Medha Singh Architecture Portfolio

MEDHA SINGH E msingh117@gmail.com C 301.787.5814 A New York, NY 10016

WORK EXPERIENCE

LOUISE BRAVERMAN, ARCHITECT / New York, NY 11.2013 - Present / Junior Architect

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SKILLS DIGITAL: Adobe Audition Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop Adobe Premiere Adobe AfterEffects ArchiCAD AutoCAD Autodesk Ecotect Autodesk Revit Maxwell Rendering Rhinoceros V-Ray Rendering ANALOG: Physical Modeling Hand Drafting Woodworking Hand Rendering

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Project Architect on interior renovation of orthopedic surgeon’s office.

• Drew complete drawing sets for schematic design, design development set for lawyers, construction drawing set for bidding, and filing set for the NYC Building Department in AutoCAD • Coordinated with MEP, Fire Safety consultants and Security/Telecom/ AV consultants during design and drawing Bid Set, as well as during construction submittals (in process) • Coordinated with contractor during bidding process, through construction submittals, shop drawings and RFIs. Attended weekly meetings and site visits during construction (in process) • Worked with client and subtenant during layout and design development, selecting finishes for offices and exam rooms as well as furniture selection, invoicing, and scheduling delivery (in process) Worked on prefabricated modular classrooms for the Staten Island Community Charter School, from design and prefabrication coordination, through construction (in process) Collaborated on design of firm’s exhibit for Venice Biennale 2014 + 2016, assisting with product research, audio editing, construction drawings.

Coordinated with construction team in Venice to finalize the exhibit (in process for 2016) Handled financial transactions and invoicing with subcontractors, coordinated with general contractor, and went on site visits during construction on high-end residential renovation

URBAN DESIGN BUILD STUDIO / Pittsburgh, PA

09.2011 - 06.2013 / Architecture Student BGC House Prototype + RE_VIEW/ Director: John Folan

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Collaborated on a prototype for a single-family home in Garfield, a lowincome neighborhood in Pittsburgh, featuring an affordable, replicable and energy-efficient window wall system.

Designed and built a self-shading window-wall prototype to capitalize on Pittsburgh’s south-facing slopes. Prefabricated the system in an offsite construction facility and installed it in a building on CMU’s campus Worked on a design team in collaboration with clients, general contractors, and engineering consultants

TAI + LEE ARCHITECTS / Pittsburgh, PA 06.2012 - 12.2012 / Architectural Intern

FABRICATION: 3-Axis CNC Mill Laser Engraving 3D Printer Vacuum Form

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DESIGN AWARDS

WEINCEK + ASSOCIATES / Gaithersburg, MD

AIA PITTSBURGH DESIGN + INNOVATION: Award of Excellence RE_VIEW UDBS / 2014 AIA PITTSBURGH GREEN DESIGN CITATION RE_VIEW UDBS / 2014 REFERENCES Available Upon Request

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Developed construction drawings for a multi-family residential renovation, and a restaurant in a renovated historical building Drew bidding, construction, electrical, structural and mechanical drawing sets in ArchiCAD Coordinated drawings for pricing and permit sets for the contractor, the client, and consultants

05.2011 - 08.2011 / Architectural Intern

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Collaborated on designs for two multi-family residential renovations Generated construction drawing sets for contractors, clients, and consultants in Autodesk Revit Worked from demolition through new construction, including site visits

EDUCATION

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY / Pittsburgh, PA 08.2008 - 05.2013

Bachelor of Architecture, May 2013 Graduated First in Class, Received AIA School Medal + Certificate of Merit

ORTHOMANHATTAN SURGEON’S OFFICE RENOVATION

ORTHOMANHATTAN Surgeon’s Office Renovation

fellowship office

As project architect for the 12,000 SF interior renovation of the OrthoManhattan Surgeon’s Office, I was a part of the process from schematic design through the end of construction.

In order to keep a low budget, we used cost effective, low maintenance products throughout the office spaces, exam rooms, and therapy space. This allowed us to focus the expenses on the entry hallway and the waiting room. We used a stylized Oikos silver paint and the Fry Reglet Graphic Wall System for the entry to create a modern and simple entrance. The waiting room establishes a warm environment for the patients, with maple linear plank wood ceiling and wall and the sleek porcelain-clad reception desk welcoming them into the OrthoManhattan Office.

surgeon’s office entry: reception desk + waiting room

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EXERCISE MACHINE

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NOTE: ALL RESTROOM WORK WILL BE BY LANDLORD. IT WILL BE BID SEPARATELY AS LANDLORD WORK 28

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NOTE: ALL RESTROOM WORK WILL BE

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surgeons’ sq. ft. physical therapy sq. ft. communal sq. ft.

The surgeons’ program required only a portion of the square footage, so they signed on with a subtenant, Cynergy Physical Therapy. We worked with our client, the subtenant and the lawyers to divide the floor area as evenly as possible between the surgeons, the physical therapist, and their shared space, which included the elevators and building core, pantry, bathrooms, and IT room.

Our main design strategy from the start was to keep the doctors’ and administrative offices around the perimeter with large windows, while keeping the exam rooms and X-Ray room towards the core, where the patients can maintain their privacy.

Keeping the exam rooms around the core benefited the organization of semi-private offices private exam rooms public spaces

perimeter radiator areas additional hvac areas core hvac loop

the plumbing, as each room requires a sink with plaster trap for casting.

The HVAC for the space was also a large factor in our design process. The perimeter induction units below the windows served the offices and conference room.

In order to keep the ceiling heights as high as possible, we ran the mechanical for the rest of the space in a loop from the waiting room, where the HVAC source was located, around the hallways through the large open therapy space.

Working on this project, I gained a lot of firsthand experience in construction, from drawing construction sets and bidding with several contractors, to reviewing submittals and shop drawings and visiting the site during construction.

As the only project architect on the job, I drew the entire filing and construction drawing set including all plans, sections and details, as well as composing all of the architectural sheets and coordinating with our engineers and consultants.

During construction, I spent a lot of time on site working directly with the contractor to avoid and quickly correct any mistakes as well as address any field conditions that arose as soon as possible, in order to prevent any delays in the rapid schedule.

I also attended weekly site meetings with the contractor’s superintendent and project manager as well as the client to go over any open RFIs and submittals, any issues with the remaining schedule, and walk-throughs to review the progress with construction.

Apart from the waiting room and entrance, we were mainly focused on designing the nine exam rooms.

Each exam room required a sink with a plaster trap for creating casts for the patients, as well as a desk and computer to pull up patients’ records and x-rays. We found a company that provided medical cabinetry that was both cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing, which would allow us to customize the size and plumbing requirements based on the clients’ requirements.

Because OrthoManhattan is a collective of both foot surgeons as well as hand surgeons, the exam room furniture also had to serve two very specific purposes.

The medical cabinetry company also provided furniture options and allowed us to once again customize the product to allow for adjustable tables for the foot surgeons’ exams with pull-out shelving for the hand surgeons’ exams.

In order to keep the rooms from becoming too clinical and sterile, we wanted to add some warmth and color to the rooms. We chose maple finishes for the cabinetry and furniture, as well as shades of purple, blue and yellow for the back wall and floors of the various exam rooms.

SICCS NEW BUILDING BEACH STREET + BAY STREET SCHEMES

SICCS NEW BUILDING Beach Street Scheme

STATEN ISLAND COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL: SITE MAP

134-148 BEACH STRE ZONING DISTRICT: R3

The Staten Island Community Charter School is a K-5 school in

SICCS

Stapleton Heights and plans to expand to K-8 grades in the next few years. With the increase in classes and students, the school has been looking at nearby sites to expand the school building from the existing site adjacent to the Trinity Lutheran Church.

BEACH STREET SITE

One of the sites we have been looking to build on is on

site map: beach street + existing siccs building

LOUISE BRAVERMAN, ARCHITECT

Beach Street, three abandoned lots half a block away from

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the school. The site is empty except for an existing carriage house on one of the sites, which we plan to incorporate into the design of the new building as the entrance. The benefit of the Beach Street site was its proximity to the existing school, which would allow the students to walk from the designated bus drop-offs at the Lutheran Church School instead of requiring additional buses and bus drop-off locations.

We began the design process with a site analysis, reviewing the zoning laws and any special district requirements we would need to address. From there, we established the building parameters - the footprint based on site setback requirements, and the building height based on the required sky exposure plane.

existing carriage house on site

beach street: zoning regulations for front, rear + side yards

Working with the school, we organized which classrooms would remain

ground floor plan: multipurpose auditorium

in the existing school and which classes would be located in the new building, deciding to keep the older students in the new building.

With this knowledge, we focused on including a multipurpose space on the ground floor of the building, which can be used as a cafeteria, a gymnasium and an auditorium.

In additon, we included a small library on the second floor of the existing

second floor plan: 4th + 5th grade classrooms

carriage house, an art room, flexible learning spaces in the hallways on the three floors of classrooms, as well as a hydroponic roof garden and solar panels on the roof for the students learn science and sustainability STATENtoISLAND COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL:NOT IN HISTORIC DISTRICT in a hands-on environment.

134-148 BEACH STREET ZONING DISTRICT: R3X

third floor plan: 6th + 7th grade classrooms

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New York City Landmarks Preservation Commis sion St. Paul's Avenue - Stapleton Heights Historict District [LP-2147] Desig nated June 29, 2004

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roof plan: hydroponic greenhouse + solar panels

UPDATED PRELIMINARY CODE COMPLIANCE CHECK

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Bay Street Scheme site map: 155 bay street

One of the other schemes I worked on with the SICCS school board was an interior renovation of the ground floor of a building on Bay Street, a major street through Stapleton Heights in Staten Island. While the the location was an asset for the school, one of the negative aspects of the site was its distance away from the existing school on St. Pauls Avenue.

After reviewing the square footage, the SICCS school board decided to keep the younger students in the Bay Street school due to the smaller classroom sizes available in the layout. This also allowed for an individual toilet for the two kindergarten classrooms, which is not required by code but strongly recommended by the School Construction Authority.

One of the other assets of Bay Street was its proximity to the water. The windows at the back of the building looked out over Upper Bay, so we organized all of the classrooms along the back perimeter so the students would be able to look over the water.

STATEN ISLAND COMMUNITY CHARTER SCHOOL GROUND FLOOR 155 BAY STREET, STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK

UpdatedPreliminary Study of 155 Bay Street Space Staten Island Community Charter School

Louise Braverman, Architect July 17, 2014

ground floor plan: public assembly multipurpose gymnasium layout

The remainder of the design focused on the central public assembly space. The school board wanted the space to be multifunctional, multipurpose

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play area, a cafeteria, and an auditorium. The adjacent pantry + servery room was a feature the school requested in order to provide hot meals for the students. As an added measure of utility, the school

ground floor plan: public assembly auditorium layout

wanted to keep the public assembly space apart from the classroom area in order to keep the multipurpose room + auditorium available for public rentals during the school’s off hours. Part of the mission of the school is to become a larger presence within its community. With the face of the school along a major thoroughfare on the island, the board thought the opportunities to garner community support would be abundant.

ground floor plan: public assembly cafeteria layout

VENICE BIENNALE 2014 CENTRO DE ARTES NADIR AFONSO EXHIBIT

VENICE BIENNALE 2014 Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso Exhibit

“Buildings embody architectural essence when they are both situated and experiential. The spirit of our search to create architectural essence by embedding our recently completed art museum, Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso, within its locale, both temporally and spatially, is the focus of our architectural installation in the Time Space Existence exhibition at the 14th Venice Architectural Biennale.

fundamentals: theme of the 2014 biennale

A large-scale three-dimensional voyage through the physical space of the Centro, enhanced by a 100-year historical timeline and related companion audio by New Republic architecture critic, Sarah Williams Goldhagen, are at the core of the exhibit. Like the art museum itself, it is an adventure that responds to the curatorial focus of the 2014 Biennale through the lens of both the tradition of situated modernist Portuguese architecture and the global contemporary notions of landscape, sustainability, affective experience, and public participation with aesthetics in the design of cultural institutions.�

closeup of centro de artes nadir afonso exhibit

palazzo bembo: time space existence

centro de artes nadir afonso exhibit

“Other early modern architects such as Aalto, Eileen Gray, Rietveld, Scharoun, and Taut...sought to situate the users of their buildings socially and historically, in place and time, to create what can be called situated modernism.”

- Sarah Williams Goldhagen

Goldhagen, Sarah Williamgs. “Coda: Reconceptualizing the Modern.” Anxious Modernisms: Experimentation in Postwar Architectural Culture. Montreal: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2000. 306. Print.

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STEP 6: DRAW DATUM POINTS 2 ON EACH SIDE WALL Draw DATUM POINTS 2 on each side wall, shown in blue below.

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DATUM POINTS 2

213.36cm

CONFIRM HEIGHT OF LIGHTBOX FRAME #2

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DATUM POINTS 2

This exhibit was composed of two LED lightboxes and vinyl graphics on a forced-perspective room.

The challenge in the design was demonstrating how to build out the room, install the lightboxes and graphics, and set up the audio from the US to installers in Venice who we had limited contact with.

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STEP 7: DRAW DATUM LINE 1

LOUISE BRAVERMAN, ARCHITECT

steps 5 + 6: draw datum points 1 + 2 ROOM on side walls INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE 6 H PALAZZO BEMBO

Draw DATUM LINE 1 on back wall, shown in the pink line below.

DATUM LINE 1

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In order to make everything simple and explicit, we mailed all of the components with a thorough step-by-step guide that ensured the walls and dropped ceilings would be built correctly, the lightboxes installed with the wiring compatible with European power, and the graphics on the wall would align with the forcedperspective walls and ceiling.

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DATUM LINE 2

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STEP 10: PROPOSED FRAMING DIAGRAM FOR CEILING

LOUISE BRAVERMAN, ARCHITECT

The exhibit turned out exactly as we had pictured the design and was a hit at the Biennale; so much so that we have been invited to present our work once again at the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennale this spring through fall of 2016.

steps 7 + 8: draw datum lines 1 + 2 on front + back wall INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE 7

ROOM H PALAZZO BEMBO

FINISHED EDGE OF FUTURE SHEETROCK INSTALLATION. INSTALL FRAMING TO ACCOUNT FOR THICKNESS OF SHEETROCK. HOLE FOR WIRING LIGHTBOX FRAME #2 FINISHED EDGE OF FUTURE SHEETROCK INSTALLATION. INSTALL FRAMING TO ACCOUNT FOR THICKNESS OF SHEETROCK.

LOUISE BRAVERMAN, ARCHITECT

INSTALL PLYWOOD ON FRAMING FOR HANGING OF LIGHTBOX FRAME #2

step 10: proposed framing diagram ceiling ROOMfor H PALAZZO BEMBO

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS PAGE 10

UDBS SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

URBAN DESIGN BUILD STUDIO . SPRING 2013

UDBS SOUTHERN EXPOSURE Urban Design Build Studio . Spring 2013

steep slopes

vacancies

Difficult to traverse and develop slopes surround the Three-Rivers region where Pittsburgh was first formed.

Development on these slopes expanded with the growth of the steel industry - mills along the river, and homes scattered across the hills.

After the fall of the industry and tremendous population decline, many neighborhoods are left vacant. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Of Pittsburgh, as well as local Community Development Corporations (CDCs) are taking a strong effort to change these perceptions with smart, and aggresive development, and taking advantage of previously untapped opportunites.

Southern Exposure is a comprehensive investigation into facade prototyping and implementation. Southern Exposure begins as an offshoot investigation into this facade system and recreating it for affordable replication, which would be designed, implemented, and monitored by the UDBS. The significance in this project lies in its objectives: replicability, performance, and function.

In collaboration with Daniel Burdzy, Phyllis Kim, and Samuel Rashid. Under the direction of John Folan.

views + vistas

southside slopes

hazelwood

oakland

troy hill

garfield

REPLICABILITY EUREKA ! !

YOU WANT TO SHADE YOUR WINDOW BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO SPEND THE TIME DOING THE SOLAR PROJECTION.

The purpose of this prototype is to design and develop systems that can be used in new construction as well as retrofits in the Pittsburgh region. Cost, modularity, ease of construction, and selection of labor and material sources all influence the ability for the prototype to be replicated on other homes.

1/8 + 3/4 +3/4 YOU MEASURE:

1/8” FROM THE WINDOW FOR TOLERANCE 3/4” TO THE ROUGH OPENING 3/4” PAST THE ROUGH OPENING

EUREKA ! !

1/8 + 3/4 +3/4

SEND IT !

YOU MEASURE:

YOU WANT TO SHADE YOUR WINDOW BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO SPEND THE TIME DOING THE SOLAR PROJECTION.

SEND A CAD FILE OF THE PERIMITERS OF THE BOXES ARRANGED AS THEY WOULD SIT IN A WALL

1/8” FROM THE WINDOW FOR TOLERANCE 3/4” TO THE ROUGH OPENING 3/4” PAST THE ROUGH OPENING USE THE OUTER MEASUREMENT FOR CAD

SCRIPT

DRAWINGS USE THE SCRIPT TO OUTPUT DRAWINGS FOR FABRICATION

SEND IT !

CONSTRUCTION

COMPLETION

SEND A CAD FILE OF THE PERIMITERS OF THE BOXES ARRANGED AS THEY WOULD SIT IN A WALL

USE THE OUTER MEASUREMENT FOR CAD

PERFORMANCE

SCRIPT

FABRICATION

SEND THE 3D MODEL GENERATED BY THE SCRIPT OUT TO BE DIGITALLY FABRICATED

The protection and shading from harsh summer sun, while still taking advantage of winter solar gain is of extreme importance to the design.

Collars are used to accomplish this and help to reduce heating and cooling loads for the users, saving on utility bills and maintaining a consistent level of comfort year round. In order to insulate the large expanses of glazing, insulated panel shutters are installed on the interior to be used to keep heat in or out overnight.

FUNCTION

awning window light shelf

The ease of use and durability of all systems within the prototype greatly influence connections and material. Ergonomics come into play in order to maximize the comfort and ease of using all of the systems.

perforated collar benches shelving stair treads fixed window ventilation hatches casement window

FACADE CONSTRUCTION RE_View uses standard king + jack stud construction methods for ease of assembly. The frames were prefabricated in the UDBS facilities, including the insulation in the cavities as well as the exterior foam insulation, and brought to the site. On site, the panels are installed, then the facade is sealed with the metal skin application and the window installation. Plan drawings and model for framing axo by myself. Framing drawings by D. Burdzy.

COLLAR FABRICATION The customized collars are designed in house: after running the script to determine the projection of the collars and their perforation patterns, I produced shop drawings for the collars. The shop drawings were sent to McKamish Metals, a steel fabrication facility local to Pittsburgh, where the collars were fabricated using 22-gage galvanized steel.