively. The number is reduced as we go higher to create terrace spaces on each floor which can also function as another set of spill out areas apart from the central open area.

PROJECT INFO

YEAR: 2017

MODULAR PAVILION 4

LEVEL: III YEAR, B.ARCH

TYPE: ACADEMIC, INDIVIDUAL LOCATION: KOCHI, KERALA

PROJECT BRIEF

The project brief was to design a structure with repeating modules, that could be easily dismantled and reassembled at various locations in Fort Kochi; which is the prime site of the Muziris Biennale Art Convention happening every alternate year in Kerala, India. The structure should also be able to host various sculptures by different artists taking part in the biennale.

The module is designed as a simple cube (4m x 4m x 4m) with its vertical faces cut diagonally to form triangles. Opposite facing triangles are mirrored so that an illusion is created where the module looks like it is rotating around its central axis.

Polycarbonate sheets are used for the boards and M.S steel pipes are used to form the skeleton of the structure.