Ernest ng [ portfolio] august 2017

works

Ernest Ng Hiok Hoe

2017

Ernest Ng Hiok Hoe BA(Arch) National University of Singapore, Singapore Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (Exchange Program) M(Arch) SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, New York

contact

ernest.ng.hh@gmail.com + 65 8616 0434

professional works

thesis project design works

02 hager forum, obernai 04 ecole economie et statistique, paris-saclay 06 peony exposition world, luoyang 10 wood wharf development 14 quartier am der stadtmauer, bamberg 16 john cranco dance school, stuttgart 18 arkbuk peninsular resort, istanbul 22 department of philosophy, nyu, new york city 30 loisium winery hotel, langenlois

32 quadspace, buffalo, new york 38 40 42 44

sanderson anatomy barcoding the bench liquid formwork

PROFESSIONAL WORKS

hager forum

obernai, france, jun 2012- july 2012 sauerbruch hutton architekten, berlin

program: conference centre, brand centre, exhibition space, offices, cafe client: hager group size: 5,000 sqm status: competition first prize, completion 2015

Hager Forum is a new business centre, located at the entrance of the manufacturing campus of the Hager Group in Obernai, France. The building is to be used as a conference and welcome centre, to introduce potential clients to product updates and new product developments, and to serve as a interaction space for the clients. The building consist of a simple rectangular space covered with a large steel and timber prefabricated roof structure that cantilevers towards the front of the building, thus creating a huge sheltered entrance lobby space. As the building is located at the heart of the campus, this large canopy roof will also serve as a space of interaction and gathering for the employees during their break time. The facade consist of a series of vertical stainless steel panels in various grey tones and matte finishes forming the division for the curtain wall facade.

This repetitive pattern becomes a optical ‘zip-lock’, wrapping around the glass box.

Optional

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

ecole economie et statistique, paris-saclay paris, france, may 2012-jun 2012 sauerbruch hutton architekten, berlin

program: business school with faculty offices, auditoriums, classrooms, library, cafe client: ecole economie et statistique, paris- saclay size: 17,000 sqm status: competition entry

The Ecole Economie et Statistique, Paris-Saclay is designed as fluid object carved out of a natural circulation flow within the campus. The two distinctive programs of the introverted faculty and research offices and the extroverted classrooms, students’ areas and auditorium are distributed into two distinct forms, joined by a tranparent connection at the ground floor.

The private faculty and research offices are located in a slightly curved bar that sits at the south-east corner of the campus plaza. These offices are organised according to the requirements of the individual departments, but are interconnected by internal stairs that serves as socialising and interacting spaces.

The students spaces, classrooms and auditorium, on the other hand, are located in a blob-like form, that connects to the green space around it, and serves to create fluid flow of students.

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

wood wharf development london, UK, jul 2012- oct 2012 sauerbruch hutton architekten, berlin program: tenable offices, retail client: canary wharf developments size: 10,000 sqm status: competition entry

Hager Forum is a new business centre, located at the entrance of the manufacturing campus of the Hager Group in Obernai, France. The building is to be used as a conference and welcome centre, to introduce potential clients to product updates and new product developments, and to serve as a interaction space for the clients. The building consist of a simple rectangular space covered with a large steel and timber prefabricated roof structure that cantilevers towards the front of the building, thus creating a huge sheltered entrance lobby space. As the building is located at the heart of the campus, this large canopy roof will also serve as a space of interaction and gathering for the employees during their break time. The facade consist of a series of vertical stainless steel panels in various grey tones and matte finishes forming the division for the curtain wall facade.

This repetitive pattern becomes a optical ‘zip-lock’, wrapping around the glass box.

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

peony exposition world luoyang, china, jan 2012 - current sauerbruch hutton architekten, berlin

program: peony greenhouses and exhibition hall, offices, education centre, auditorium client: luoyang bureau of woods and parks size: 35,000 sqm status: in progress

The peony, the Chinese national flower, is the official symbol of Luoyang, one of the four ancient capitals of China. Luoyang’s Four Seasons Peony Exposition World is a sensous glasshouse that articulates modern building skills with an awareness of the city’s own cultural heritage, and is neatly integrated within the landscape of an urban waterfront park on a new island, part of a new development south east of the city centre. This Peony World allows year-round attention to be focussed on the historically important culture of the peony, while forming the centrepiece of the annual spring peony festival. The building’s carefully articulated glass facads enable the exhibtition halls and botanical gardensit contains to connect out to the landscape of the surrounding park, while the gently curved roof undulates above and reacts to the space that it protects below. The geometry of the glasshouse is irregular; its mass and shape subordinated to the forms of the landscape. Its footprint is almost circular, but slightly flattened to the north and south, creating an eastwest directionality that is picked up by the curvillinear glass walls inside. These divide the plan logitudinally and create a dynamic landscape parttern of interlocking stripes, organising the visitors’ circulation.

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museum 博物馆 main peony exhibition greenhouse / art 主牡丹博览展区温室/ 艺术 main peony exh. greenhse. / north american 主牡丹博览展区温室/ 北美 main peony exh. greenhse. / european 主牡丹博览展区温室/ 欧洲 main peony exh. greenhse. / tropical 主牡丹博览展区温室/ 热带水生植物 worldwide national flower green house 世界国花博览温室 main peony exh. greenhse. / chinese 主牡丹博览展区温室/ 中国

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

quartier am der stadtmauer bamberg, germany, oct 2011- dec 2011 sauerbruch hutton architekten, berlin

program: retail space, apartments, city wall heritage preservation client: multi-vest developments size: 19,000 sqm status: competition entry

This competition entry is for the redevelopment of a previously enclosed courtyard space in the main city centre of Bamberg, Germany. A medival city wall was discovered within the courtyard and hence this became the driving force for this preservation effort to reignite this UNESCO world heritage city centre. The design emphaised on the opening up of this courtyard to form part of the bigger city pedestrian network, which is intended to encourage a stronger and consistent pedestrian flow into and through the courtyard space. This inner private street will hence be interconnected to the rest of the city and extends a continuous retail shopfront from the main road into the courtyard. The overall massing of the indivdual building relates to the immediate historical context through their intricate scale, texture and roof form, yet, this historical juxtaposition is brought into focus through a subtle play of geometry and openings on the elevations.

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

john cranco dance school stuttgart, germany, aug 2011- dec 2011 sauerbruch hutton architekten, berlin

program: ballet dance school, dance studios, classrooms, cafeteria, dormitory, auditorium client: john cranco dance academy size: 15,000 sqm status: competition entry

The site for the John Cranco Dance School is located on a steep green slope, north of Stuttgart’s HauptBahnhof. The complex program of the school which include a large performance hall, dance studios and classrooms, and the students’ dormitory and living spaces, was defined as three distinct volumes of various proportions, sitting along the slope. The composition of the 3 volumes serves to connect the two streets to from the bottom of the slope to the top and to create an internal logic of circulation and connection between the spaces in the volumes. The volumes differentiate and express the various functions of each program, through subtle difference in the proportion and orientation of the white ceramic facade, as well as the proportion and density of openings.

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

arkbuk peninsular resort arkbuk, istanbul, dec 2006 - aug 2007 steven holl architects, new york city

program: masterplan and design for private luxury villas client: arbuk eco-development size: 1800 sqm status: on hold

In collaboration with a local sustainable environmental agency, a conceptual sustainable water resource masterplan for a residential and tourist resort was developed on the Arkbuk peninsular, along the Aegean coast of Turkey. Part of this masterplan is a design of 27 luxurious private villas directly facing the coast, sitting on a natural slope towards the sea.

The villas are organised into clusters of 3 and 5, and a total of 6 clusters are arranged around the slope, hence minimising the overall footprint of the villas. Each villa is designed as a geometric meandering along the narrow width of the cluster, in order to maximise views of all the villas. Entrance hallway, bedrooms and resting areas are located on the ground level, to enhance the privacy as well as to bring the nature and gardens into the sleeping areas. The living and eating areas are located on the upper level, which combines with extensive balconies, take advantage of the extensive Mediterranean views.

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

department of philosophy, new york university greenwich village, new york, dec 2004 - mar 2007 steven holl architects, new york city

program: faculty and graduate student offices, seminar rooms, periodicals library, lounge and a ground floor 120-seat auditorium client: new york university size: 5000 sqm status: completed

This is a design that invovled the complete interior renovation of an 1890 corner building at 5 Washington Place for the consolidation of the NYU Department of Philosophy within a concept which organizes the new spaces around light and phenomenal properties of materials. A new stair shaft below a new skylight joins the 6-level building vertically with a shifting porosity of light and shadow that change seasonally. Prismatic film was installed on the south-facing stairwell windows which occasionally break the sunlight into a prismatic rainbow. The Ground level, utilized by the entire University, contains a new curvilinear wooden auditorium on a cork floor. The upper level floors contain Faculty Offices and Seminar Rooms which are done in different shades and textures of black & white, according to the texts in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s book ‘Remarks on Colour’.

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

loisium winery hotel langenlois, austria, aug 2004 - jun 2005 steven holl architects, new york city

program: hotel with 82 hotel rooms, bar, restaurant, conference rooms and aveda spa client: loisium hotelbetriebs gmbh & co. kg size: 7,000 sqm status: completed

On the edge of the town of Langenlois, 60 minutes west of Vienna, on a gently south-sloping vineyard, a new wine center and visitors’ facility is built celebrating the rich local heritage of a magnificent wine vault system. This historic subterranean network, which includes stone passages that are 900 years old, underlies the urban plan of the town. The project is composed of three parts: the existing vaults, which will be accessible to visitors, the wine center and a hotel with a fine restaurant, conference and meeting facilities, an Aveda spa and 82 guest rooms. Like the grid of the city, the geometric spacing of the vineyard rows is continuous through the landscape connecting the three elements. The 53m X 53m square plan is aligned with the strict geometry of the surrounding vineyard rows.

Offering a variety of activities and room types, the Loisium Hotel Wine and Spa Resort offers guests and visitors a variety of experiences. Earthlike materials and palette combined with the views of the surrounding landscape create a strong connection and relationship of the hotel to its context. Public functions including the lobby, a wine themed restaurant, bar, cigar lounge, conference and meeting facilities, and wellness and spa area are located on the ground floor with views open to the surrounding vineyard. An inviting courtyard and terrace provides outdoor seating. 82 guest rooms are located in two upper floors. While the ground floor is transparent and open, the upper floors are more private.

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THESIS PROJECT

quad space

buffalo, new york, aug 08 - aug 2009

in collaboration with michael-john bailie,paul dudkowski & dan stripp program: single family house size: 60 sqm status: completed

Quad Space is an insertion of an architectural academic exercise as a full-scale constructed exploration to spatially and structurally manipulate and define the division of four spaces within a 400 sq. ft. house. The project re-evaluates the operations of architectural exercises within the academia and its role and relationship with the social, communal and economic environment that it is based within. The project critically investigates the effort and process of establishing an academic architectural research project as a full-scale construction inserted within the city of Buffalo, involving the physical manipulation and conversion of an existing derelict house into a habitable space.

The house, located at 139 Howell St in the Black Rock neighborhood in the City of Buffalo, is a brick-veneered house built in the early 1900s. This house was identified after a series of field research and subsequently acquired at the Buffalo City auction in Oct 2008 for $6500. A series of studies on volumetric, programmatic and infrastructural precedents of contemporary domestic issues and spaces manifested into a strategic framework to define the division of the house into four equal parts, each entitled to an individual author of the project. The strategic framework was developed into a design executed as a full-scale architectural construction project, through the physical labor of the four authors to spatially and structurally manipulate the house, subsequently engaging the four individuals as owners, architects and builders of the academic exercise.

Volumetric research directives, strategies & analysis

Programmatic research directives, strategies & analysis

Infrastructural research directives, strategies & analysis

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ACADEMIC TEACHING | DESIGN & FABRICATION

sanderson anatomy

course professor, design/ build course, feb 2010 - june 2010 mississippi state university, sanderson center, mississippi state, ms

This is a commission by the Department of Recreational Sports for a new reception desk at the front entry lobby of the Sanderson Center on the university campus. Inspired by the building’s primary function as a space for the wellness of the human body, the design for the reception desk takes on a composition inter-connected elements. These elements consist of a main structural spine, a series of ribs, tendons, muscles mass and finally an enveloping skin. A repetitive row of vertical black-stained plywood hold up a welded steel spinal tube forms the overall rhythm. Theses ribs are held together in tension by horizontal steel rods pinned at both ends. Several folded steel shelves are then held up in place within the ribs and steel robs.

Finally, a skin of solid maple flooring planks are laid over the entire series of ribs to form the countertop and table top of the desk.

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DESIGN & FABRICATION

barcoding hayes hall, university at buffalo, buffalo, new york, apr 08 - sept 08 in collaboration with michael-john bailie & dan stripp

Inspired simultaneously by the library barcoding system as well as the metaphorical compulsion of a vertical book stack, this circulation space consists of a series of extrapolated vertical lines defining the organizational structure of both the back-wall shelving unit and the front circulation desk of Architecture and Planning Library at the University at Buffalo. This organization defines a spatial barcode and a compulsive vertical surface unique to APL through the varied alternation of vertical panels of plywood surfaces (concealed cabinets and door frame) and exposed ply-edges (full height structural bookends). Constructed using domestic grade maple plywood, the structural cabinets, door frames, drawer boxes and structural plywood bookend panels are prefabricated as individual components which are assembled onsite using steel rods and cotter pins. Not unlike the staves and metal hoops of a wine barrel, the verticality of the individual component hence becomes a vertical stack, held in compression by the fixation of the steel rods and pins, forming a balancing horizontal stitch in tension.

Back shelf steel rods | Horizontal Ties

Back shelf structural spacers | Shelves

Back shelf structural panels | Vertical Divisions

Back shelf | Assemblage

Front desk structural storage | Exterior Volumes

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Front desk structural framing | Inner Ribs

Front desk surface panels | Barcoding

DESIGN & FABRICATION

the bench hayes hall lobby, university at buffalo, buffalo, new york, apr 08 - aug 08 in collaboration with michael-john bailie & dan stripp

The design and fabrication of this bench was inspired by the works of Peter Zumthor. An independent study, conducted to learn about Zumthor’s architecture, includes the ‘Topography of Terror’, an unfinished project in Berlin, Germany. This bench explores this unrealized design in a different context and scale. Utilizing repetitive components with minimum customization, the fabrication process aspired to be a highly precise operation using minimum woodworking skills.

Inspired by the construction system and relentless logic of the ‘Topography of Terror’, the structure of the bench is a system of repetitive wooden components that are stitched/clamped using stock steel sections. Most evident in the side elevation, the steel sections connect and lock each slotted wood piece in place. Exploiting the surface tension between steel and wood, this locking system produces a rigid structure that is held with only 16 countersunk screws.

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ACADEMIC PROJECT

liquid formwork

downtown buffalo, buffalo, new york, jan 08 - may 08 in collaboration with gregory hess

The aim of this project was to explore alternative models of casting in concrete, seeking a more complex relationship between the cast object and its formwork. The ultimate goal was to develop a “liquid formwork”, where the relationship of form and formwork was not static, and not definable by a single physical and theoretical alignment.

A precedent study was conducted on the construction of Kenzo Tange’s Sports Complex (Takamatsu, Japan, 1964). One of the four main pylons supporting the structure was drawn, analyzed, and finally constructed at a scale of 1:10. The complexities of a specific area of the form served as the basis for the development of a new casting system.

The form focused on in the precedent study consisted of a complex curve in both plan and elevation. To create a new formwork for casting this component, a system was developed that was composed of adjustable vertical steel members calibrated via threaded rods and nuts, and a flexible structural spine consisting of wood 2 x 3’s linked with 3/8” PVC tubing. The formwork was then lined using EPDM roofing rubber, creating an elastic, reusable casting membrane. The resulting cast was a continuous complex surface that echoed formal elements found in the precedent cast.

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