Architecture Portfolio GABRIELLA CHADD Bachelor of Architecture ‘24
Drexel University Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
“Be a curious mind. ”
CONTENTS
1. Reimaging the Athenaeum: Against the Grain 2. Cobbs Creek School 3. Drexel Smart House: Yarrow 4. Urban Design Plan Navy Yard
1 Reimagining the Athenaeum: Against the Grain Term: Fal 2022 Professor: Tom Kirshner Collaborators: Lucia Yanik, Hector Tores
The Philadelphia Athenaeum is a highly significant building for Architectural and Design history. The building currently serves as a library and museum, holding special collections and artifacts of architectural literature and education, filled with practices of the past and inspiring innovations of the future. Against the grain reimagines the Athenaeum from a learning resource provided simply within the texts it houses, but also as an educational tool through experiencing the building itself-one of the most valuable learning techniques. This project radically implements universal design, planning the building through the eyes of those disabled or impaired to create the utmost inclusive experience for all users, while taking advantage of the benefits of utilizing all one’s senses to experience and guide the visitors. Integration of material/texture, color/light, and interactive furniture allows visitors to understand architecture and design in a more tactile way, interacting with the building and its’ interiors on a more intentional, yet inadvertent level. Inspiration and education through TOUCH.
SITE PLAN
SITE PLAN AND SECTION
Second Floor
First Floor
Ground Floor
KEY: Lobby Storage of Educational Content Multipurpose/ Open Space Admin Basement Level
PLANNING STRATEGIES DIAGRAM
Service/Storage
Maintaining main circulation and service program to the core of the building, allowing maximum views to the outdoors, While utilizing the buildings solid edge along the edge to serve as built interactive storage for educational materials.
DEFINING TOUCH . . . Touch is one of the most important tools (or senses) to learn and understand the world. Studies show that babies that are allowed to play with their food can improve their cognitive abilities at an early age. We understand things by being able to look at them and more importantly touch them. It is a tool used for exploration. For this reason, I think it is important to use the architecture and details of the building as an explorative element to help understand and learn architecture, it’s principals, discoveries, and history.
C O N C E P T D E V E L O P M E N T
KEY DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
INTERACTION TOUCH
ELEVATIONS
LIGHT
FACADE STUDIES | Layering
Breaking up form, creating unique lighting conditions, expressing internal building program
DETAIL DIAGRAMS | Implementing key design considerations 01 LIGHT & INTERACTION “Playing with the facade
02 TOUCH & INTERACTION Education and design through texture
Education and design flexibility through interaction
UNIVERSAL DESIGN | Textured Floor Plans
The heart of the project is predicated in univeral design. The integration of textured floor material along main and secondary circu visually impaired to easily navigate the space. The design entails a spine, or direct path of circulation with direct indications of the loosely textured exploratory path along secondary circulation routes, allowing users to more easily identify the differentiated inte lifted edge also allows for easier travelling along the buildings northern egress edge.
NATURAL LIGHTING STUDIES
ulation paths allow users and those e main egress paths, along with a more ents as they flow through the space. A
SIGNAGE LIGHTS
CONTRASTING COLORS
CONSIDERING MULTIPLE DISABILITIES
UNIVERSAL DESIGN | Front Desk
Additional techniques that cater to the wide variety of disabled users can also be found in details, such as the front desk. Integrated contrasting colors and materials, lighting, easily recognizable signage, and thoughtful furniture designs welcomes inclusivity catering to all user types within the space.
VIEW FROM FIRST FLOOR OUT TOWARDS ADJACENT PARK
Curtain walls along the north and east facades allow for maximum views out to the park beyond. A juxtaposition of open views with grounding the space and strengthening the connection to the outdoors. This feature allows visitors to interact with the architecture users the agency to create their own semi-private spaces within the overall flexible space. The view shows the mixture of materials,
h moments of the wood fin screens interact in the distance. The organic, interactive bookcase wall creates a solid background, e, while concurrently acting as book storage for academic texts. This allows the open space to be flexible for various uses, and gives , with the building being comprised of core building materials with steel, concrete, and wood.
VIEW FROM THE SECOND FLOOR ALONG THE TEXTURED PATH
Layering of materials and spaces becomes apparent as visitors walk through the space. Circulation is facilitated through textured gro adding playful, textured details to the architecture.
ound patterns along circulation paths, allowing visually impaired residents to be guided through the space, while simultaneously
2 Urban Design Plan: Reintroducing History in the Philadelphia Navy Yard Term: Fall/Winter 2021 Professor: Simon Tickell Urban Plan Collaborators: Steven Degroot, Quy Dinh, David Colletti
The Philadelphia Navy Yard holds significant history for the country, as the birthplace of the US Navy. While this site has undergone massive redevelopment at the North end of the site, in recent years, much of the Southern end of Navy Yard, along the Delaware River, has been immensely underdeveloped, maintaining an industrial atmosphere that lacks human scale, inviting greenspaces, and housing for the thousands of employees visiting the site on a daily basis. By transforming a seemingly abandoned area into an inviting shared space, the reimagined Urban Design Plan for the Navy yard can become a major asset to the city of Philadelphia residents and the many employees that spend much of their time here. Celebrating the history of the site, is an essential part of commemorating the past, while redefining its’ future. Revival of the historic roads, transformed into an active corridor down to the Delaware River creates an engaging user experience, leading residents and visitors down to the Delaware River Waterfront. This site aims to mix the various users and create a walkable experience, while addressing the crucial issues of rising sea levels through interactive sustainable techniques, allowing the site to remain usable for deacades to come.
SITE GOALS REINTRODUCING HISTORY 01 Historic Map of 1903: Establishment of the Philadelphia Navy Yard 02 Overlay of Historic map on site
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SITE
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CREATING A RIVER CONNECTION
C O N C E P T D E V E L O P M E N T
03 Identifying key entrances on site and existing infrastructure 04 Reviving historic pathways. Creating a connected pathway to the Delaware River for a reimagined waterfront experience
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05 Developing massing strategy along revived historic pathways. Maintaining open green space adjacent reminaged public waterfront 06 Connecting secondary paths through massing to create a walkable experience for users
MIXING USER TYPES 07 Developing interior courtyards/green space to enhance resident experience and implement sustainable practices 08 Diversying building typologies with an active commercial corridor along the river path with surrounding single family and multifamily housing
PARTI DIAGRAM OVERLAYING URBAN DESIGN PLAN
Reintroducing historic pathways into a transformed active artery connecting to the reimagined Delaware River waterfront
INDIVIDUAL SITE PLAN DEVELOPMENT
Urban Design Redevelopment Plan, maintaining all essential site goals , highlighting the dynamic mixed use block for further exploration and development.
Commercial Multi-family Housing
AXONOMETRIC VIEW OF SITE
Highlighting the mixed-use building for further development. Commercial buildings along the main historic path takes on an irregular shape, sitting as the base of a dense housing complex above, setback from the active street
3-Bed Apt 2-Bed Apt 1-Bed Apt Studio Apt
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1 KEY: 1. Commercial Space 2. Lobby 3. Mail Room 4. Bike Room 5. Storage 6. Mech. Room
GROUND AND UPPER FLOOR PLANS
VIEW TOWARDS INTERIOR COURTYARD ENTRANCE.
The organic shape of the commercial space on the ground floor creates a semi-private entrance towards the interior courtyard. This courtyard continues to get more private as it deepens towards the housing complexes
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Street Water Collection Strategy
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Structural Water Collection System
FLOOD CONTROL STRATEGIES
PUBLIC REALM DETAIL DIAGRAM
With the site lying below the 100-year flood plan, I have introduced multiple strategies to control flooding that can also become interactive enjoyabe elements of the site experience.
VIEW WITHIN INTER
RIOR COURTYARD
VIEW OF MIXED-USE BUILDING Residential housing sits on top of the organic form of commercial space on the ground floor creating a dynamic experience along the sidewalk, while providing a more private experience within the
3 COBBS CREEK ENVIRONMENTAL ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE SCHOOL Term: Spring 2022 Professor: Simon Tickell
The Philadelphia Public School system has at times failed it’s youth, ranking one of the lowest in national assessments among the US big cities. The Cobbs Creek neighborhood, an area located in West Philadelphia, is not an acception to this. By introducing the Cobbs Creek Environmental School, students will be provided with the luxury of a new way to imagine educational practices and the exploration of our natural world. A potential asset to the community, this school is designed to provide a more collaborative learning environment and hands-on learning experience, through transparency, oppenness and direct access to the surrounding natural landscape. It begins to blur the lines between the indoors and outdoors. Located across the street from Cobbs Creek and the adjacent Cobbs Creek Park, allows students to introduce the outdoors into its daily cirriculum, with opportunities for the park to become the classroom and learning tool. Open interaction between students of many ages is facilitated through blurring the lines within, through an open atrium which provides visual and acoustical connections, filled with activity.
SITE GOALS
School
ASSET TO COMMUNITY EXTENSION OF NEIGHBORHOOD USER ESPERIENCE AT VARIOUS LEVELS
Community
EDUCATE THROUGH PLAY & EXPLORATION
Cobbs Creek
C O N C E P T D E V E L O P M E N T
INSPIRED BY FORMS OF NATURE
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MASTER PLAN
Development along Cobbs Creek introduces active diverse programmatic elements within the park leading down towards the creek, while sustainably maintaining the natural environment and atmoshere. It allows users to experience nature at a variety of levels, among the treetops, along the grounds, and within the waters. A schools for kids of all ages are located across Cobbs Creek parkway, maintaing easy access to the park, while extending the parks language further into the neighborhood in attempts to tie them together.
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Community Gardens
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Green Corridor
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School Gardens
COBBS CREEK
SITE PLAN SKETCH
The school is comprised of two buildings with classrooms holding direct views out to Cobbs Creek Park, while a secondary building with the gymnasium and library is pulled further into the site, creating a unique pinch poit entrance, with a monumental central stair inspired by the natural topography on site and more private condition between for students to 0’ 30’ 75’ 150’ safely explore. 7
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KEY: 1. Entrance/Atrium 2. Classrooms 3. Cafeteria/Multipurpose Space 4. Kitchen 5. Teachers Lounge 6. Bus Pickup 7. Monumental Outdoor Stair 8. Monumental Indoor Interactive Stair with Integrated Seating/Storage
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Public Program
Classrooms Screen
GROUND FLOOR PLAN AND SITE SECTION
Cobbs Creek Park
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75’
Cobbs Creek
SCREEN FACADE ELEVATION FACADE INSPIRATION | Site Photo
Along Cobbs CreekParkway an intricate facade design is developed. a “window” within nature. This interweaving organic pattern reflect focus of its’ students. The screen element also begins to reflect the
LONGITUDINAL SECTION SCREEN WALL SECTION STUDY
A section cutting through the feature landscape inspired central sta more simple elevation at the interior facade of the building, in cont beyond.
. inspired by a site photo of overgrown shrubs weaved together, creating framed views through to the site. This concept resembles ts the project goal of creating a more integrated. collaborative learning experience, while speaking to the environmental education e heritage of local community, beginning to play off of traditional African culture, for the majority African American residents.
aircase, provides a secondary entrance for middle school students, and a more private outdoor courtyard between. This reveals a trast with the intricate screen, allowing the focus to be central shared space within, while still providing views through to the park
VIEW TOWARDS GROUND FLOOR ENTRANCE
VIEW OF MONUMENTAL INDOOR/STAIRCASE WITH INTEGRATED STORAGE, SEATING, AND LOCKERS
VIEW LOOKING AT MONUMENTAL LANDSCAPE INSPIRED CENTRAL STAIR WITH COBBS CREEK PARK BEYON
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4 Drexel Smart House: Yarrow Term: Spring 2023 Professor: Antonio Martinez-Molina Collaborators: Lucia Yanik
As single motherhood has become increasingly more prevalant, these families are faced with the difficulties of tackling lifes challenges on their own. Single parent households hold a significant risk for homelessness, as affordable housing options continue to be difficult to obtain. Yarrow, is a project that utilizes the Drexel Smart House, an underutilized building looking to be repurposed to better serve the community. With single motherhood rates in the Philadelphia area continuing to increase and high demands for shelters in the area, this building will instead be an adaptive reuse project, provided a commercial component on the ground floor, focused on single-mother families and women undergoing traumatic life circumstances to serve as a women’s resource center providing social services, advocacy, therapy, and guidance as a resource to transition these families out of their current circumstances towards a bright future. Long-term and short term housing options cater to the residents in need of these services, as they work with the resource center. Partnering up with an existing local organization, Hopephl, this project serves as a satellite location, specializing in women and single-mother families. Utilizing natural materials, natural light, and greenery, this project utilizes the benefits of biophillic design to help heal and calm its visitors, while integrating design techniques to ensure a safe environment for it’s residents with continuous access to the crucial greenspaces for the kids to enjoy.
PROJECT GOALS SAFETY & SUPPORT PEACEFUL, TRANQUIL HEALING ENVIRONMENT SERVE VARIOUS USER NEEDS ACCESS TO GREENSPACE ON VARIOUS PRICAVY LEVELS LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE
COMMERCIAL
C O N C E P T D E V E L O P M E N T
RESIDENTIAL
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Two simple tiered massing additions
Two simple tiered massing additions interlocking and providing more equal access to outdoor terraces
Two tiered massing additions, playing with form and Two tiered massing additions, playing with form mimicing angles to open up views of rear gardens elements of existing architecture
MASSING STRATEGIES DEVELOPMENT
Massing iterations integrate two additional building forms, in a tiered fashion, to allow for access to new outdoor terraces on various levels. Option 02, is the massing I chose to move forward with, as it maintains a simple form, ccontinuing the existing floor lines, while still addressing the key access to greenspace on all levels. The simple form allows for ease of construction, efficiency, and maximization of the building footprint, celebrating and preserving the existing building, rather than overshadowing it.
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WOMEN UNDERGOING:
KNOWLEDGE / TOOLSET
GUIDANCE/MENTORSHIP
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RESOURCES
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HOMELESSNESS
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INDEPENDENCE
CARE ASSISSTANCE
ECONOMIC INSTABILITY
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STABILITY: FINANCIAL EMOTIONAL PHYSICAL FAMILIAL
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COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL CIRCULATION GREENSPACE
LOWER LEVEL
GROUND FLOOR
PLANNING STRATEGIES DIAGRAM
FIRST FLOOR
SECOND FLOOR
Maintaining the existing buildings, this strategy utilizes maintains the party wall division at the ground and lower level, with the commercial space towards the street and various housing options along the interior of the site, as well as, the second and third floors. Providing the option for longer term stay for users that are in need of continuous support and housing on the lower levels, while also providing short-term stay housing with shared common areas for users that are in need of a place to stay in the midst of a transitionary period. Acess to a variety of greenspaces, allows residents children to have access to a “backyard” while maintaing any necessary safety measures that the families may be facing.
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PLANS ELEVATIONS | Diagramming significant design and sustainability strategies
EXISTING
BUILDING STRATEGIES | Sips Panel Design
BUILDING STRATEGIES | Sustainability and Building Systems
EXISTING
VIEW OF SHARED SPACE FOR SHORT-TERM STAY RESIDENTS
VIEW OF WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER ENTRANCE A transcending entrance towards the lower level women’s resource center, allows the facade to be manipula creating a more balanced experience within all of the rooms in the commercial space. While opening up the need it, through a more playful and unique way. The stone screen repurposes materials from the demolition
ated, opening up the previously dark lower level to bring in natural light throughout the spaces below, facade brings in light, integrated a stone screen wall, still allows for privacy for the residents that may of parts of the building, sustainably addressing a new element with existing materials.
VIEW OF WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER LOBBY A calm material pallete provides the tranquil environment to help facilitate the healing and calming environm of greenery, natural materials, and natural light, utilizes the inherent benefits of biophilia and its significance Terrazzo floors provide a sustainable solution to a durable material with recycled aggregate, aligning with th
ment for visitors that often may be experiencing paranoia and/or a traumatic period in their lives. The use e in addressing the mental health of visitors, providing an enjoyable atmosphere during a time of chaos. he goals of acheiving Living Building Challenge standards.
VIEW ALONG SECOND STORY BRIDGE IN WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER Unique suspended light fixtures above the open space, additionally integrate greenery and serve as multipur these design elements begin to add an additional layer of semi-privacy while also existing at times at eye le
rpose design elements, bringing more natural elements in at multiple levels. Tiered at multiple heights, evel, creating a unique experience along the pathway.
VIEW UP PATHWAY THROUGH TERRACED GARDENS