Kamila Widulinski Selected Works
Contents Educational
02
Park Blocks School
University of Oregon 2020 | Individual Project
06
Future Use
Northeastern University 2016 | Thesis Project (Partner)
Negotiable Spaces
09 Northeastern University 2015 | Individual Project
Reclaiming Chelsea Creek
11 Northeastern University 2015 | Individual Project
Professional
Berit-Parkes Residence
13 Private Client 2017 | Personal Commission
Volunteer
14
Caliu Earthship Hotel
Earthship Academy
2019 | Field Study
Park Blocks School Fall 2020 | Portland, OR individual project
2.45 FAR LOT SIZE 20,000 SF GFA 49,100 SF BUILDING FOOTPRINT 18,100 SF
Given a corner lot located at a prime location at the end of a series of green spaces between Old Town and the Pearl District, the task was to design an elementary school for 300 children. I explored a fusion of 2 alternative educational approaches, Reggio Emilia and open air schools. The school focuses on using the environment as the “third teacher” and providing ample daylighting and outdoor spaces for physical activity and learning. By use of ramps as the primary circulation method inside and outside the school, the school prompts children to explore and expand their perspectives. The exterior ramp is positioned at the end of the park blocks to create a direct connection to the school’s rooftop playground, green spaces, and learning areas, while situating a space for stadium seating and fields on the park itself. The interior program separates students by age group into learning suites of 2-4 classrooms. Exploratory spaces, the media center, and flex spaces are located between learning suites as places where students can congregate and collaborate as needed with maximum flexibility.
10
CONCEPT SKETCH
0’
0’
20
10
0’
10 10
0’
20
0’
0’
0’
20
0’
20
10
GIVEN SITE
0’
PROPOSED EXPANDED SITE
0’
20
3 STORIES OF REQUIRED PROGRAM
SHIFTED TIERS + CURVES
GLAZED FACADE + SKYLIGHT
RAMP EXTENDS PARK TO ROOF
Sustainability Strategy The programmed roof includes green areas with native planting, vegetable gardens to teach students about growing food, and outdoor classroom space. The school’s skylight and glazed facades maximize daylighting, and natural ventilation is achieved through operable windows and skylights. On the interior, the finishes are natural, including sustainable cork flooring and dropped wood ceiling screens for warmth, acoustic attenuation, and easy maintenance.
10
native plantings
cork flooring
carbon sequestering concrete
0’
0’
20
FTOP
02
2 2 1 1
10
12 11
4
5 3
9
6
7
13
9
8 14
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
2
2
1
3
4
4
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
7
6
3
4 1 2 8
4
4
5
4
THIRD FLOOR PLAN
5
6
03
Tectonic Strategies STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS lightweight concrete split-level floors central ramp circulation field of columns for flexibility glazed curtain wall facades central skylight double-height amenity spaces INTERIOR FINISHES cork flooring chrome finished columns light wood storage partitions colorful furnishings dropped wood slat ceilings open floor plan
04
05
Future Use
Spring 2016 | Boston, MA thesis project (partner) 1.5 FAR LOT SIZE 41,000 SF GFA 62,150 SF BUILDING FOOTPRINT 12,650 SF
For our culminating thesis project, we were required to design a structural system that integrated passive and active building systems, keeping in mind possible future occupational and contextual scenarios in an effort to extend the building’s life cycle. The structure was designed with engineered wood members that provide an easily accessible grid of mechanical systems throughout the building to promote flexibility in layout. A complementary steel diagrid facade provides lateral stability and sun shading fins at select facades.
As our building sits a the end of a vital public transportation hub and a part of Boston’s green network, we integrated paths and traffic calming strategies with the hope of making this area more accessible to people using alternative methods of transportation. My thesis partner and I collaborated fully on the design development of our thesis project. The work shown here was produced by me or in tandem with my partner, Carly Krotowski.
DISJUNCTION AT SITE The site crosses over the southwest corridor - a pedestrian and bicycle path that connects major neighborhoods. The green spaces that delineate the corridor disappear between the site and the next main road, making it a weak link of the path.
MASSING STUDIES
Our building is situated on a university campus and spans across a major public transportation hub, and therefore we explored the possibility of educational program consisting of maker spaces, public exhibition spaces, classrooms, and student study spaces. The open plan and narrow footprint allows for future infilling or removing of walls and floor sections to aggregate the spaces as needed.
SITE STRATEGY
SITE PLAN
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
EXPANDING GREEN SPACE NETWORK
Reduced street width, raised intersections, and permeable paving strengthen connection of corridor
Massing + site strategy promotes connectivity with green spaces on campus
CREATING A NEW CAMPUS ENTRANCE The building relates to surroundings and creates new access to interior campus and buildings
06
CLT Analysis Carbon Comparisons A 5-story CLT building would sequester the same amount of carbon as removing 600 cars from the road for a year. 2000 TONS PER CUBIC METER
1500
EMBODIED CARBON
1000 500 0 -500 -1000
SEQUESTERED CARBON
-1500
FINS MINIMIZE SUMMER SOLAR GAINS
-2000 -2500
STEEL
CONC.
CLT
Cost Comparisons The cost of using CLT varies between 50-90% of traditional materials such as steel, concrete, and masonry. 100
MID RISE
LOW RISE
1 STORY
75 50 25 0
RES
COMM EDU COMM OCCUPANCY TYPE
INDUST
FINS MAXIMIZE WINTER SOLAR GAINS
Constructability Diagrams
20’
30’
THERMAL CONTROL DIAGRAM
CUSTOM HOLLOWED STEEL CHANNELS
SYSTEMS PASS THROUGH COLUMN CHANNEL
SYSTEMS BETWEEN CLT PANELS
STEEL BRACKETS AT FLOOR EDGES
STEEL CROSS BRACING AND FINS AT FACADE
INTEGRATED SYSTEMS DIAGRAM
07
5
6
7
4
2
1
5
3 1
5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Public Exhibition Space Flexible Student Work Spaces CNC Milling + Large Machines Wood Shop Elevator + Stair Cores Student Lounge (Below) Experimental Kitchen
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
SERVICE + STORAGE
PHASE I CONSTRUCTION AND PROGRAM
PHASE II FUTURE EXPANSION
CLASS ROOMS
AMENITY
PUBLIC + EXHIBITION
MAKER SPACE MANUFACTURING
EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE
INTERIOR PERSPECTIVE
08
1
47,394 SF
2
49,388 SF
3
34,421 SF
Negotiating Spaces Fall 2015 | Charlestown, MA individual project
6
4
9
29,825 SF
43,951 SF
46,480 SF
7
5
10
32,299 SF
37,537 SF
28,783 SF
8
2.9 FAR LOT SIZE 29,825 SF GFA 86,902 SF UNITS 73 du/acre 107
For this project site, we developed a master plan as a studio based on existing zoning codes and complete streets design to create a transitoriented, holistic development. We subdivided and individually developed our own parcels. My project explored the feasibility of urban housing to adapt to the needs of occupants over time as a way to encourage people to establish long-lasting community. The overall parcel design emphasizes shared amenities, an abundance of private and public outdoor spaces and connectivity between commercial streets and the harbor walk. The program includes retail on the ground floor, community gardens and green space on the level 6 above, and 3 connected towers of flexible microapartments with shared amenity spaces. For my housing strategy, I expanded on midcentury architect J. H. van den Broek’s flexible housing theories. The basic layout of a unit was broken into three sections: living, service, and sleeping. By making sleeping areas negotiable between units and mirroring unit layouts to consolidate wet wall locations, I enabled a level of flexibility between units. This layouts can expand from a studio to a one- or two- bedroom unit, or downsize as needed, by simply infilling or removing a portion of demising walls.
6
35,719 SF
11
26,046 SF
12
40,443 SF
MASTER PLAN
HARBOR WA
LK
6
SITE EDGE CONDITIONS INCLUDE ROADS ON ONE SIDE + PEDESTRIAN STREETS ON THE HARBOR
+5’
CREATE A RETAIL GROUND FLOOR + PUBLIC SECOND FLOOR TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF GRADE CHANGE ON SITE
HARBOR W ALK
EXTEND HARBOR WALK THROUGH SITE TO STREET RETAIL ON OPPOSITE SIDE
SITE
SITE PLAN
E SECTION
09
Unit Aggregation Strategies
SMALL, MODULAR MICRO UNITS
CONSOLIDATED WET WALLS
SEMI-PRIVATE ENTRY WAY AT UNITS
EACH UNIT H
Massing Studies
1 BD
1 BD
STUDIO
Typical Unit Plans LIVING
SERVICE
SLEEP 2 BD
2 BD
STUDIO
350 SF - STUDIO
STUDIO
550 SF - 1 BD/1 BTH 1 BD
NEGOTIATED SPACE By breaking the typical unit into the essential “living,” “service,” and negotiable “sleep” zones, it is possible to provide units with the flexibility of converting from studio to one-bedroom to two-bedroom units
STUDIO
1200 SF - 2BD/ 2 BTH
1 BD
600 SF - 1 BD/1 BTH
2 BD
STUDIO
STUDIO
STUDIO
1200 SF- 2BD/1 BTH
HAS PRIVATE BALCONY
MODIFIED BAR BUILDINGS VIEWS + MINIMIZED EGRESS
COMMUNAL HALLWAYS FOR ADDITIONAL OUTDOOR SPACE
WOOD SCREENS FOR PRIVACY + LIGHT REGULATION
SECTION PERSPECTIVE THROUGH HARBORWALK EXTENSION
EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE FROM HARBORWALK
10
Reclaiming Chelsea Creek Fall 2014 | East Boston, MA individual project 2.04 FAR LOT SIZE 522,000 SF GFA 1,066,000 SF
Chelsea Creek was once a lush wetland area. Over the last century, it has been taken over by industry. As a result, the water quality has declined to unsafe levels, affecting fish and other wildlife, and the coastline is inaccessible to the public. As a designated port area (DPA) it is home to 100% of the fuel storage for the Boston airport, 70% of the regions heating fuel, and 400,000 tons of road salt for New England. The citizens of East Boston are the ones that bear the impact of these zoning laws: constant shipping traffic, busy, impassable roads, and the resultant polluted air and water. Contradictorily, the coast of Chelsea Creek falls under Chapter 91, the primary way in which Massachusetts is able to protect and ensure the public’s right to use and access tidelands. The decision to take away this lawful public coastline access and give it to water-dependent industries has led to a rapid decline of the natural environment.
1 4 7 10 PROJECTED SEA LEVEL RISE (FT)
My project strives to reclaim the coastline for the people, following the Chapter 91 doctrine. As a site fully within the FEMA flood zones, I have focused on storm water management with constructed wetlands to help clean the polluted Chelsea Creek, placing built program at the edges of the site sitting on berms from the constructed wetland excavations to protect from future flooding.
Site Chapter 91 Boundary Chelsea Creek DPA Boundary Chapter 91 and DPA Overlap Fuel Storage Tanks CHELSEA CREEK COASTAL ZONING
PROPOSED SITE PLAN
ROOF PLAN
| 1/64” - 1’0” SCALE
TRANSECT SECTION
| 1/64” - 1’0” SCALE
COMMUNITY FACILITIES
TOWN HOUSES
APARTMENT HOUSING
CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS
PARKING UNDER BERMS COMMERCIAL
DISTRICT PROGRAMMING
11
1
3
2
9
6
4
SECTION PERSPECTIVE THROUGH CONSTRUCTED WETLAND
5
7
District Program 1 Housing Complex Roof Decks 2 Private Unit Balconies 3 Apartment Housing Units 4 Street Facing Commercial Space 5 Parking Under Constructed Berms 6 Park Facing Commercial Space 7 Boardwalk 8 Park Access Under Berms 9 Park Access via Ramp 10 Floodable Park Zone 11 Access to Chelsea Creek 12 Constructed Wetland Zone
8
10 12 11
12
Berit-Parkes Residence 2017 | Hull, MA private client
The Berit-Parkes residence is a new construction single family home situated on a tight, waterfront property with a steep slope. I worked closely with the client to design a unique, custom house made with prefabricated wall and floor panels complete with all insulation, wiring, and exterior sheathing. With the use of prefabricated components, we were able to drastically minimize the construction schedule, allowing the owner to close in the building sooner and avoid disrupting the dense neighborhood, as well as working on the exterior in winter conditions.
SITE PLAN
The site is located at the tip of a peninsula southeast of Boston Harbor. High wind loads and coastal flooding restrictions had to be taken into account in the design and therefore required intensive coordination with the structural engineer to design a resilient building without compromising an emphasis on views to the incredible waterfront beyond.
1
17' - 9 1/2"
7 1/2"
3' - 8 1/2"
EQ
3' - 8 1/2"
EQ
3' - 8 1/2"
EQ
3' - 8 1/2"
7" ROOF 67' - 4"
A
A
A
A
ATTIC 58' - 2 1/4" 1' - 6"
1' - 6"
K
K
201
6 1/2"
SECOND FLOOR 48' - 8 3/4"
J
J
J
J
FIRST FLOOR 37' - 7 1/4"
GLASS PANEL RAILING
G
ENTRY VESTIBULE 34' - 0"
SOUTH EAST ELEVATION
2 5 '- 3 3 / 4 "
5 '- 3 "
4'-9"
3'-2 1/2"
35'-4 1/2" 4 '- 9 3 / 4 "
3'-4 1/128"
9'-4"
M
BASEMENT LEVEL S 28' - 0"
SLAB
COMPLETED PROJECT - STREET FACING FACADE
TYPICAL WALL SECTION
13
Caliu Earthship Hotel February 2019 | Uruguay field study
Earthship Biotecture designs and builds fully autonomous off-grid buildings made largely of natural materials and reused waste products. The buildings are designed with the intention of providing all of the essential human needs without the need for connections to centralized public utilities. My role on this build included attending daily classes and field work to fully develop an experiential understanding of the six principles inherent within all earthship designs: thermal mass heating/cooling, solar and wind electricity, water harvesting, contained sewage treatment, food production, and the use of natural and recycled building materials. Over the course of one month, 60 other students, crew members and I worked to build the project from ground up. Within that short period of time, we were able to provide the client the completed structure with integrated working systems, and finished out one of four hotel rooms. This earthship’s design includes a floating foundation consisting of recycled tires filled with rammed earth to provide thermal mass, upon which domed rebar and wire mesh structures were placed to support the roof structure. At the front of the rooms, greenhouse areas contain botanical cells connected to the building’s integral sewage and water systems that can grow food year round. The roof acts as a rain catchment system, which diverts rain to cisterns and through multiple filtration systems to provide the earthship with utility an drinking water. A gray water system recycles water four times within the building before it is diverted to the on site septic system.
PLAN (BY EARTHSHIP BIOTECTURE)
SECTION THROUGH ROOM AND GREENHOUSE (BY EARTHSHIP BIOTECTURE)
Description of Photos at Right 1. Pounding tires for thermal mass foundation walls 2. Reinforced steel and wire mesh dome structure; 4. Complete earthship structure; 5. Structural bottle walls; 6. Plastered bottle walls, greenhouse and so 7. Construction joint installation for concrete floors; 8. Finish plastering on dome interior; 9. Glass bottl
; 3. Plastering dome structure olar panel installation le brick mosaic wall construction
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
14