Conor Coghlan Selected Wor ks 2013 - 2015 Har vard Graduate School of Design
Content Chapter 1. A Social Infrastructure (continued) / 2014 A Public Design Centre, London, England { Professor: Sir Peter Cook }
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Chapter 2. Architecture as Built Geography / 2014 Ski Infrastructure, Les Diablerets, Switzerland { Professor: Toshiko Mori }
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Chapter 3. Oasis - Value of the Void / 2015 Design Miami Entrance Pavilion, Miami, USA { Advisor: Toshiko Mori }
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Chapter 4. Active Bending Gridshell / 2013 Googleplex - Google Headquarters, San Francisco, USA { Professor: Patrik Schumacher }
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Chapter 5. Bow Spring Chair / 2014 Furniture Making Workshop @ MIT { Professor: Christopher Dewart }
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Selected Works
Chapter 1. A Social Infrastructure (continued) / 2014 A Public Design Centre, London, England { Professor: Sir Peter Cook }
Architecture schools are mysterious places. Only the bravest of the brave dare venture behind their military-like, cast concrete, modernist walls. If by chance one day you muster up the courage desks, with dozens of soldiers lying amongst the rubble. This is no place for a civilian. 4
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Approach from Exmouth Market >
Sectional development sketch
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here exists lack of understanding within the general public of what being an architect or designer really entails. Elitist attitudes are fostered in design schools throughout the world serving only to mystify the design process and increase the disconnection between the design community and everyone outside of this illustrious group. One of the many problems with this culture is that it alienates the very people who will end up being its clients, non-designers. Can the architecture of a building subvert the exclusive attitude fostered in design schools worldwide, and instead act as a space of congregation, where the public and designers can come together to learn, share ideas, and help integrate design thinking into society? Taking this question as a point of departure, ‘Design City’ functions as a community design center and satellite school in the London borough of Islington, where students from the many architecture and design schools around London can come to teach classes open to the general public. 1:200 development model 6
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Undercroft civic space >
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his offers students a unique opportunity to teach and interact with the general public while simultaneously continuing their own personal work. In-turn the general public gain access to innovative design thinking normally only available within specialized design schools. In order to create a space of congregation that is open and accessible to all, Design City explores architecture as a built geography or an urban landscape. Starting at street level the building has an articulated ground plane adjusting to the sloping topography of the site creating a large sheltered civic space which acts as a bookend to Exmouth Market. Above the ground plane the building consists of a series of twisting pipes of program carefully balancing interlinked internal and external spaces.
Cross-sectional development sketch
1:200 programmatic “tube� study model 8
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
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Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works N
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01 _ Crit01Pit_ Crit Pit 01 _ Crit Pit 02 _ Studio 02 _ Studio 02 _ Studio 03 _ Public 03 _Terrace Public Terrace03 _ Public Terrace 04 _ Construction 04 _ Construction 04 _ Construction
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01 _ Civic 01 Plaza _ Civic Plaza 01 _ Civic Plaza 02 _ Public 02 _Terrace Public Terrace02 _ Public Terrace 03 _ Exhibition 03 _ Exhibition 03 _ Exhibition 04 _ Lounge 04 _ Lounge 04 _ Lounge 05 _ Studio 05 _ Studio 05 _ Studio 06 _ Kitchenette 06 _ Kitchenette 06 _ Kitchenette
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01 _Auditorium Lobby Lobby _ Shop 01 _Auditorium 0107_Auditorium 07 _Office Shop Lobby Office 07 _ Shop Office 02 _ Coat Changing 02 Check _ Coat Check 0208__Coat 08Check _ Changing 08 _ Changing 03 _ Control Room Room0309__Control Storage 03 _ Control 09 _Room Storage 09 _ Storage 04 _ Auditorium 04 _ Auditorium 04 _ Auditorium -01 05 _ Stage 05 _Elevator Stage Elevator 05 _ Stage Elevator 06 _ Machine Shop Shop 06 _ Machine 06 _ Machine Shop 0
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Construction and installation space >
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Public Park Green Roof Exposed Steel Decking Steel Frame I-Beams with circular web openings
Hostel : Bar Birch Plywood Lining Steel Frame I-Beams with circular web openings
Hostel Birch Plywood Lining
Steel Frame I-Beams with circular web openings
Construction : Studio Concrete Screed Steel Grating
Steel Frame I-Beams with circular web openings
Studio : Exhibition Reinforced Concrete
1:100 sectional model cut through bar, studios, and auditorium
Steel Truss
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he external terraces, ramps, and gardens of Design City act as an extension of the street drawing people up through the building to the rooftop garden where the promenade culminates in a view out over London city looking directly towards the “Shard�. These exterior spaces act as an offering to the public and also provide spaces for students fabricate and exhibit large work and installations. By providing a destination point on the roof of the building linked to ground level by an exterior promenade, the building is able to maintain active public spaces throughout all levels.
Perforated Steel Facade
FabLab : Auditorium Reinforced Concrete
Auditorium Reinforced Concrete Birch Plywood Lining
Exploded Axonometric
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Basement fabrication lab >
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
01 _ Civic Plaza 09 _ Fablab Office 02 _ Cafe 10 _ Changing 03 _ FabLab 11 _ Storage 04 _ Exhibition 05 _ Studo 06 _ Bar 07 _ Hostel 08 _ Auditorium
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2013 - 2015
Selected Works
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he form of the building creates a series of interconnected interior and exterior spaces from the ground plane all the way to the public plaza on the roof. This twisting of solid and void creates a condition of spatial and visual continuity throughout the complex, encouraging inhabitants to freely explore all areas of the building. The open and inclusive nature of enable the building to act a piece of social infrastructure, bringing the design community and the general public together to learn from one and other.
Cross-section through bar, studios, civic plaza, and auditorium lobby 18 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Student bar with view of the “shard� >
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Chapter 2. Architecture as Built Geography / 2014 Ski Infrastructure, Les Diablerets, Switzerland { Professor: Toshiko Mori }
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he new vision for Isenau began from an in-depth analysis of the Swiss mountain village of Les Diablerets. The project attempts to resolve the immediate infrastructural problems while also addressing the ongoing discussion of climate change and the future of snow. The plinth acts as a new geography, precisely directing ski, pedestrian and vehicular circulation on site, while the bridge completes the end of Isenau ski slope and forms a covered entrance into the youth hostel below. The project maximizes solar heat gain in the winter through materiality and south facing faรงades. Using the landscape as an insulator, the stone acts as a thermal mass releasing heat during the night. The multi-programmatic nature of the project increases the economic viability of the complex but also acts as a meeting point for both tourists and locals encouraging a mix of these usually separate populations. The open multi-use plinths provide space for ski circulation in the winter and local food and wine markets in the summer, ensuring the site has life in all seasons. 20 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
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Ski slope analysis
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Cross section through hostel and ski bridge
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Timebr ski lift building on concrete plinth >
Site plan
Hostel entrance level 24 Harvard Graduate School of Design
1:100 sectional model through hostel and ski-bridge
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2013 - 2015 35
Selected Works 1:100 sectional model through Ski-lift building
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Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Approach from village >
Ski lift and hostel room plan.
1:100 sectional model through hostel and ski bridge 28 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Entrance and commercial plan
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015 37
Selected Works
Chapter 3. Oasis - Value of the Void / 2015 Design Miami Entrance Pavilion, Miami, USA { Advisor: Toshiko Mori } Study model
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asis is an environment designed to blur the boundaries between what is, and what is not. Using light and water as the means of enclosing space, the and central void. The perimeter volume surrounding the oasis consists of thousands of hanging translucent tubes. This seemingly inaccessible boundary between the oasis and the outside world allows visitors the unique opportunity to venture inside the solid and become part of the architectural form. As the visitors explore this enigmatic space, they will become
Luminescent tubing
of the outside world. The circular void at the center of the pavilion acts as a place of refuge and relaxation for the visitors of the fair. Enclosed by a parking lot, and cools the air temperature inside the pavilion. Open only to the sky, here visitors can appreciate the value of the void – the importance of what is not. Flowing water
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North elevation
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
32 Dublin HarvardInstitute Graduate School of Design of Technology
Conor Coghlan
2013 2008 - 2015 2012
Selected Works
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pon approaching the pavilion the visitors will be welcomed by an opening cut into the wall of tubing – a gesture to come inside. Once at arm’s length the visitors will notice that the walls are not solid and that they can be penetrated at any point allowing them to freely explore this dynamic space that comprises the pavilions form. As the visitors continue to explore the visitors can pass through a wall of water without getting wet to the oasis that lies within. Here they can take a seat in the shade and watch the playful activity of the silhouettes all around them.
Plan 34 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Entrance >
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
It is in these spaces where there is nothing that we experience everything. Oasis challenges the architectural status quo by placing emphasis upon the visitor’s spatial experience; activating their senses through movement, light, temperature, tactile and visual sensation rather than the novelty of the pavilion’s form. Using the two most basic geometric shapes – the circle and the square – the plan of the pavilion symbolizes not only the importance of the space contained within, but also challenges the visitors to think about the relationship between solid and void. This relationship is further explored by the way in which space is enclosed within the pavilion. The use ing visual and spatial continuity between spaces, blurring the boundaries between what is and what is not.
1:50 acrylic tubing model > 4
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1. Grating 2. Hose barb with clip 3. Translucent tubing 4. LED light strip 5. Steel L-Bracket 6. Bracket clip 7. Water channel L-Bracket 8. W12x36 I-Beam 9. PVC Tubing 10. Steel U-Channel 11. Translucent tubing with water
Passive systems 36 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Chapter 4. Active Bending Gridshell / 2013 Googleplex - Google Headquarters, San Francisco, USA { Professor: Patrik Schumacher } A Grdishell is a structure that derives its strength from its double curvature and is constructed from a planar lattice.
We began by conducting a series of tests to understand how a double
curvature surface can be created from a planar lattice. We studied the pin joints or nodes of the lattice and began to understand how the regular quad mesh can deform to a parallelogram mesh in certain areas to allow for a double curvature surface without folds or creases. We also studied the implications of a double layered grid on stability and overall stiffness. We researched projects that utilized differentiated grids to facilitate tighter curvatures and increased rigidity.
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scale construction process. Learning from Frei Otto’s Mannheim Pavilion, we achieved a double curvature gridshell dome by sliding anchor points on the perimeter of the lattice towards the center point and anchoring lattice creating a strong double curvature structure. Once the anchor points have been secured, the nodes at each lath intersection can be tightened to increase the structure’s rigidity and resistance to off-center loading.
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Typical entrance to exterior courtyard space >
Parametric Semiology Aggregation Typologies - Interlocking Cantilever
Parametric Semiology Structural Analysis Diagrams
1. Planar Grid - Initial Anchor Points (1.00)
Harvard GSD Option Studio - Fall 2013
Harvard GSD Option Studio - Fall 2013
Parametric Semiology Structural Analysis Diagrams
2. Anchor Points Scaled Towards Centre (0.85) 3. Resultant Gridshell
Visiting Professors in Architecture: Patrik Schumacher and Marc Fornes
Harvard GSD Option Studio - Fall 2013
4. Von Mises Stress Analysis Diagram
Conor Coghlan - M.Arch II Candidate 2015 Shaolinag Hua - M.Arch II Candidate 2015
Visiting Professors in Architecture: Patrik Schumacher and Marc Fornes
Conor Coghlan - M.Arch II Candidate 2015 Shaolinag Hua - M.Arch II Candidate 2015
Visiting Professors in Architecture: Patrik Schumacher and Marc Fornes
By taking Otto’s method of scaling perimeter anchor points towards a Visiting Professors in Architecture: Patrik Schumacher and Marc Fornes
Visiting Professors in Architecture: Patrik Schumacher and Marc Fornes
Conor Coghlan - M.Arch II Candidate 2015 Shaolinag Hua - M.Arch II Candidate 2015
center as a point of departure, we asked what would happen if the same
Conor Coghlan - M.Arch II Candidate 2015 Shaolinag Hua - M.Arch II Candidate 2015
perimeterof the lattice? This departure proved very fruitful resulting in a grammatic zones with anchor points on the grid and scaling them towards a of the grid, which in turn informed how the ground condition should be Visiting Professors in Architecture: articulated in order to the undulating shell. This symbiotic Patrik Schumacher andaccommodate Marc Fornes nication and interaction, and makes the campus easily understandable and
Conor Coghlan - M.Arch II Candidate 2015 Shaolinag Hua - M.Arch II Candidate 2015
of the shell frames the varying territories and settings within the complex stable territories. Aerial view of campus 40 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works 1:100 sectional model through Ski-lift building
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Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Typical exterior courtyard congregation space >
Gridshell surface normals
Campus aggregation cut-away 44 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
Chapter 5. Bow Spring Chair / 2014 Furniture Making Workshop { Professor: Christopher Dewart }
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he bow spring chair was designed and fabricated as part of a furniture making workshop at MIT. I was interested in how the arms and legs of the chair could work in unison as a type of double bow spring structure – to the shifting load of the user. The legs and arms of the chair are made from 1/8” steam bent, glue laminated strips of ash secured at each end by folded steel shoes. CNC milled MDF formwork was required for the glue lamination of the legs and the seat of the chair. The steel shoes are made from sheet steel heated with a rosebud torch to enable the tight U-shaped geometry. lines – the two lines of the bow, and the single line of the chair itself. The cross beam but can slide over the front beam allowing for a greater range the cross beams to the underside of the bows. 46 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Fig. 1
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015
Selected Works
48 Harvard Graduate School of Design
Conor Coghlan
2013 - 2015