MACKENZIE NIXON GRADUATE ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO B.A Urban Studies . MArch
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CONTENT DOUGLAS FIR CENTER | ENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETIVE CENTER
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STUDIO 1 | INSTRUCTOR CATHERINE HAMEL
CANYON HOUSE | MULTI FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
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STUDIO 2 | INSTRUCTOR JASON JOHNSON
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KINETICS CAFE | RESTAURANT STUDIO 3 | INSTRUCTOR KEIR STUHLMILLER
GRAFTED ENTANGLEMENTS | CULTURAL INTERPRETIVE CENTER
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STUDIO 4 | INSTRUCTOR JOSH TARON
GLORIES | VIADUCT REDEVELOPMENT COMPETITION STUDIO 5 | INSTRUCTORS CLARA SOLA-MORALES AND EDUARDO CADAVAL
FRACTURED GRID | SENIOR RESEARCH PROJECT STUDIO 6 | INSTRUCTOR MARC BOUTIN
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DOUGLAS FIR CENTER STUDIO 1 I INSTRUCTOR CATHERINE HAMEL
The Douglas Fir Center is an Environmental Interpretive Center that was designed for Edworthy Park in Calgary. The project is named after the Douglas Fir trail, a path that runs along a densely wooded escarpment with periodic views of the Bow River Valley. It is here that users can momentarily escape the city and emerge themselves in nature. The Douglas Fir Center was designed to prolong a fleeting sense of escape by recreating the experience of trekking through this trail. Located at the peak of the trail, users ascend and emerge through the dense foliage only to encounter the Douglas Fir Center, where the facade is designed to accentuate the shadows and light conditions of the path. The programming within the building is materially and spatially differentiated from the outer facade, essentially designed as separate boxes within a shell, creating an ‘indoor’ space within the ‘outdoors; of the facade. The interior program is staggered randomly, to allow users to wander around the space, and the solid walls of the interior rooms provide refuge from the shadows cast by the building and the trail.
SITE PLAN
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SITE SECTIONS SOUTH SITE SECTION
LIGHT STUDIES
EAST SITE SECTION
SECTIONS
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SECTIONAL PERSPECTIVE SOUTH WEST SECTION
FLOOR PLAN
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CANYON HOUSE
RICHMOND, CALGARY
STUDIO 2 | INSTRUCTOR JASON JOHNSON
The Canyon House is a multi-family housing project designed for a vacant city block in the Richmond area of Calgary, inspired by the Slot Canyons of Arizona. The project shares the site with another building designed by a fellow student, and while the architecture of the two projects are vastly differently, they attempt to find common ground through the merging of landscape and grade.
3D SITE MODEL SHARED SITE
SHARED SITE PLAN
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The Canyon House contains four units and is comprised of two separate buildings sited directly adjacent to one another. The close proximity and height of the buildings create a narrow corridor between the two masses where the suite’s entrances are located, halfway below grade. The height of the narrow corridor is accentuated as the user descends through the valley between undulating canyon-like walls. The form is contoured, which allows light to shine from the waving building, while also controlling the angles from which users can see in an and out of the facade. The units are designed as long corridors where separate spaces are defined by changes in elevation. The program is organized in relation to how much natural light the SITE PLAN spaces require, where the most public spaces are located on the upper level, and the most private are submerged in the ground. The variations in level in combination with the contoured facade create a mountainous form that is scaleable, creating exterior patios on flat planes.
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4 UNITS
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STACK UNITS
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CONTOUR
GENERATIVE DIAGRAM
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STAGGER UNITS FOR DIFFERENT PROGRAMMATIC USE
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PUSH UNITS TOGETHER TO CREATE NARROW DIAGRAM GENERATIVE WALKWAY BETWEEN
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GENERATIVE DIAGRAM
CONCRETE RETAILING WALL WITH IMBEDDED WOODEN SHELVING
SINK UNITS IN GROUND
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TRANSLUCENT CONCRETE & LAMINATED GLASS
GENERATIVE DIAGRAM
MATERIAL APPLICATION
CREATE CANYON FORM
Building Strategy
GENERATIVE DIAGRAM
The project is composed of four units in two adjacent buildings. The units are designed as continuous spaces, where rooms are divided by diямАerent levels. The most public spaces are at the top of the building and receive the most light, while the more private spaces are placed further into the ground. 11
Within the project there are two types of suites, with two bedroom units located in the Northern building, and one bedroom units in the South building. The units are laid out with the kitchens in the upper most level, and bedrooms located at the lowest levels. Walls within the units are wavy and built with the same tectonics as the exterior walls. The stairs also have indentations where people can sit, and counter space is developed as an extension of the exterior walls, built from the same contoured system.
ELEVATIONS
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PLANS 3D DIAGONAL PLAN
2D BASEMENT PLAN
3D DIAGONAL PLAN
NORTH BUILDING NORTH BUILDING PLANS PLANS
SECTION
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2D UPPER PLAN
SOUTH BUILDING SECTION
SOUTH BUILDING SECTION
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The close proximity and height of the buildings create a narrow corridor between the two masses where the suite’s entrances are located, halfway below grade. The combination of proximity, decent and an undulating form help to simulate the eect of walking though a canyon. LIGHT BETWEEN
LIGHT TO DARK
Program is strategically placed, where public spaces are located in the upper most levels where they receive the most light, while the private spaces are burrowed in the ground.
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BUI
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CALGARY
KINETICS CAFE STUDIO 3 | INSTRUCTOR KEIR STUHLMILLER
MACLEOD TRAIL
HERITAGE STATION
SITE PLAN
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The Kinetics Cafe is a small restaurant designed directly adjacent to the Heritage Train Station in Calgary. Given the siting of the project, one of the goals of this design was to take advantage of the existing forces present on the site. Every train that passes through the station pushes wind through the site, and the Kinetics Cafe attempts to capture some of this harbored energy and use it to momentarily provide a gust of ephemeral beauty. The project is a long narrow building, where either side is covered by spinning metal squares. As the wind blows, the pieces spin and create a ripple down the facade with the movement of the train. This movement create a wave in the lighting of the restaurant every few minutes, temporarily making the shadows twinkle within the building. To the riders of the train, the facade becomes a kind of art installation, ickering in the day and twinkling at night.