CATE CARLSON PORTFOLIO OF WORK
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EDUCATION
WORK EXPERIENCE
University of California, Los Angeles Sept 2016 – Jun 2020 Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Planning, Dual Degree GPA: 3.858, Graduated with Distinction Urban Humanities Graduate Certificate Sept 2016 – Jun 2017 A yearlong, interdisciplinary program that focused on the concept of urban peripheries through the lens of Tokyo, Japan.
Design Research Associate - cityLAB, Los Angeles CA Sept 2018 – Jun 2020 Conducted a number of design research projects, including the design for a student hub on the UCLA campus to address issues of student housing insecurity and design research around housing potentials throughout Southern California. Served as the 2018-19 cityLAB Graduate Fellow.
University of California, Berkeley BA, Urban Studies GPA: 3.706, Dean’s Honors
Aug 2011 – May 2015
Reference – Dana Cuff, dcuff@aud.ucla.edu Design Intern - Kounkuey Design Initiative, Los Angeles CA Developed graphic tools for use in community driven environmental justice campaign.
Jul 2018 – Sept 2018
Reference – Lauren Elachi, lauren@kounkuey.org
AWARDS AIA/LA 2x8 Domum Exhibition Participant
Nov 2020
My research studio project, which focused on questions of urban density and served as the culmination of my Master of Architecture program, was included in the 2020 AIA/LA 2x8 Exhibition "Domum" by my professor, Neil Denari, and the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA.
Graduate Student Researcher - UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Los Angeles CA Jan 2017 – Apr 2018 Conducted both qualitative and quantitative research on market and design trends regarding the development of singlefamily houses with second units across Southern California. Reference – Vinit Mukhija, vmukhija@ucla.edu
Reference – Neil Denari, neil.denari@aud.ucla.edu
Project Intern - Argent LLP, Property Development Services, London UK Jun 2017 – Sept 2017 Assisted on project bids for Argent LLP’s large-scale urban development portfolio. This included analysis of existing urban conditions, schematic and technical design proposals, and community engagement approaches.
CERTIFICATIONS
Reference – Chris Smith, chris.smith@argentllp.co.uk
DICE Method – A Strategy for Dignity Infused Community Engagement
Sept – Nov 2020
Completed a two month long professional development training, led by the Thrivance Group, in strategies for anti-racist and intersectional community engagement as it relates to the development and implementation of policies and design projects in the urban realm.
PUBLICATIONS Jun 2019
Contributing Research Associate Comprehensive Project submitted in satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban and Regional Planning
Contributing Research Associate Southern California Association for Nonprofit Housing, in partnership with cityLAB
Reference – Susan Ubbelohde, subb@berkeley.edu
ADDITIONAL SKILLS
A Casita Community: Fighting Displacement in Pacoima with Accessory Dwelling Units and Community Land Trusts
Opportunity Starts at Home: Addressing Housing Insecurity for Underserved L.A. Community College Students
Project Intern - Loisos + Ubbelohde, Alameda CA Jun 2014 – Sept 2015 Conducted research in campus planning and sustainability, sustainable design, and energy policy and planning as part of the development of sustainable building design standards. Assisted in lighting design and architectural layouts.
Apr 2019
SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENT
MISCELLANEOUS
Proficient in: • Rhinoceros 3D, VRay, AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, and Microsoft Office
• Understanding of land use and zoning policy and planning mechanisms
• Fabrication knowledge in basic woodworking, CNC milling, and 3D printing
Working knowledge of: • Revit, Maya, Surfcam, Sketchup, Keyshot, and Unity
• Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and CA Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) processes as applied to financial feasibility studies • RSMeans cost calculations
• Strong leadership, communication and writing skills • Intermediate Spanish • Beginner Portuguese
CONTENTS
The following portfolio showcases a range of skills including, but not limited to: visual representation and rendering techniques, plan-making, physical model fabrication, architectural form-making, and development feasibility assessments.
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SUNSET/FOUNTAIN mass timber infill housing SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES
Southwest isometric view; drawing completed primarily by my partner
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The design for this 12-story housing complex explores a radical densification strategy for Los Angeles through its approach to both site and mass timber construction. The project situates a public facing ground level and a mix of housing types - including a series of co-living ‘clusters’ - on a narrow infill site that necessitates a rethinking of the typical residential block. Although an extreme proposal, Sunset/Fountain suggests there is much more room for transformation in our built environment, and architecture can help to reimagine notions of collective experience and sovereignty in urban space. Completed with a partner, the nature of this project allowed for sustained collaboration across all aspects of the design. My partner and I worked closely on all design decisions; all drawings are completed by me unless otherwise noted. This project was included in the 2020 AIA-LA 2x8 Exhibition, Domum.
Situated on a busier street front, this entrance to the site draws pedestrian activity toward the project’s interior, flanked by an existing commercial space to the left and new, piecemeal retail spaces to the right.
This entrance, located to the northwest on a residential side street, centers on an auxiliary space to the small public library that occupies the second and third floors of the project.
Left: Northwest entrance to site; Right: South entrance to site
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The infill strategy for this project necessitates the takeover of the backyards of single family homes on the west side of the residential block. In exchange, an opportunity for shared space is established throughout the interior of the block.
SUNSET/FOUNTAIN mass timber infill housing SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES
Ground floor plan
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The upper floors showcase a diverse collection of unit types: private apartments are clustered in the vertical bar, while co-living clusters, with split sleeping (left) and living (right) floors are located in the horizontal bar. On every floor, all units have access to large, open air circulation cores as additional communal space.
Left: 5th floor plan; Right: 6th floor plan
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SUNSET/FOUNTAIN mass timber infill housing SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES
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The structural framework is built upon the resolution of a base polyhedron volume that is stacked and aggregated. Due to its narrow form, the design does not necessitate any interior columns.
Left: Longitudinal section looking West (drawing completed primarily by my partner); Right: Structural module
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A NUMBER OF PARTS headquarters for an immigrants’ rights organization WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES
Project rendering
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The headquarters for a local immigrants’ rights organization, A Number of Parts includes office and administrative spaces as well as a large multi-purpose event space. Three primary volumes are organized on the site to form an open air atrium at the center. The design aims to integrate these discrete volumes through the introduction of a uniform facade treatment, which takes the form of a perforated, corrugated steel screen.
Left: West elevation; Right: South elevation
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This section reveals how the corrugated, perforated steel facade system wraps around the central atrium space, transitioning from facade treatment to environmental strategy.
A NUMBER OF PARTS headquarters for an immigrants’ rights organization WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES
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The main entry and lobby are situated within the open air atrium that is shaped by both the volumes and the shade structure.
Left: Longitudinal section; Right: Cross section
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This design uses a steel column grid as the primary structural system, while concrete sheer walls are distributed throughout the volumes. The choice to utilize the cruciform column aims to echo the coalescence of disparate volumes operating in the overall massing. The steel facade system has varying levels of perforation depending on the orientation and interior programming.
A NUMBER OF PARTS headquarters for an immigrants’ rights organization WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES
Structural cutaway
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Ground floor plan
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A NUMBER OF PARTS headquarters for an immigrants’ rights organization WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES
Second floor plan
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Third floor plan
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CANOPY FOR COMMUNITY mixed-use campus BOYLE HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES
Project rendering
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Designed as a community campus in Boyle Heights, this project is intended to be a central node along a network of enhanced urban parkways. Housing multi-use spaces for community gathering, day care services, a fabrication workshop, artist studios, and a large public promenade, the campus is meant to provide local residents with space to not only envision community change, but also to do the work to make it happen. Low-rise, stuccoclad structures meant to echo the existing neighborhood composition are unified under a corten steel shade canopy, which, together with an increased tree canopy throughout the site, provides much needed shade in a rapidly warming Los Angeles. This project was completed with a partner; all drawings are completed by me unless otherwise noted.
View from within the fabrication workshop covered courtyard
NW view of the primary street entrance and crush space
Project renderings
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4th
Str
Multi-use + Admin
eet
Fabrication workshop + studios
SE Elevation - Soto Street
Outdoor classroom (2nd floor not pictured)
So
to
Str eet
Interior Elevation - View of NE buildings from plaza
NE Elevation - 4th Street
CANOPY FOR COMMUNITY mixed-use campus BOYLE HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES
Left: Site plan; Right: Series of rendered elevations (completed primarily by my partner)
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Aerial view of campus, situated along the enhanced urban parkway network
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INDETERMINATE MASS BARCELONA, SPAIN
performing arts center + residences Project renderings
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The design objective for this performing arts center was to achieve a ‘fuzziness’ with which the aggregate massing forms a whole. Distinct components of the overall massing hang in tension with one another a formal move that is reinforced by programmatic juxtapositions. This project serves as a performing arts center for large-scale productions, but also as an extension of the nearby housing complex. Both programs are meant to coexist in a non-hierarchical way, as is the building with its surrounding context.
Project renderings
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Throughout the development of this design, visual rendering through material mapping was emphasized as a means of augmenting formal decisions. I conducted a series of studies in an effort to better understand how material applications affect the ultimate reading of the project’s formal components.
INDETERMINATE MASS BARCELONA, SPAIN
performing arts center + residences Material representation studies
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INDETERMINATE MASS BARCELONA, SPAIN
performing arts center + residences Project renderings
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Final physical model
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FROGTOWN COMMUNITY HOUSING FROGTOWN, LOS ANGELES
mixed-use housing Ground floor perspective view
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The design for this community housing development in the Frogtown neighborhood of Los Angeles creates a layered ground plane, weaving together public access, raised landscaping, and below grade parking. The upper floor residential units are composed of stacked, single-loaded bars, which are offset and/or deflected to various extents to provide circulation and both public and private balconies. In an effort to establish the project as an entry point to the LA River, a primary axis is cut across the site via a large public promenade and bike path, which are centered on mixed commercial and community programs.
Left: Ground floor plan; Right: Ground floor circulation and program diagrams
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While the ground floor of the project is all public access, the upper residential bars are offset and/or deflected in order to provide circulation and both public and private balconies. With this strategy, most units become split level - with public entrance on one floor and private balcony on the other.
FROGTOWN COMMUNITY HOUSING FROGTOWN, LOS ANGELES
mixed-use housing Left: Primary unit aggregation; Right: Massing diagrams
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Left: 3D printed massing model; Center, Right: Partial model showcasing primary unit aggregation
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MODEL FOR A LIBRARY public library infill DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
Left, Right: 3D printed massing model; Center: Sectional model
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A NUMBER OF PARTS precedent study WESTLAKE, LOS ANGELES
Study model focused on steel structural systems
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UCLA COMMUTER HUB concept design for shared work/sleep space WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES
Conceptual plan
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I developed this concept design for a commuter hub on UCLA’s campus as part of an ongoing cityLAB effort to address housing insecurity among UCLA’s commuter student population. Located in a converted squash court within UCLA’s John Wooden Center, the relatively small space (approximately 18’x30’) is designed to accommodate twelve ‘pods’ for lounging and sleeping, shared study space, storage, and a small kitchenette.
Conceptual plan
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The programming operates within a grid of scaffolding that both anchors the furniture as well as provides a mechanism for stacking pods, in an effort to utilize the unusually high ceilings of the squash court (20’).
UCLA COMMUTER HUB concept design for shared work/sleep space WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES
Concept rendering
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The primary focus of this project was to reconcile the development program for an affordable housing development with a suitable funding structure that utilized a number of public funding sources, including Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). Working with a team, I performed an extensive feasibility assessment including unit and parking schedules, schematic design, cost estimation and fund structuring. Design was not prioritized within the project goals.
Program Residential Gross Building Area (GBA) Residential Net Leasable Area (NLA) Building Efficiency Vehicle Parking Footprint Residential
SUNSET + MAIN affordable housing study VENICE, LOS ANGELES
SF 131,839 96,199 1.37 54,600
Total Number of Spaces
156
Space Size (sq. ft.)
350
Community Room
1,975
Bike Room
1,975
Special Needs Services
1,975
Project rendering
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3-bedroom (903 sf) 2-bedroom (714 sf) 1-bedroom (460 sf) Laundry facilities Long-term bike parking Community Center Resident and Supportive Services
Unit and Parking Schedule Type
%
No. Units
Sq. Ft./Unit
Leasable Sq. Ft.
Parking/ Unit
No. Spaces
1 BR
49%
74
460
34,040
0.5
37
350
12,950
2BR
26%
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714
27,846
0.5
20
350
70,000
3BR
25%
38
903
34,314
0.5
19
350
6,650
-
-
-
-
-
80
350
28,000
100%
151
-
96,200
-
156
-
54,600
Public Parking Total
Sq. Ft. Per Parking Sq. Space Ft.
Top: Floor plans 1-3 (left to right); Bottom right: Typical plans for 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units
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Total Development Costs Use of Funds
Total
Per unit
Land
$27,366,117
$181,233
Construction
$35,619,145
$235,888
Soft
$10,006,026
$66,265
Funding Structure Source of Funds
Total
Per unit
Tax Exempt Bond
$12,263,578
$81,216
Land Donation from LA Metro $13,199,643
$87,415
4% Tax Credit Equity
$21,278,124
$140,915
HHH (LA City)
$9,900,000
$65,563
MHHP (LA County)
$5,000,000
$33,113
MHP
$6,625,000
$43,874
Deferred Costs
-
-
Tranche B Loan
$4,373,053
$28,961
Total
$73,014,399
$483,539
Construction Cost Assumptions (calculated using RS Means) Type Residential Surface Parking (156 spaces)
SUNSET + MAIN affordable housing study VENICE, LOS ANGELES
Cost Per Square Foot $240.16 $14.29
Top left: Cross section
CONTACT email: catelcarlson@gmail.com phone: 626 755 5397