Architectural Portfolio - Rucha Valimbe

2020-2023

Urban Planning

ACCESS our CITY

Project Location: Eastern Gateway, Manchester

Client: Manchester City Council

Project brief: Propose low- carbon to zero carbon solutions for the regeneration of Eastern Gateway, as a consultant for Manchester City Council.

Our Vision: Our site is based in East Manchester, which has, in the recent years seen an increase in the use of private cars as primary modes of transport to pursue daily activities. This has caused exponential environmental harm. As a response, we have applied urban design principles such as Transit oriented development and 15-minute city, to achieve generative urban patterns, through a computational design process.

Project Software:

Our Computational Tool Generating urban patterns with an aim of lowering travel times to local amenities by controlling the street network and plot sizes, in order to achieve a zerocarbon city.

ACCESSour CITY Urban Plan Generation

I along with my project partner, created a computational tool using Rhino and Grasshopper. To generate the Street network we utilised the method of Parcellation. The site was divided into blocks of 400x400m inspired by the concept of Superblocks.

For allocating land uses, we created a tool to place the transit oriented clusters over the existing tram lines on the site. We then scripted an iterative loop to allocate specific land usesCommercial, Retail, Sports/ Recreation and Education within the mixed use zones. Following this step, we created typologies to be placed on the generated plots.

Once we generated twelve distinct iterations with the help of our computational tool, I created a User Interaction Tool using Unity.

COMPUTATIONAL WORKFLOW

1. Street Network Generation

2. Land Use Allocation

Rhino 3D Grasshopper Unity

The road network was designed based on the concept of superblocks. The urban plan was divided into regions, which was then parcellated into 400 x 400 m blocks, and then further divided into smaller plots. This image zooms into a 400x400m block.

1. Roads that lie surrounding the blocks are designed to accommodate residents’ vehicles, urban services and emergency vehicles.

2. Roads lying within the blocks would be accessed by pedestrians and bicycles.

3. Tram line running centrally located within the block. the road is designed to include tram tracks, bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways.

WALKABILITY SCORE

3.63

CO2 EMISSIONS DUE TO TRAVEL (gCO2/yr)

3,751,400

Embodied CO2 emissions: Residential

1. Buildings: 28,994,000 kgCO2

2. Detached houses: 1,422,500,000 kgCO2

(For all buildings within the sector)

Embodied CO2 emissions: Commercial

17,618,000,000 kgCO2

(For all buildings within the sector)

1.

1.

2.

Tramstop

Embodied CO2 emissions: Retail

600,170,000 kgCO2

(For all buildings within the sector)

Embodied CO2 emissions: Sports, Rec

835,250,000 kgCO2

(For all buildings within the sector)

Embodied CO2 emissions: Education

346,400,000 kgCO2

(For all buildings within the sector)

3.

Adaptive Re-Use

FASHION TECH

Project Location:

Manchester

Client: MMU Estates

Project brief: Adaptive Re-Use of Righton building (Grade II Listed*) to create makerspaces and learning commons.

Our Vision:

A scheme incorporating makerspaces and learning commons to initiate collaboration between the existing fashion department within Righton building and the MMU Digital Arts department. Our aim is to equip students for the ongoing digital transformation of the fashion industry.

Project Software:

*Building must be more than 30 years old before its listed as Grade II. Buildings are important due to technological innovation, or illustrating particular aspects of social or economic history, have external visual quality. Listed elements in Righton building that we retained:

1. Primary structure, decorated columns and beams

2. Art Nouveau character of the interiors and exterior facade

3. Raised lettering on the frontal arched parapet “A.D. RIGHTON 1905”.

4. Art Nouveau wrought-iron balustrades to the gallery, and a glazed roof supported by slender iron trusses with open- work spandrels.

FASHION TECH Adaptive Re-Use of a Grade II Listed Building

Massing Diagram:

I created a massing model on Rhinoceros 3D & Revit, and edited the same with Adobe Suite to highlight the programme distribution in our building.

Construction Sequence:

I created diagrams by exporting layers from the 3D model created. These were then edited in Photoshop to visualise the construction sequence of the project.

A. Demolish existing cores, service stairs, internal walls

E. GFRC structural floor slab built over the new cores introduced.

B. Existing listed structure and facade elements to be re-used

F. Glu-laminated timber structural frames attached to the floor slab.

C. Laying out new pile foundations

G. Envelope layers installed over the glulam structural frames attached to the concrete floor slab.

D. Building new cores to support the intervention.

H. Interior walls and finishings to be installed.

Rhino 3D Photoshop InDesign Revit

FASHION TECH

Adaptive Re-Use of a Grade II Listed Building

2mm anodized sheet steel gutter

Detail Drawings: Based on research and discussions with Studio tutors, I created drawings to highlight the construction details for the project. These were done using AutoCAD.

Structural strategy:

The new structure connects to the existing Righton building through two cores, designed to be centrally located within the building. I created a model in Rhinoceros 3D to visualise our new structure.

I created the diagram shown on the far right to highlight our envelope strategy. This was created by developing an exploded model in Rhinoceros 3D.

3mm Metal flashing

LED Strip lighting

Steel angle

DETAIL 01: Roof and exterior wall connection

Drawn at Scale 1:5

Secondary structure 150mm

Ceiling Vents

Aluminium Frame

Triple Glazing

Suspended ceiling ties

• Thermowood timber cladding 20mm

Timber battens 100x50mm

• Rigid Insulation 120mm

• Wooden sheathing

Glulam Structural frame 1200x240mm

• CLT Structural frame

• Wooden Sheathing 20mm

• Rigid Insulation 120mm

• Acoustic Insulation 25mm

• 50mm air barrier within 170x50mm vertical timber battens

Horizontal timber battens 50x50mm

• Thermowood timber cladding 20mm

Ceiling LED Lights

Thermowood cladding 20mm

• Horizontal timber battens 130x50mm

• Vertical timber battens 100x50mm

Acoustic insulation 25mm

• Rigid insulation 95mm

• GFRC Structural floor slab

• Floor screed 75mm

• Carpet 10mm (events space)

Plasterboard Ceiling 20mm

DETAIL 02: Floor and exterior wall connection

Drawn at Scale 1:5

Flashing lapped over waterproof membrane

Triple Glazing

• 300mm wide gravel bed

• 3mm retention trim

• Green roof system soil 100mm

Damp proof membrane

• Rigid insulation 100mm

• Existing floor slab (concrete) 180mm

• Existing Beam

50mm adjustable height pavers

Water reservoir 50mm

DETAIL 03: Balcony & exterior wall connection

Drawn at Scale 1:5

Timber Roof Cladding

Vertical, horizontal timber battens

Timber Board

Rigid Insulation

Glu laminated timber

Metal flashing

CLT structural panel

Wood sheathing board

Insulation + air gap within timber battens

Horizontal timber battens

Timber cladding

Glazing

SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES

Thermowood facade

Glu-laminated timber structural frames GFRC Floor Slab

Carpet floor finish for events space

Thermowood

Concrete floor slab

Concrete pile foundation

Pile cap: 1000 x 800 mm

Diameter: 800mm

Structural Core

cladding (envelope)

Adding new structure to existing Righton building

Structural floor slab

FASHION TECH Adaptive

Re-Use of a Grade II Listed Building

PART B - Fire Safety

Travel distance: In compliance with Approved document B, maximum travel distance (where travel is possible in more than one direction) in the events space is considered to be 32m. The maximum travel distance in multiple directions in other assembly and places of recreation is considered to be 45m in our design, in compliance with Part B.

Escape routes and exits: According to approved document B, the minimum width of escape routes required to accommodate 220 people (approx. no. of people on events floor) is 1050mm. The building is designed to incorporate five exits on the ground floor, two of which are 1050mm in width and fire rated.

N

Ground floor Plan

Staircases for vertical circulation

Lifts for vertical circulation

Toilets

PART M

Lift cars exceeding as per 1400mm), of people providing Toilets are access with M as shown.

InDesign Revit

M - Access to and Use of Buildings

are designed to be 1760 x 2100mm, exceeding the minimum required dimensions the approved document M (1100 x 1400mm), to accommodate higher number people during fashion events, while also providing wheelchair accessibility.

are designed to incorporate disabled with compliance to approved document shown.

MARYAM ISLAND MASTERPLAN

Part 1 Experience

SSH Design, Dubai

Location: Sharjah, UAE

Client:

Eagle Hills Properties, Shurooq

Project Scope:

• Concept Enhancement

• Detailed Masterplan design: Land Use, Plot guidelines, Phasing strategy, Building and site sections/ elevations

Programme:

The masterplan consists of 28 plots with 3 star and 4 star hotel buildings, commercial and residential buildings, an events space facing the waterfront and a souk. The masterplan is designed to create zones such as the glade, civic quarter, the village, urban quarter and waterfront, each one with its own distinct feature/ programme.

Project Software:

AutoCAD SketchUp Illustrator InDesign

Drawing is the intellectual property/copyright of SSH Design, Dubai. Work prepared during internship and included to demonstrate capability.

MARYAM ISLAND MASTERPLAN Concept Design

I was involved in creating a programme distribution plan as shown on the right.

3D Model:

I created a SketchUp massing model that helped the team to visualise the masterplan and define the building heights, zones and high moments.

Section Drawings:

I created section drawings to showcase streetscape within the masterplan. These drawings were aligned with the drawings received from the transportation consultants assigned to the project.

Drawing is the intellectual property/copyright of SSH Design, Dubai. Work prepared during internship and included to demonstrate capability.

AutoCAD SketchUp Illustrator

Section a-a

MARYAM ISLAND MASTERPLAN Plot Guidelines

Under the guidance of a Lead Architect at the firm, I created document control sheets to include the plot regulations and guidelines for each plot within the masterplan.

As part of the same, I was responsible for exporting views from the SketchUp model to showcase the building massing, envelope, open spaces, building setback within the plot boundary.

I also created plans and sections as shown on the right, to showcase the building heights, setback, active edges, building and landscape extents, parkings and pedestrian access within the plot boundary.

Plot Statistics

Drawing

is the intellectual property/copyright of SSH Design, Dubai. Work prepared during internship and included to demonstrate capability.

Plot Regulations Plan

Cross Section A-A

Cross Section B-B

MARJAN ISLAND MASTERPLAN

Part 1 Experience

SSH Design, Dubai

As part of this project, I was responsible for creating concept diagrams for client presentations. The diagrams below show our promenade/ podium strategy. I created these using Illustrator.

Full Podium

Expensive to build, disconnects levels

Project Location: Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

Project Stage: Pre-concept design

Programme: The project execution will be split into 3 phases:

Phase 1: 4* Hotel, F&B Retail Complex, Beach Villas, detached Villas, Entertainment Zone, Beach Facilities and Landscape.

Phase 2: Branded Serviced Apartments, semi detached Villas and Residential Buildings.

Phase 3: Branded Serviced Apartments, semi detached Villas and Residential Buildings.

Project Software:

Half Podium

Expensive to build, disconnects levels

Minimum Built Road Level 446 car park spaces at road level/ 792 car park spaces on beach level

Outdoor 26,855m2 = 34.5%

Podium 16,187m2 = 20.8% Site coverage = 55.3%

Podium Parking = 25,237m2 = 32.4% Building = 10,740m2 = 13.8%

InDesign Illustrator Model making

I created a massing model of the masterplan that helped the design team to develop our concept. I was responsible for updating the model as and when changes were introduced in the design.

CREEK BEACH DISTRICT

Part 1 Experience

SSH Design, Dubai

Project Location: Dubai, UAE

Client: Emaar Properties

Project Stage: Phase 1 & 2: Construction

Stage

Phase 3: Tender Stage Phase 4 & 5: Not started

Programme:

Forty eight residential buildings to be built in five phases and covering a total GFA of approximately 592,000 sqm. The buildings are distributed in clusters. Every cluster comprises of around 300 apartments each with one, two, three and four bedroom apartment types.

Project Software:

As part of the project I was assigned to create two material sample boards to be sent to the building under construction. To create these I was required to meet with material suppliers and collect samples, referring to a material specifications sheet developed by the team. The material boards were successfully delivered to the site.

Penthouse Elegant

Apartments Modern Option A

Revit AutoCAD Microsoft Office

CREEK BEACH DISTRICT

General Arrangement Drawings

I worked on client comments for one, two and three bedroom apartments with guidance of Architects and Senior Architects at the firm. This involved arranging floor tiling layouts, furniture, sizes of fixtures and drain positions according to client requirements and building regulations.

- I also created two internal elevations each for the two types of two bedroom apartments of the scheme.

1- Do not scale from this drawing. Dimensions are in millimeter unless otherwise stated.

2- This drawing must be read in conjunction with all other relevant drawings.

3- Contractor must report any discrepancies prior to execution of any works.

4- All dimensions must be verified on site prior to order or manufacture of materials or production of site drawings.

5- All shop drawings to be submitted to the architect / interior designer for comment prior to fabrication.

6- Samples must be submitted to interior designer for comment prior to manufacture.

7- Drawings to be read in conjunction with FF&E , Finishes & Sanitary schedules.

8- Refer to details drawings for further floor, wall , ceiling and door information.

9- Samples of all visible M&E fixtures to be submitted to interior designer for comments.

10- Refer to lighting information by services engineer and lighting consultant for setting out and specification of non decorative lighting . All samples to be submitted to interior designer for comment.

11- Operator and MEP consultant to determine specification of all audiovisual fittings within the ceiling. Location to be determined by operator , AV, MEP.

12- All structural requirements relating to interior design elements are to be confirmed by the structural engineer.

13- Refer to acoustic consultant documentation for further information with regards to acoustics.

14- For wall types,Facade windows and doors refer to architectural drawings package.

15- For balcony Floor drain refer to ID 200 series.

designer for comment prior to

6- Samples must be submitted to interior designer for comment prior to manufacture.

7- Drawings to be read in conjunction with FF&E , Finishes & Sanitary schedules.

8- Refer to details drawings for further floor, wall , ceiling and door information.

9- Samples of all visible M&E fixtures to be submitted to interior designer for comments.

10- Refer to lighting information by services engineer and lighting consultant for setting out and specification of non decorative lighting . All samples to be submitted to interior designer for comment.

11- Operator and MEP consultant to determine specification of all audiovisual fittings within the ceiling. Location to be determined by operator , AV, MEP.

12- All structural requirements relating to interior design elements are to be confirmed by the structural engineer.

13- Refer to acoustic consultant documentation for further information with regards to acoustics.

14- For wall types,Facade windows and doors refer to architectural drawings package.

15- For balcony Floor drain refer to ID 200 series.

Drawing is the intellectual property/copyright of SSH Design, Dubai. Work prepared during internship and included to demonstrate capability.

Revit