Portfolio • Nicholas Kaperday
FORAGER HAMLET
Year • 2023
Course • Foundations Studio II
Instructor • Tom Knight
Project Type • Small Scale, Rural
Site • Rivanna River Trial, Charlottesville, VA
Objectives
The goal of this exercise was to design a retreat for foragers. The design needed to be a node in a network of outposts so that the hiking trails are continuous throughout the sites. The main objective was to understand the natural and artificial elements or flows that make each site unique, and to expose those elements rather than imposing on the site. Through the understanding of the visible and invisible qualities, a design that allows for movement and pause, gathering and dispersal emerges, providing unique experiences for both the forager and non forager.
Learning Outcomes
To achieve harmony with nature, physical and temporal qualities were used as drivers for the design. The positioning of each cabin was determined by pre-existing clearings and areas of minimal sloping. Plants from the sunflower family were the most abundant foragable items on this site, so the rotation of the cabins replicate them by turning towards the direction with most sunlight With this attitude, every decision was inspired by a quality that pre-existed the proposal, pushing the idea of a mere cabin to a thing that seemed to belong with it’s surrounding natural setting.
The 515’ x 125’ site was on the Rivanna River which runs through the city of Charlottesville. My site was located in the northern end of the trial which is in a heavily commercialized area of the city. This fueled the design with a new goal of disconnecting visitors from the commercial activity of the city. Some of this was done by encouraging movement towards the river, provoking interaction with natural elements, and by eliminating the line of sight and noise from the businesses located behind the site.
Roof form and location of the four cabins to took heavy inspiration from the foragable items that are from the site. Weeds from the sunflower family like the Tickseed and Wingstem which have medicinal uses while also serving as key pollinators in the area. While their flowers are not heliotropic, these flowers thrive in sunlight which is where the inspiration to maximize natural light indoors came from. This doesn’t just keep visitors warm in the winter, but it also fosters a connection to the outside at all times.
During the summertime, water levels of the Rivanna drop below 2’. In an effort to support the ecology of the river, Butterfly roofs were used to collect water and redirect it back to the river. This diagram shows the chosen layout and rotation of the northerns side cabins which balance the flows of the sun and water.
In order to create a space that is comfortable for human use at all times, cross ventilation was used to cool the spaces by welcoming in the river breeze. In the winter, passive heating could be achieved by opening the long strips of windows and allowing the maximum amount of sunlight. The diagram below shows these strategies implemented with the identification cabins, creating a usable spaces around.
Preparation Consumption
Identification Preservation
Sections 5’
SOLIDARITY
Year • 2024
Course • Foundations Studio III
Instructor • Dhara Goradia
Project Type • Large Scale, Housing Site • Scott’s Addition, Richmond, VA
Objectives
The task with this project was to design a collective living/working housing project of 35 to 45 units that incorporates collective amenities responding to the needs of the area. The focus was to find new ways to integrate living and working comfortably. The arrangement and configuration of the domestic spaces throughout history tend to privilege single use, creating inflexible scenarios of inhabitation. Instead, what if the home was to be reinvented ? In order to respond to these questions, the housing proposals need to experiment with new, alternative, and innovative forms of housing that rethink spatial labels and develop a new form of living.
Number of Units • 38
Average Unit Size • 950 sqft
Building Floor Area • 24,000 sqft
Built Up Area • 44,300 sqft
Courtyards • 12,300 sqft
Learning Outcomes
With an iterative approach, many concepts were developed and compared to see which encourages community and interaction while meeting the unit requirements. Also, these designs were created in an approach that relates to the site by responding to it’s physical and intangible qualities. For example, the chosen proportions reflect the pre-existing row houses around the site. The design for Solidarity also acts as a link, connecting the industrial side of Richmond to its residential Throughout this project, an understanding of human scale and legal requirements were understood. This project required students to learn how circulation could be designed rather than imposed.
The ~50,000 sqft site was located at the edge of Scott’s Addition Historic District in Richmond, VA. The site, located on Cutshaw Ave which is adjacent to Broad St, the cities main street with the highest amount of traffic. As seen above, the site is at an intersection point of the commercial and residential zone, so designing something that links these two areas together was a driver from the start.
For Solidarity, the main goal of each dwelling is to have the ability to connect to the communal spaces. The entry of each dwelling features a transparent screen that would allow the living room to become a part of the community if the resident wishes to do so. With this innovative approach, unity is established by giving the residents the ability to be welcoming and open their home to neighbors and visitors. The studio style dwellings place the private spaces in the back away from noise where in the other units, they are located in the 2nd floor.
Middle Entry Section
Courtyard Section
INTERCELLAR
Year • 2025
Course • Foundations Studio IV
Instructor • Jess Vanecek
Project Type • Large Scale, Public Pools
Site • McMillan Reservoir, Washington D.C.
Objectives
In this course, studios tackled challenges on different transects of Washington D.C. with a focus on design through section rather than plan.
The “Washington Waterlines: Pools for Recreation and Resilience” studio sought to create a public recreation facility that preserves the pre-existing water infrastructure of the site. The present day
“Reservoir District:” was one of the largest parcels of undeveloped land in D.C. which was abandoned since the slower system of sand filtration was decommissioned in the 1980s. In 2024, ground broke on the new mixed-use development of the “Reservoir District.” This project provides a unique opportunity to critique development plans in real time and propose other solutions that provide more spaces for recreation and that meaningfully engage with the history and preexisting infrastructure of the sand filtration cells.
Learning Outcomes
With a project focused on adaptive reuse and preservation, integration of the historical elements was key to creating relationships with the “normally” hidden water infrastructure of the city. For this design, the man-made catacomb-like underground filtration cells were used as a driver for the design and layout of the space. The project uses sand filtration cell boundaries to confine it’s extents and utilized the 15’x15’ grid of the groin vaults as a way to divide space and provide circulation. The design was also inspired by the light conditions of the silos. Moments of expansion and compression gave the purely functional site memorable moments which is why this strategy used not to only preserve the original moments of the old purification infrastructures but to also build up the experiential climax of a tight race between two swimmers that are nearing the finish line.
DIAGRAM 1:
The illustration depicts the main reason for the creation of the Sand Filtration Plant at McMillan. Being the first of D.C.’s intricate water system, McMillan was the first to purify water, ridding the city of the Cholera and Typhoid epidemics.
The McMillan Sand Filtration Site, constructed as part of Washington, D.C.’s first water filtration system, utilizes an innovative sand filtration process to provide clean drinking water to the city. Spanning 25 acres, the facility comprises 27 underground filtration cells, each approximately 100 feet by 200 feet, supported by a grid of concrete columns described by many as “the catacombs”. The site’s surface was originally landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. Although decommissioned in 1985, the site remains an iconic due to it’s intersections of engineering, architecture, and landscape design.
The redevelopment of the Sand Filtration Site has faced significant public opposition and legal battles over the years. Community groups have argued against plans that prioritize commercial and private developments, advocating instead for preservation of the site’s historic and cultural significance. Concerns about gentrification, loss of public space, and insufficient acknowledgment of the site’s heritage have fueled protests and lawsuits. These push-backs have delayed redevelopment efforts. This was the source of inspiration for this project, to create a new proposal for a new community center that preservers more of the underground filtration cells and that provides more space for recreation.
1/64” - 1’ 0”
MAP 1:
The mapping located green spaces and community gardens (in black), areas of permeability (in yellow), and the locations of LEED certifications to highlight an interesting relationships between different elements that aim to address the city’s sustainability.
River from before the first development of the site
Cell 28
Cell Walls
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
SAND STORAGE SILO + OLD PORTAL
RESEARCH DIAGRAM 2:
The illustration depicts a potential use of the cells at McMillan for storm water management. This theory was tested with a project by PC Construction where a cell was converted to hold three million gallons of water.
RESEARCH MAP 2:
This drawing highlights the locations that are part of the D.C. water system in yellow. The Clean Rivers Project Connector is shown in the dotted yellow lines while the locations of sewage outflows are shown in a yellow “+”. This diagram shows the different parts of the water purification system and the points of stress acting upon it.
FILTRATION CELL “CATACOMB”
It's important to try ideas swiftly by hand. By doing things quickly on trace or by modeling, different proportions and spatial relationships are tested. The multimedia back and forth allows me to focus on different aspects of designs and try to adapt each new finding to create something harmonious. For this project, a total of 106 sketches and 24 models were made through the stages before a final design was solidified.
Nicholas Kaperday
Second Floor Plan Ground
Spectator Platform Gym
Changing Rooms
Half Transparent Glass Siding
Un-altered Vaults for Circulation
Kids' Pool
Therapy Pool
While the site has unique historical infrastructure above and below the site, one of the other challenges was negotiating the three different elevations that the project comes in contact with. "Street Level" is considered to be at the elevation of 155 ft above sea level. But to save time and money, the filtration cells were built above ground then covered to create an artificial landscape. 165 feet.
Spectator Platform Seats ~200 people
The landscape itself berms up to meet the ceiling of the vaulted cells at 170 ft while the Work-court (where the silos are) is at 165 feet. Instead of picking a certain location or elevation for the main entrance, the main idea of this proposal was to obscure those boundaries and connect those elevations which is why the building is designed to be perceived in a similar way from both sides of entry.
Second Floor Workout Gym
Locker + Changing Rooms
Preserved Vaults
Olympic Competition Pool 50 meters (164 feet)
Entry Plaza (At Street Level) 15'
Catwalk to Second Floor And Viewing Balcony
Olympic Competition Pool 50 meters (164 feet)
Spectator Platforms
Seating Along the Vaults
Exterior ADA Ramp
Rest of the Cells Undisturbed Therapy / Recovery Pool
Seating Cannons Extending Present Manholes 15'
nicholaskaperday@gmail.com (540) 442-0116
@nick.k_arch
University of Virginia, School of Architecture