MMXV Rachael Alpern Portfolio Collections in Wood, Metal & Stone
Rachael Alpern is an architectural designer who takes her cues from art, ecology and science. She believes that cities have the potential to blur the boundaries between urban, rural and natural spaces, and is currently studying the concepts behind Wild Urbanism. RACHAEL ALPERN M.Arch., LEED AP 204.558.7668 ecodesign.ra@gmail.com
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Part One: Built Projects
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Part Two: Projects to be Built
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Appendix: Natural Building Case-Studies
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Passive Solar ADDITION _RENOVATION location: area: cost: year: materials: role:
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 80 s.f. 6. $200,000 2014 corten, local wood floors and counters design, 3d model, drafting, w/ Jac Comeau Architect
79 Home Street is a two story addition and upgrade to an existing house in the forested central neighbourhood of Wolseley in Winnipeg. The addition contains a two-storey kitchen space featuring: glazing on both the south and east facades, wooden countertops built by local artisan carpenters WoodAnchor, natural ventilation and passive solar heating. The main floor was opened up by the removal of several walls and the installation of a central beam. I was largely responsible for design, drafting the exisiting building and the creation of 3d models and renderings to convey our proposed designs. 1. newly installed addition 2. wireframe 3d model 3. small northern window, corten after 3 months 4. corten steel rusted for six months 5. context with green roof above carport 6. interior kitchen rendering 7. exterior approach rendering 8. rendering 2nd floor office
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Bicycle + Cedar Design/build
adaptable tiny building, landscape
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 100 s.f. $11,000 (24’ barn door gate and shed) 2014 cedar, and metal roof Designer/Builder/Project Manager
The requirements for the shed was to house four bicycles, accessibly and safely for a family. It also needed to co-exist with a holistic yard plan to close off the yard to the lane and make a usable, private, enjoyable space. The dynamic shape of the shed was derived from the need to fit a small gate to exit the garden, without sliding open the large barn door gates. The complexities it created had us improvising compound angles on site. The wine barrel is a suitable metaphor for the clients; rustic yet refined. The use of rounded cedar shingle nails on the pressure balanced cedar rain screen provided a promising and warm detail. Doubling the number of these nails overlaid a vertical pattern on the horizontal planks, and encourages a warm tactility.
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7. 1. corner detail showing cedar pressure balanced rainscreen and metal roof. 2. site plan showing landscape and hammock pole. 3. during construction. 4. challenging roof detail 5. cedar floor plate 6. section 7. wide door with extensive detailing for security. 8. a wood model helped streamline construction ahead of time and convey the design easily to 8. assistants on site.
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SOLAR HEATED
Provincial Park Showers A total of six buildings have been built for Manitoba Parks. Originally, I designed two solar shower buildings for Duck Mountain Provincial Park at Wellman Lake and Childs Lake. The park highly appreciated the design and sought us out to create an office building and three more shower buildings at their new campground at Winnipeg Beach. A thickened-edge foundation slab with embedded radiant floor heating was built. Each roof has four solar water heating panels which collects solar energy in a glycol loop, and then transfers the heat into a water tank which provides both the hot water to the showers, as well as the radiant floor heating. This southern roof angle is tilted to the ideal angle for collecting summer heat, as these structures are only used for three seasons. Also, the siding is made out of recycled content wooden press-board. This project was completed with guidance from Dennis Kwan at Prairie Architects.
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Duck Mtn & Winnipeg Beach Manitoba ~566 s.f. x 6 $30,000 ea. ($180,000) 2010 solar water panels, radiant floor heat Main designer (Intern) w./Prairie Architects
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1. 8x8 timbers along covered walkway. 2. precast concrete sinks I designed, built by Fragua. 3. solar panel detail 4. section through duck mountain showers 5. floor plan 6. site plan from duck mountain 7. winnipeg beach buiildings in foreground and background 8. structure through poplar trees 9. office building at winnipeg beach with outdoor seating and covered porch. 9.
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100-MILE HOUSE
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Stony Creek, Saskatchewan 150 sf ~$500 2007 willow, stone, milled wood Invited consultant and builder
Reg Forbes, a lecturer at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology sought me out to visit his land in northwest Saskatchewan and consult on an art/build project entitled the Merging With the Land: 100-Mile House with the Saskatchewan Arts Board.
21 local people worked together over the course of seven days to create this natural building using traditional building techniques such as stonework and wattle. The materials were all sourced from his family’s rolling 60 acre land. All participants 1. tea house roof 2.wattle detail 3. wattle model 4. interior camped in the poplar forest and cut new paths to the building site in the tall grass. 5. drawing of site bus where early meetings took place 6. stone entrance detail 7. stone centre detail 8. article about The only milled lumber was used for the posts and roof rafters. This creates an inherent analysis demonstrating the need for natural building techniques to be project in Research Applied Briefs well protected from the elements. If the roof were to be removed, the building would gracefully sink back into the earth.
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Applied Research Briefs SIAST Office of Applied Research and Innovation
Volume 2, Issue 2
Winter 2010
Events calendar 2010
Seed Applied Research Program (SARP) Application Deadline: March 25, 2010 http://www.siast.sk.ca/ research/funding.shtml The Office of Applied Research and Innovation (OARI) regularly hosts events featuring regional entrepreneurs, a speaker series on current issues, and workshops and seminars on applied research topics. JANUARY 15, 2010 Speaker Series 9:30 –11 a.m. Kelsey Campus, Rm 146 Tanya Verrall Health Quality Council
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WATCH FOR DATES & TIMES: Ray Hoemsen Director, Applied Research & Commercialization Red River College Abimbola Abiola Chair, School of Innovation Olds College See registration details for all workshops and presentations offered in 2010/11 at http://www.siast.sk.ca/research/ events.shtml and on mySIAST and myWidget. If you have any suggestions regarding presenters or workshops topics, please contact Mindy Herauf
Demonstration shelter recognized by Regional Centre of Expertise.
100-mile house reduces carbon footprint
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eg Forbes, an instructor with SIAST’s Architectural and Building Technologies program, organized a unique 100-mile house project inspired by a University of Manitoba architecture student’s master’s thesis. The project was one of 22 recognized by the Saskatchewan chapter of the Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE). The RCE is a world-wide organization dedicated to education about sustainable development. SIAST’s Small Wind Turbine project was also recognized.
The project was intended to promote and explore building methods using local and natural materials, to reduce the carbon footprint of the building and to demonstrate the economic importance of using materials found and manufactured locally. A group of 12 builders worked on the shelter. The group included SIAST Architectural and Building Technologies students, a Winnipeg architect, a British Columbia boat builder, educators, health professionals, artists and builders. The completed shelter consisted of an earth
HERITAGE/rehabilitation The Kelly House, a vestige amongst tall brick warehouse buildings, references a time when the neighbourhood was only residential housing. Heritage Winnipeg decided to save the house from demolition and restore it into offices. With a level C heritage rating, only the exterior was required to maintain authenticity, while the interior was free to be converted into a fresh and contemporary set of offices. This project was done with assistance from Destiny Seymour on interiors and guidance from Dudley Thompson Architect. Specific issues that were addressed: preserving the loadbearing brick exterior, rebuilding the back brick wall, retaining the main feature curving staircase and breathing new life into the original wood flooring. location: area: cost: year: materials: role:
Exchange District, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 2000 sf $450,000 2009 Rehabilitation, salvaged heritage items, brick Main Designer @ Prairie Architects
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1. awning detail 2. exisiting elevations 3. salvaged tin detail 4. period lighting 5. 2nd floor archway 6. kitchen 7. feature staircase in progress 8. refurbished wood floor 9. east elevation by R.Alpern 10. approach from east 11. south elevation by R.Alpern 12. floor plan by R. Alpern 13. details by R.Alpern
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1. Early context rendering 2. Section (drawn by J.C. Rendered by RA) 3.&4. Model showing front and rear stages. Model prepped by J.C. /Assembled and photographed by RA 5. Fieldstone detail 6. Glulam timber post. 7. Site rendering by RA
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rural AMPHITHEATRE A wide plinth of local stone encased in running gabion cages provides a sturdy fulcrum for a handful of soaring glulam beams. The roof is constructed of copper layered like shingles, providing shelter for a main stage and a backstage or small stage in the aft. Designed in close co-ordination with Jac Comeau Architect, this amphitheatre won first place in a competition held by the french, rural community of St.Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba. Our intention was to create a magnificent effect with a concise pallette, and local materials. Wrapping the stage is a low lying grassy knoll to provide seating for its performances, weddings and concerts. The stones are easily gathered from the local farmers fields and the beams are pre-fabricated utility poles sourced easily within the province.
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St-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba, Canada 3,400 sf $180,000 unbuilt (2016) utility poles, gabion walls designer w/ Jac Comeau Architect
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STRAWBALE _greenhouse classroom 2.
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Strathclair, Manitoba, Canada 700 s.f. ~$20,000 to be constructed summer 2016 strawbale, rubble trench foundation Architectural Designer/Draftsman
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4. 1. Site rendering from S 2. from SE 3. approach from NE 4. Interior rendering 5. hypothetical construction sequence 6. 3d digital model showing vestibule and structural framing 7. Self operating window details
This greenhouse serves as an classroom for a school of k-12 in Strathclair, MB. This space will provide students with an opportunity to learn about sustainable technologies while growing fruits and vegetables for consumption. The structure is primarily composed of load-bearing straw, plaster, and wood. The greenhouse will be constructured in the summer of 2016 by the school maintenance crew, alongside strawbale experts and the client, the Science Teacher. While the plan is that heat will come from the glazing and stored in the plaster walls as thermal mass, there is backup heat and mechanical ventilation. Special care was taken to draw the building set so it will be easier to build for people unfamiliar with this type of construction.
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Sediment + BUILD location: area: cost: year: materials: role:
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escarpment, Manitoba, Canada 8 acres $0 unbuilt 2007 river silt, fieldstone, local wood Graduate Thesis, University of Manitoba
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Strategically inhabiting the creek side, I used bioengineering techniques to induce meandering. I invented a building unit from the sediment collected. The occupants of the space would then build with these units until the creek reached homeostasis. Then the building ceases. 10.
Consideration was taken to study the site thoroughly and then to choose a form of development that was able to remediate the unsavoury conditions. By slowly building, season by season with local materials, the site is improved by the presence of this architecture.
1. drawings of creek cutting into creek bank and disconnecting bridge 2. disconnected bridge in current state 3. site studies, (Ian Mcharg style) showing water, climate, paths, soil, topography, vegetation and the land units that are found after overlaying 4. sequence of context change in reverse extrapolated from a few aerial photos 5. silt logs 6. building design 7. sequence of creation over many seasons 8. site plan showing growth of foundations and changing creek 9-11. model details.
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DESERT _hostel
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Shoshone, Nevada, US 2 acres unbuilt 2005 gabions, rammed earth, reinforced concrete Masters project, University of Manitoba
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An extremely dry site in southwestern United States experiences flash floods every spring. This development employs a landscaoe of sinuous gabion walls that slow the flow of water, and drop nutrients creating a habitable oasis. The soaring roof structures are formed to bring rainwater to cisterns, providing water year round for this hiking hostel. The separate suites are made of the most local of material: rammed earth. This will mitigate temperature swings throughout the day, due to its thermal mass. 5.
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1. research book on site with fossilized cactus 2. site drawing 3. structural detail showing water collection 4. photo of site 5. early roof models 6. site model dry 7. site model with greenery 8. gabion section 9. axonometric without roofs showing living spaces and gabion walls in the landscape 10. section
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In the mountainous city of Seoul, there are many types of living styles. Of particular interest to me are the dense mountainside neighbourhoods. Completely impervious to cars, these pedestrian sites are intricate mazes of walkways and staircases that slowly ascend.
MOUNTAIN _print shop
Within abandoned building sites, I propose a subtle print shop and greenspace that provides an area for relaxation as well as local services and jobs for the neighbourhood. The concrete walls hide the print shop to keep a private space, while the greenspace provides a reprieve and possible source of material for papermaking.
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Seoul, South Korea unbuilt 2006 concrete and landscape Masters, Kyonggi University
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1. temple overlooking Busan 2. poured in place concrete staircases 3. site model 4. Mt. Ansan in Seoul 5. rendering showing bamboo green roofs, to make paper 6. site panorama 7. floor plan 8. site plan 4.
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This strawbale structure was an art experiment by Katherine Mackenzie. The spiral shaped strawbale building was to be coated in plaster and eventually fired to create a ceramic finish. This second portion is yet to be undertaken.
Gimli Inside/ Outside
A cluster of strawbale houses exists on the edge of the manitoban prairie. This is Dan and Sara’s second house, upgrading from their original one room solar strawbale house a few yards away. This new space is three stories high, the first two being a double height space with kitchen, living room and trapeze. The top floor is a cozy bedroom, which you can descend to the main floor using a fire pole.
Dan & Sara’s Trapeze House
This earthship was the first of its kind in Manitoba, and was finished in 2013. I visited several times to help build the house in order to experience various portions of the process. Between hammering soil into the tires with a 10 lb sledgehammer to plastering walls, to cutting rebar, there were various opportunities to learn and engage. This house is a heavily massed structure with a greenhouse on the southside providing heat as well as food.
Manitoba Earthship
The hexadome was assembled in order to provide a collective space for a shared rural property. Putting the pieces together was a great challenge, as all the triangles were not identical; and the higher they were, the more challenging and thoughtful the process became. The first pieces were easy to tilt up, whereas the last pieces took hours to coordinate the multiple volunteers as they hefted and flipped the triangular pieces 24 feet above grade.
Hexadome
RACHAEL ALPERN M.Arch., LEED AP 204.558.7668 ecodesign.ra@gmail.com