Selected Works v3

Eldvatn Kaffi(hús)

coffee shop + education center

Spring 2022

Bee Breeders Competition Entry

When Northern Iceland’s Hverfjall Volcano erupted nearly 4,500 years ago, it left behind a kilometer-wide crater of mammoth proportions. Today, this impressive crater meets the Mývatn region’s foggy skies to create an asymmetrical crescent silhouette – a large earthen arc that reaches up as if grasping at the sky. Nestled into the base of the volcano and perched on a bend within the site’s existing hiking trails, Eldvatn Kaffihús strikes a similar profile – its low, sloping roofline mimicking the contours of the Hverfjall crater. The building’s shingle-clad upper volume, projecting assuredly out from the mountainside, cradles the trailhead and turns its head back towards the crater itself. Eldvatn Kaffihús serves as an all-in-one homestead and flagship for Eldvatn Kaffi – a

local roastery that taps into the geothermal wells beneath the crust of this dormant volcano to produce the singular ‘firewater’ coffee of its name. This intervention accommodates the structural requirements of coffee roasting, processing, and storage while simultaneously providing space for rest, respite, and environmental education – achieved by re-purposing the site’s existing collection of disparate structures into one unified design. Eldvatn Kaffihús marries the various components of the Hverfjall visitor experience (coffee shop + café / education + visitor center) under one roof. Together, these elements highlight Eldvatn’s unique volcano-tocoffee connection for coffee enthusiasts, curious travelers, and hikers simply seeking a place to rest and refuel.

In harnessing the geothermal power of Iceland’s volcanism, Eldvatn Kaffi grounds itself in a deeply-rooted sense of place – just as the Mývatn region’s natural beauty is reflected in each cup of their uniquely volcanic “fire-water”.

Mývat n svegur

thermal baths Eldvatn Kaffihús water table magma chamber geothermal reservoir heated bedrock 1100 m

existing hiking trails

00 5

01 existing structure enclosure

Anchored into the mountainside, a volumetric mass-timber truss system forms the thickened roof plane, cradling the building’s central exterior space and providing shelter and a sense of security to the programs on the lower level. At its northernmost end, this plane reaches out toward Hverfjall’s crest and cantilevers beyond the concrete footprint, expanding vertically to harbor the station’s education center. Vertical timber members are anchored deep into the building’s new foundation to support the upper volume and allow its cantilevered projection.

base

A new CIP concrete foundation surrounds the existing structures and sets the footprint for the new building – a J-shaped volume that emerges from the mountainside and hovers over the landscape. Wedged into the rocky terrain, the foundation’s stepped geometry defines an interior landscape with intimate nooks and crannies that create a sense of shelter amongst the endlessly open rocky fields surrounding the volcano’s base.

At the lower level, the perimeter of the building’s new structure is wrapped in glass to allow for panoramic views of the landscape beyond. Floating above the primarily open + transparent lower level, the building’s opaque roof volume emerges from the hillside, and an occupiable roofscape gifts guests with sweeping, uninterrupted views. Where the upper volume terminates at its cantilevered edge, a series of sawtooth skylight windows fill the education center’s ‘living room’ with soft light from above, while a single framed window focuses guests’ eyes on the Hverfjall crater in the distance. The turf roof + shingle-clad facade are a nod to traditional Icelandic farmhouse structures.

west wing coffee shop + overlook terrace

access to coffee shop

overlook terrace restrooms

access to overlook terrace

counter seating

fire pit + banquette seating

kitchen (cooking, cleaning)

kitchen (prep, storage, service)

service counter

coffee shop entry

outdoor seating basin

p q r s

n o t u v x

p s v x y

interactive displays + exhibits

fireside lounge + observation deck indoor coffee garden

turf roof

education center lobby + info desk

coffee roasters + storage

terraced outdoor seating

access to upper level restrooms

management office

east wing education center + roastery o r u w

processing + packaging center

general storage storage facilities

w y Eldvatn Kaffi(hús) 8

From cherry to cup, every aspect of coffee production is to be sourced + managed locally within the Mývatn region. While a select few plants are grown + displayed within the building’s education center, the vast majority of coffee plants for Hverfjall Coffee are to be grown in partnership with the region’s many local greenhouses – cultivated in volcanic scoria and treated with geothermal steam at facilities powered by geothermal energy. Hverfjall’s coffee is born from and infused with the powers of volcanic energy from the very first sprout. Each cup of coffee will showcase and exemplify the strength of Iceland’s innovative

+ progressive farming practices – while paying homage to the island’s uniquely beautiful, thoughtfully harnessed geology. Eldvatn’s pursuit of a circular economy will help bolster the economic development of the surrounding towns, shifting away from their current reliance on tourism and cultural extraction. This project aims to solidify Iceland’s place in the coffee market by defining a gamechanging model for sustainable coffee production that believes deeply in the local; enriches rather than takes; and celebrates the synergy of geology, environment, product design, and place.

section / coffee shop

education center lobby

section / tasting room

At Eldvatn, building and landscape are intertwined - a reflection of the deep reverence for + sustainable reliance on the region’s resources that is foundational to their roasting process.

Eldvatn Kaffi(hús)

Mixed-Etc.

multi-family housing + community center

Advanced Comprehensive Design

critics:

Ryan + Stephanie Lemmo

East Austin – specifically the Holly district – is the trendiest and therefore most gentrified part of the city. In these gentrified Austin neighborhoods, there exists a clear differentiation between building types (and therefore occupant types). Singlefamily homes, large apartment complexes, low-income housing, businesses, public spaces, and cultural centers are easily distinguishable by their respective building typologies. The resulting urban fabric is a disconnected conglomeration of disparate parts that fails to unite residents or establish a sense of identity and place. This disconnect and disparity provoked a focus on ambiguity: the obscurity and fusion of occupants, programmatic function, landscape, and building. The site’s awkward shape – a product of recent urban developments –encourages a looser planning

approach that subverts its gridded context. This proposed intervention synthesizes some of the community’s best assets into a single complex – as an architectural and civic space that supports all members of the community. Mixed-Etc, an experimental adaptation of the typical mixed-use development, encourages commingling between residents, neighbors, and Austinites to undermine the city’s deeprooted socioeconomic and racial hierarchy. Equity, accessibility, and a communal sense of spatial fluidity are at the heart of this design. In blurring the rigid (often rectilinear) lines that divide us, this destinationlike complex provides longtime East Austin residents and new residents alike with space to nurture existing histories and build new futures grounded in place, community, and an East Austin identity.

Spring 2020 Austin, Texas

A threshold between the Holly district’s residential and commercial, Mixed-Etc. blurs the lines between publicv.private and landscapev. building.

Utilizing large landscape gestures and human paths of movement to organize the site, a central artery runs through the heart of the project connecting bustling 6th St. to the north and residential 5th St. to the south. Large sloping elements connect the public ground plane with the residential upper levels of the project, emphasizing porosity, accessibility, and ensuring residents/neighbors of all ages & mobility levels are able to fully engage with all aspects of the site.

intake from E. 6th St.

dispersion to E. 5th St.

access to metro & pedestrian crossing west interior elevation

2.

3.

Childcare Center

Gallery, Education Center & Lecture Rooms 3425 sq ft.

4.

5.

6.

7.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

a b typical residential window sill typical cantilever terrace railing

c d

auditorium window sill & foundation

auditorium window header & terrace planter

Squatting atop the transparent public realm are 28 residential units - 6 one-story and 22 twostory units, ranging from 500 to 1500 square feet - aiming to accommodate young singles or friends living together, elderly widowers or couples, and families alike. Each unit is unique, embracing interior spatial individuality as opposed to exterior personalization. Levels and plans overlap, hug, and push one another, helping blur the lines between where one (possibly larger, more expensive) unit begins and where one (more economical, singular) unit ends. This continued lack of hierarchy fosters an overall sense of collective living rather than an individualized experience.

two-story unit plan

Habiter le Périphérique aubervilliers

social housing

Fall 2019

Advanced Design - Europe

Gaëlle Breton

Igor Siddiqui

Jean-François Renaud

critics: with:

Alivia Green

Ayman Boughaba

Gabriel Pavon-Sudres

Maria Navarro

Sarah Hopper

This project, Habiter le Périphérique, was completed in collaboration with a small team of students at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de ParisBelleville. The studio, “Around the Block,” focuses on the urban block as a framework for architecture in relation to the city, and is sited in Aubervilliers, a commune in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. Previously a booming manufacturing hub, Aubervilliers’ economy and rich subculture has faded in the post-industrial era. Though the population of Paris continues to grow, the area has been historically neglected by developers and newcomers. Additionally, the city’s ringroad highway, Boulevard Périphérique, segregates the majority of Aubervilliers from what is often recognized as “inner Paris.” In an attempt to bridge the gap between “inner” and “outer” Paris, our building

is sited at one of Aubervilliers’ busiest roundabout-highway intersections, squarely straddling both sides of the highway. Our “cube” of a building acts as a prototype for future buildings over the highway, occupying the urban canyon that the highway carves through the city. Iconic superstructure, a flexible public lower level, and elevated courtyard-focused living suggest ways that Parisians can begin to occupy this prime real estate. Our particular block seeks to fill the gap in Aubervilliers artsfocused spaces, and features amenities like artist studios and a black box theater on the ground level. Above this public plinth rest 49 residential units -ranging from studios to threebedroom apartments -- as well as an abundance of amentities, community and coworking spaces, and a central courtyard overlooking a public grove.

Our “cube” of a building acts as a prototype for future structures over the highway, occupying the urban canyon that the highway carves through the city.

the cube’s footprint

The building’s iconic superstructure, in tandem with an arts-oriented ground level, aim to create a sense of identity and place for a community often in flux.

S. Broadway Cooperative historic revitalization

& urban adaptation

Advanced Design

critic:

Clay Odom

Drawing from the emergent characteristics of interwoven biological systems, this intervention in historic Downtown Los Angeles seeks to stitch, mend, fill, and bridge the gaps that disrupt the cyclical processes on which we rely. By cultivating uninterrupted, self-sustaining systems that provide residents with fresh food, clean water, purified air, a temperate micro-climate, and supportive housing, the South Broadway Cooperative serves as a model for adapting to and overcoming metropolitan plight. Ultimately, this proposal will free a city’s residents from their infrastructural binds – a reclamation of humanity’s basic survival needs from crumbling civic frameworks. In an effort to empower urbanity’s most vulnerable communities, this

semi-removed societal anomaly utilizes contextual resources to power a cooperative living model that is self-propagated & scalar. Conceived as an architectural intervention that behaves like a living, breathing naturally-responsive organic entity, the S. Broadway Cooperative mimics a plant growing in an urban setting. By creating a framework to support human & nonhuman life, the S. Broadway Cooperative, will serve as a prototypical development that can age and “green” with its inhabitants. It is a structure that will thrive in maturity rather than simply basking in the glow of infancy and newness. This proposal seeks to tap into DTLA’s under-utilized “upstairs” roofscape in a way that literally brings it back down to Earth.

Spring 2021

2021 Design Excellence Winner

Like the mutually beneficial relationships between plants and fungi, the intervention draws from existing resources to foster its own growth while re-invigorating Los Angeles’ once-thriving Broadway District.

existing historic structure

proposed intervention

original building maintain historic facade

hydroponic farming

residential entry & lobby

market, food hall, farming

residential area; private

terrace level; private

market, food hall, farming; public

underground expansion space

Produce grown in the co-op’s 21 farming stations would fuel the adjacent market + food hall, while consuming 90% less water and enjoying an average 28-day harvest cycle - 3x faster than with conventional farming methods.

hydroponic vertical farm

produce storage & handling

shoot system

vertical circulation, resource distribution & structural cores

dwelling units

(13) 1-bed units

(21) 2-bed units

(10) 3-bed units

85 beds total

circulatory system

water + energy distributed throughout system via tower ducts; integrated external irrigation system to monitor exterior’s micro climate, while a radiant heating/cooling system utilizes water to moderate internal climate

WEDEW, Wood-to-Energy Deployable Emergency Water systems can be implemented to generate fresh water & affordable, renewable energy from biomass / waste plant matter. Similar technology would provide the co-op with sustainable resource supply fueled by plant waste from internal functions: food production, cafes, and residential compost.

water tank & filtration system: water used for agricultural, residential purposes to be re-filtered and recycled

kitchen module axonometric

overall unit axonometric

plant / building scale

“...will serve as a prototypical development that can age and “green” with its [human + nonhuman] inhabitants.”

2022 2030

“...will serve age and inhabitants.”

Al Wathba Flamingo Center

education center & training facility

Summer 2020

Bee Breeders Competition Entry

with:

Jessica Chen

Celine Wu

Located in the United Arab Emirates’ barren desert landscape, the Al Wathba Wetland Reserve is an unexpected sanctuary for wildlife on the outskirts of bustling Abu Dhabi. Covering less than two square miles, the reserve supports a robust ecosystem of plant, aquatic, and bird life. Infamous for its thousands of migratory flamingos – notoriously persnickety about their choice in breeding grounds – Al Wathba allows locals and visitors alike a rare intimate glimpse at these brilliant creatures. Our proposal for the Al Wathba Visitor Center aims to be an oasis within an oasis, beckoning visitors with open arms and serving as a place of respite from the sweltering heat. Much like common bird blinds, our proposal is lifted from the ground.

The building acts as a blind not only to flamingos and the wide array of wetland wildlife, but also to visitors arriving at the site. It gives little away prior to entry – but layers of veiled walls are pulled back to reveal a magnificent view of the landscape. Taking formal cues from the Bedouin tent, the visitor center’s formal fluidity nods to the adaptability that is needed to survive in such harsh climates. The design aims to foster the sense of reprieve offered by traditional, rudimentary forms of shelter. Additionally, we utilized local palm wood for the visitor centers lifted structure and exterior cladding to ensure minimal environmental impact and to put regional waste to good use, allowing this biological anomaly to independently thrive.

Echoing traditional Bedouin forms, the tent-like structure offers reprieve from the harsh desert climate while maintaining a minimal footprint.

One’s experience of the Al Wathba Visitor Center begins upon arrival via automobile. After driving up to the tower and parking within a tent-like, veiled structure, visitors are directed towards a set of stairs and lift. Here, visitors ascend to an elevated bridge and cross an exterior courtyard towards the tower entry - ideas of being “elevated” from the surrounding environment are immediately at play. Entering the tower, guests are immediately greeted by a reception desk, the sweeping wood-clad ceiling, and a view of the wetlands beyond. Prior to descending a floating staircase to the center’s lower spaces, visitors pass a display area with specimens and educational materials. Guests depart and return from their wetland trail excursion via another exterior court along the structure’s eastern edge.

section A

section B

section C

coping rigid insulation timber frame

sheathing

vapor control membrane

batten & ventilated cavity

exterior softwood cladding

palm wood roof truss

hinge mechanism

operable wind tower panel

cavity insulation & timber frame

roof membrane

CLT structural member

CLT leg & foundation support

gypsum board

interior sheathing

window header

double glazing

base track

finished concrete topping

acoustical mat product

CLT floor panel

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

a

b wind tower leg header & sill at display space

c wind tower roof & opening mechanism

Al Wathba Flamingo Center

Though its dynamic curves and sweeping forms provide an iconic landmark for guests, the center remains neutral to the ever-changing topography of the wetlands.

Al Wathba Flamingo Center

Blake Ahart

512.636.2371

blakeahart@utexas.edu

blakeahart.com

Education

The University of Texas at Austin

Bachelor of Architecture | May 2021

High Honors, 3.8 GPA

École Nationale Supérieure

d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville

Paris | Fall 2019

Honors + Awards

Dean’s Design Distinction | Spring 2019

Design Excellence Award | 2021

Design Excellence Nomination | 2017, 2019-2021

University Honors | 2016 - 2021

ISSUE Published | 2019 - 2020

Skills

Adobe Suite

Photoshop

Illustrator

InDesign

Premiere

After Effects

Fabrication

3D Printing

Lasercutting

Model-making

Relevant Experience

Snøhetta

Designer I, July 2021 - Present

New York, NY

Member of various project teams engaging in work within arts + education, cultural, public, and hospitality sectors, and in phases from early concept / development plans through construction documents / administration; extensive role in developing interior character + experience for each project with contributions including initial concept design + narrative construction, color + materials selections, client presentations + package assembly, construction set documentation, millwork design + documentation, FF+E selections + specifications, VR imagery + walkthroughs, and wayfinding / signage + branding identity

Architecture Intern, June - December 2020

New York, NY

Member of large team engaged in schematic design + design development studies for a multinational automaker’s new headquarters; facade + massing specific studies with a focus on visualization and client presentation; schematic facade module + detail development; design development of parametric masonry walls + landscape interface

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture

Designer, June 2019 - March 2021

Austin, TX

Team member participating in schematic design process on a variety of projects including mixed-use developments, restaurants + hospitality, and low-income housing; early schematic design direction, master site planning, visualization, digital modeling, drawing production, concept package assemblage, custom furniture + signage, branding packages

Digital

Rhinoceros 3D

Revit

AutoCAD SketchUp

3DS Max

Lumion

Enscape

V-Ray Blender

Charles Di Piazza Architecture

Intern, December 2018 - January 2020

Austin, TX

Team member for high-end residential project, digital and physical modeling, renderings, digital walkthroughs, schematic proposal drawings

Avroko

Intern, Summer 2018

New York, NY

Member of small team designing interiors for a high-end hospitality project; produced renderings and presentations for clients, conceptual design for custom furniture, composed material and idea boards for presentations