Portfolio 2022 - Ash Low

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AS SH LO OW PORTFO OLIO



contents

02 | Hendon Bridge Completed 2018 [Professional]

14| Morgan North 2020-present [Professional]

06| Site One 2019 [Professional]

16 | Stiles 2018 [Professional]

10 | Hangang Bridge 2019 [Professional]

18| Other professional works

11| Butler 2019 [Professional] 12 | 241 W 28 St 2021-present [Professional]

This publication is an abbreviated collection of creative works that have been worked on in solo and in collaboration with others; in both professional and personal capacities. My aspirations of becoming an architect started from the age of 12, with an unknown trajectory but overarching goal of one day becoming a registered architect. Although I’m still figuring out the rest. The selected projects are a careful curation of snippets that

24| Parachute NOM University of Auckland 2009

30| Chevron Berkeley, University of California 2011 36| The Evolution of “Making” University of Auckland 2012 37| Screen Completed 2013

28| Concurso | Concourse GSAPP 2015

have taken me from Auckland (New Zealand), Berkeley and New York (where I am currently based). My journey so far has been somewhat “unconventional”. During my time in New York I have hung off the sides of billion dollar skyscrapers, worked at the renowned Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, and joined two architectural startups. At present I am a New York State Registered architect working as a project manager for Construction Manager, Urban Atelier Group as an exterior wall specialist.

On the side, I subsidise my time by running my own architectural website (threethirty-itis.com) which hopes to bring the world of architecture to the wider public. As always this portfolio is a collaborative effort that is the fruition of phenomenal support team that has cheered me on throughout my adventures, and isn’t over yet. Thank you.


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— p roff . p rojj e ct hendon bridge Warren and Mahoney — Client: Auckland Transport, Auckland City Council Location: Auckland, New Zealand — Built-work Parametric modelling Rendering Hendon Bridge is a pedestrian cycleway positioned over a new highway network in Auckland, New Zealand. The base geometry of the bridge rationalises three arcs that are connected tangentially to form the bridge deck, and an arch that obliquely crosses the bridge deck. The defined base geometry allowed for the project to be parametrically refined and designed using rhino and grasshopper.

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Taper soffit of the bridge deck, concrete with a white stain.

Arch, outriggers, rods and balustraders all white.

HENDON BRIDGE


Curve geometry of the deck is built off three arcs that are tangentially connected.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG KEMPTHORNE

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t t

There are 6 concrete piers which support the ‘ramp’ portions of the bridge deck. Each concrete pier is an exposed aggreagte concrete.

The arch geometry consists of a parabola in the centre portion that extends to two straight lines.

The middle portion of the deck is supported by the arch and steel rods.

WATE RVIE W CONNE CTIO N

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HENDON BRIDGE


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— p roff . p rojj e ct site one Monk Mackenzie — Client: Confidential Location: Confidential, New York — Parametric modelling Client presentation

Proposal to redesign the facade of two large residential towers with a combination of condo, market rate and affordable housing. The scheme looks at maintaining the simplified masses and takes the idea of a skyscraper crown by inverting it expressing all the ornamentation at the ground plane. A highly decorative custom made fluted glass design adorns the ground floor. In addition the exterior maintains a dark glass exterior giving it a sleek sculptural but understated silhouette that does not compete with its neighbours. A reflection pool at the base allows for the mirroring of the fluted geometry and reflections of the customized facade. In addition a clear glass vestibule connects the two towers allowing for permeability and an addition public ammenity for residents.

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SITE ONE


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— prof. proje ct hangang bridge Monk Mackenzie — Seoul Municipal (Intetnational Competition) Second place Location: Seoul, South Korea — Parametric modelling Rendering Conceptual diagrams

The Hangang bridge proposal asked its contestants to design a pedestrian skybridge that could be built between two existing steel bridges. The response looks at a simple solution which echoes the existing steel arches. The deck is nestled between the undulating arches of the existing bridge geometry and echoes its rhythm in both plan and section. In plan the deck swells from 6.0m to 10.0m (20 to 30ft) in plan. The bridge materiality is a monocoque structure, whilst the roof would be structure plexiglass

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— prof. proje ct butler street Monk Mackenzie — Tankhouse Location: Gowanus, New York — 3D modelling Client presentation Right around from the Gowanus canal, Butler street is a mixed use development that incorporates revitalising a landmarked building and the construction of new apartment housing. The new structure is conceptualised as two simple blocks that are shifted to create a covered pedestrian walkway and public amenity on the ground plane through to the landmarked structure. The ground floor program utilizes both restaurant and retail services with the above ground floors to be either hotel or office space in the landmarked building. The offset residential block creates a large terraced portion for residents and helps to separate the two rectangular blocks by preserving sightlines and meeting all zoning requirements. | 11


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— p roff . p rojj e ct 241 w 28 st Urban Atelier Group — Client: MAG Partners Location: Chelsea, New York — Project Management, Procurement, Construction Management

The building consists of two towers on a through block in the heart of Chelsea. Designed by Cookfox, the first two floors consist of an amenity podium with an interior courtyard that separates the north and south towers. During construction of superstructure a tower crane was positioned in the middle of the courtyard. It facilitate a two day pour cycle as it transitioned between each tower with concrete logistics being catered from the 28th street entrance. As a project manager I was involved with the finalization and execution of all the exterior trades. This required weekly facade coordination meetings. During my time on the project we completed several onsite visual mock-ups, chamber tests and full facade installation. I was involved with all logistics and sequencing pertaining to the exterior, which included sequencing for the bulkhead portions. I worked closely with the various exterior subs to coordinate the various scaffolding requirements and schedules to hit our forecasted milestones. In addition to the exterior trades I was involved with the procurement of the interior amenity trades and various outstanding utility service agreements. I was fully involved with the GMP process, monthly requisitions and work-in-place for the trades I was responsible for.

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Render by Cookfox

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241 W 28ST


Render by Shimoda Design Group

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— p roff . p rojj e ct morgan north Urban Atelier Group — Client: Tishman Speyer Location: Chelsea, New York — Project Management, Procurement, Construction Management

The USPS Morgan North building is an existing 100 year old federal building and fully operational postal facility that stretches an entire city block at the edge of Chelsea. Tishman Speyer are leasing the top 5 floors of the 10 storey building for office space. The +$150m project accomodates for significant MEP relocations, new lobbies, storefronts and will hold the city’s largest green roof with an overbuild and four skylights. As a project manager, my responsibilities have included all stages of procurement from initial budget estimating through to purchase. Full subcontractor site onboarding, design coordination, shop drawings, mock-up and submittals phases. Being an existing structure, Morgan North presents its own set of unique challenges which require hands on site direction with subtrades and the design team. I was involved with the GMP process for all the exterior trades - contributing any qualifications, hold, allowances and outstanding potential cost items.

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PROJECT NAME


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— p roff . p rojj e ct stiles Skidmore Owings & Merrill — Client: Confidential Location: Greenpoint, New York — Construction Documents Developed Design

Located at the Greenpoint ferry landing, the Stiles project was a mixed use residential project of 350,000sf. The building program consisted of affordable housing units, market rate units and condominiums with full public amenity and retail space at the ground plane. The project is conceptualized as a simple rectalinear form. An elevated ring connects the two residential waterfront towers and forms a large cantilevered space that would be fully landscaped and open to the public. Two elongated bars, fully comprised of affordable housing extend the north and south elevations of the block and are separated by a “public” street that provide permeability throughout the block.

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Whilst the form of the buildings are simplified a custom glazed brick adorns the facade of the towers, creating a complex surface upclose but a simple clean form when viewed from across the East River.


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STILES


— p r of. p r oje e cts

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Vidaris & Flatiron Consulting Group — Consulting Inspections Mock-ups Design Assist Fabrication

Projects from Left to right: [1] 400 Park Avenue South — 2016 | Curtain wall tower, approximately 42 stories Photo taken during on site field fixes on reported leaks post building completion. On site supervision and troubleshooting [2] 551 W 21st — 2021 | Foster + Partners design, with a punched window system with deep reveals and a customized gold trim. Blackened steel portals at the podium vestibules. Photo taken during on site observations on remaining installation, leak investigations and consulting

[3] 375 Pearl — 2016 | Former verizon building, rennovated to be partial office space. Photo taken during the supervision of reglazing [4] 138 W 50th St — 2016 Full unitized curtain wall system designed by Permasteelisa. Involved in the early stages of the construction process. Coordination and monitoring of embed anchors for curtain wall panels. Photo of curtain embeds prior to install in the concrete slab by the carpenter [5] University Forum Manhattanville

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— 2017 | RPBW Building for Columbia University at the new Manhattanville Campus. Precast concrete panels by BPDL and storefront system by Gartner. Photo taken during the installation of a precast concrete panel [6] 15 Hudson Yards (Tower D) — 2016 | Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Approximately 80 floors, Tower D uses the idea of cold bent curtain wall panels to achieve the the curved glass geometry. On site inspections and troubleshooting, working closely with the fabricator, New Hudson Facades and field personnel. Photo taken a little after 7am, at the time of concrete pour of the upper floors. Inspection of curtain wall embeds. L to R: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] thumbnail images by others

OTHER PROJECTS


— p r of. p r oje e cts

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Projects from Left to right: [1, 2] 15 Hudson Yards continued, curtain wall installation [3] 685 First Avenue — 2016 | Richard Meier design of luxury apartments. Photo taken during on site observations of curtain wall installation [4] 425 Park Avenue — 2019 | Foster + Partners commercial tower which was partially reuses the structure of an existing building. Curtain wall design my Permasteelisa, Ground floor curtain wall by Gartner. Photo taken during the erection of the steel diamond frames for the curtain wall at the triple heigh amenity spaces.

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[5, 6] Case Western Reserve University - Health Education Center — 2017 | Located in Cleveland, Ohio. CWRU is a larger educational center designed by Foster + Partners. A high performance facade system by Enclos. Large ribbon windows wrap around the facade with a stainless steel clip on reveal. Large skylight by Old Building Castle. Photo taken during an on site inspection on facade progress and installation procedures. [7] 432 Park Avenue — 2016 | Rafael Vinoly designed tower. Formerly the tallest tower in New York City of luxury condos. Photo taken during a leak investigation and on site field fixes


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L to R: [1, 2], [3], [4], [5. 6], [7] thumbnail image by others

OTHER PROJECTS


— p r o f . p ro o je e ctss the hayden —

133 greenwich —

— 2015-2016 1 million sf building comprised of one larger high rise and and low rise portion with significant amenity space. Worked alongside client, Rockrose and Ecker Window corp for the install of the window wall enclosure. *

— 2015 Now a Marriott Courtyard hotel in the financial district. Window wall units, stick build storefront systems, punched windows, UHPC rainscreen panels and EIFS. *

F L ATI R O N CONSULTING GROUP & VI DA R IS

commercial bay downtown masterplanning —

christchurch justice emergency services precinct —

— 2013-2014 Working closely with Precinct Properties to develop the intial masterplan for Commercial Bay. Coordination and production of a full masterplan document used for client presentations, community outreach and local government meetings. *

— 2014 W&M were the lead designers on the project. Involved in the early stages of concept (competition), through to Developed Design and Construction Documents. Assisted on pushing BIM and revit implementation in the company. *

wairoa bridge —

DJ Kim Talks BIG —

— Oct 2016 Winning competition entry with Warren and Mahoney for a bridge in Tauranga, New Zealand (Render: Michal Wiack, 3d modelling: Ash Low)

— July 2017 Bjarke Ingels Group, BIG-ster DJ (Dong-Joo) Kim joins us for our second episode of Restricted Access Only. Born in South Korea, DJ immigrated to the US when she was 13. We caught up with DJ in her office to chat about things (not just BIG related) but her own ideas and how she’s making a difference.

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* Photos/ renders by others

ASH LOW


frank 57 —

myers park installation —

— 2016 The Durst Organization, small residential building designed by Studio V. Rainscreen metal panels, curtain wall and punched windows. *

— Oct 2016 Bid drawing set for design intent. Warren & Mahoney, Auckland, New Zealand. Development of parametric model showing movement, tile attachment and of a kinetic sculpture for an underpass. *

memorial ave bridge —

pescara bridge —

— 2013 Full parametric modeling and concept development in the design development stages. *

— 2017 Development of a full parametric model using grasshopper + rhino for a developed design set. *

KPFUI —

mad men 1.0 the inspector —

All renders and photos by others, except for articles for The Local Project

— June 2017 “Restricted Access Only” goes backstage with one of the newest design sectors named KPFui (Urban Interface) which is part of architect heavyweight, Kohn Pederson Fox Associates (KPF). In this episode we talk big data, changing urban landscapes and parametric technologies with Luc Wilson, Mondi Hsieh and Serena Li from KPF.

— May 2017 Today we explore the “office” of a façade inspector, Taylor, on KPFs latest, 45 East 22nd Street. Facade inspectors are the hawk eyes on the building envelope, and are often employed as a third party to help keep Mother Nature out of the building and pedestrians on the ground safe. In a city driven by strict rules, inspectors for all aspects of construction are a common sight.


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parachute nom BAS // University of Auckland 2009 — 1:1 Installation Interactive Inflatable — Howie Kang Mel Pau Frances Lowe Ashleigh Low The inflatable piece of architecture starts out as a circular (12 meter in diameter) flat piece of material that is flapped and formed into a malleable dome by its participants. A perimeter of sandbags and nylon material assists with retaining the captured air, as users are invited to relax on custom made beanbags. Winner of Auckland Architecture Week, Runner Up for People’s Choice.

Centre b couples means o Philips lig

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beanbag that as a seat and a of hosting the LED ghts.

Triple stitched ‘french seams’

Draw strings that can be pulled to pucker and manipulate the shape of the dome.

Sandbags inserted around the perimeter of the parachute to ‘seal’ in the air.

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Custom made flooring from white tarpaulin.

Custom made bean bags that were made with a similar panelisation technique as the parachute.

PARACHUTE NOM


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Final prototype used for Auckland Architecture Week. Overall winner of the event and voted second for the people’s choice award.

Testing the second prototype.

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The bean bags and lighting being used once the dome is inflated.

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The first time inflating the dome at Auckland Architecture Week.

PARACHUTE NOM


Existing high rise towers.

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concurso/ concourse MSAAD // Columbia University 2015 Model making Diagramming

Concurso/Concourse aims to reconcile the disconnect between a body of high rise towers embedded within tropical undergrowth and the favela of Rio das Padras. The architectural solution is an elevated walkway that can support community facilities for tower residents as well as enclosing a public space and an urban gateway for favela residents and the wider community.

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Main entrance from the favela.

AV. DANIEL MARINHO

CONCURSO/CONCOURSE


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chevron MArch (Prof) // Berkeley, University of California 2011 — Prototyping Model Making Rendering — Win Mixter Anastasia Victor

Chevron is a parametrically responsive and adaptive system which was advanced through the iterative process of model making and prototyping. The network is based off a single chevron component that was initially notched and interlocked to devise and understand its movement and limitations. The interaction between adjacent components was refined to the scale of 1:10. In the latter part of the semester, a hybridised architectural typology of a responsive community greenhouse was applied.

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CHEVRON


m .m .5 25

Notch 1

90°

3.

m 50 m

EVOLUTIONARY DIAGRAM ON HOW THE CHEVRON COMPONENT EVOLVED OVER THE COURSE OF THE SEMESTER.

slot A’

slot B’’

90° .2 38

slot A’’

slot B’

4. 25.5mm

m m

13. 10.

16.

72mm Notch 2

17.

5.

6.

7.

11.

1. 8.

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12.

14.

15.

2. 9.

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

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1. Basic chevron notching, one variable. 2. Four notching system. 3. Base shape 19.

4. Scale 2x horizontal 5. Scale 2x vertical 6. Scale vertical outside edge x 0.5 7. Scale vertical centre x 0.5 8. Scale edge 1, 2, 4 or 5 x 2 9. Chevron surface 10. Connections for global change 11. Longer tabs

18.

12. Longer chevron arms 13. Longer chevron arms and longer tabs 14. Connection system between components with the idea of using fasteners. 15. Number of tabs is reduced and a slider to make the component move up and down is introduced. 16. Rather than having a slide, 3 holes are used to define the different positions. 17. Introducing movement using gears. 18. Change of motion strategy. 20.

19. Chevron shape that can address change of apeture and can contract the system. 20. Component’s present stage.

CHEVRON

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Demonstrator model scale approximately 1:10.

Early prototyping, understanding connections and the overall system.

Initial prototyping showing the possibilities of the notching system and form exploration.

4.

2. 3.

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1.

DEMONSTRATOR MODEL BUILT AT A SCALE OF APPROXIMATELY 1:10

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Final render of the exterior.

Final render of the interior as a community greenhouse.

Final prototype model at a scale of approx 1:100.

| 35 the chevrons are notched together and then the fasteners fits with hole ‘a’ and matches with the slider from the above chevron.

1. Slider that keeps the components together and assists with both the aperture and contracting movements.

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4. Lateral connection between the rows allowing for change in aperture.

2. Eyelet for threading wire through. Notching connection between each component.

15.5

23.5 12.5

20.00

3. Reinforcement.

Clockwise: picture hooks, threaded rounds, washer, hex nut, screws, fishing wire, three way fishing swivels.

Two servos; left is used for changing aperture, right is used for contracting the system.

CHEVRON


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The evolution of ‘making’ MArch (Prof) // University of Auckland 2012 Thesis — Model making Diagramming Design process

The Evolution of ‘Making’ explores the idea of using model making as a design process. The thesis actively pursues the dialogue between analogue and digital model making using CAD/ CAM and traditional model making methods. The typology of a public library based in Auckland was applied as a means to test the design process.

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One of the first iterations of laser cut models.


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screen Client: Holiday Inn Rotorua — Interior Design 3-axis CNC Routing

Screen design to separate a potential dining area to support over flow from the restaurant. The patterning of the design is based on indigenous graphics. The screen was custom CNC routed and built from interior plywood.

‘13 THE EVOLUTION OF ‘MAKING’



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