“it is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction� pablo picasso
professional
Machado Blake Design Interior Design “I want the penthouses to feel larger”
33,000 sf housing renovation - Lead Designer
development
As projects rolled in and out of the office I developed skills with Machado Blake and was given more responsibility. I began delegating and supervising staff while coordinating the project with the architect. I was present at every phase of the project from the first meeting to the final construction supervisory meeting. I met with client and contractors periodically and was given several opportunities to visit the site throughout construction. This 85oo sf renovation project gave me organizing and coordinating skills that provided me with confidence to become a job captain for incumbent projects.
project
The client came to us with a typical housing building in need of better curb appeal and a few “spicy penthouse units.” Each floor plan was identical, making no distinction from ground level to uppermost level, and the client wanted to find a way of increasing rents on the upper floors. Meanwhile, the mechanical system was failing, most apartments had leaky, out of fashion kitchens with inefficient appliances, and
most of the balcony presented safety concerns with broken, rusty railing and fire stairs.
concept
The building shrouds it’s private areas with hard brick shell while glazing it’s more social and public functions with a more malleable wood and glass skin. The architect I worked with developed the idea of stretching and pulling each of the ‘skinned’ surfaces up to extend the area of glass on each floor and the height of the top floor. Beyond this, we developed a new railing detail, redesigned the kitchens to capitalize on the unique aspects of each unit, and developed soffit details throughout the building to accommodate a new mechanical system with more independent zones than had previously existed. The images below show a new marble detail for each of the units (left) and a typical interior detail of the new penthouse .
Machado Blake Design Small Addition 2,800 sf housing renovation - Lead Designer
project
The proposal was to develop a 750 square foot addition on an existing Tudor home that did not take advantage of a wonderful lake vista. The architect developed the design and my role was to develop drawings and framing models necessary to communicate our intentions to the contractor. The GC was unfamiliar with the glass corner and needed to see a physical model to fully understand the challenges, building sequence, structural members, etc. In fact, the learning curve was identical for me as well because I was equally unfamiliar with these details. Later, I was responsible for developing construction documents and permits sets. Throughout the construction process, I made a few site visits with the architect which was helpful because it closed the circle for me—from sketch, to drawing, to model, to ďŹ nal execution.
Machado Blake Design Interior Design Lead Designer
“we want something light, modern... it should have a hotel resort feel to it.”
process
The clients came to the table with a relatively clear understanding of what they wanted. That said, they had no experience with design, spatial or cosmetic reconfirmation, and they struggled with the reading of two-dimensional plans. Till the point of this project, design-build had been more of a catch phrase and I didn’t understand exactly what the process entailed. During this design process, I generated three-dimensional renderings augmented with perspective cross
sections to facilitate the conversation with the client, general contractor, and the cabinet maker. The idea of a curved ceiling or a shower butting up against a bath rub, at first antithetical to the client’s understanding of a workable bathroom, became a fiscally conscientious, build-able reality with the input of all consultants at the table who helped in clarifying construction issues, reducing costs with the use CNC or modular systems.
concept
The concept sprung from the client’s idea of creating a resort feeling in their bathroom. Another important lesson that I gleaned from this experience was the way in which designers might (or should carefully) interpret clients use of language. For example, these clients wanted “a modern design.” My understanding of modern was vastly different from theirs which prompted tension in during the onset. By modern, they where referring to new fixtures, new outlets,
dimmable lighting, or drawers with self-closing hardware. The final result was contemporary arrangement with materials that provided the sense of classical and traditional craftsmanship that the clients ultimately wished for.
Arrowstreet Inc.
Suffolk Downs Casino
850,000 sf gaming resort - Designer
project
As per MA governor’s pending proposal, this two week charrette involved developing a competitive scheme vying for the development of Boston’s fist casino in Suffolk Downs. I was responsible for translating schematic ‘doodles’ into comprehensive diagrams— both formal and programmatic. Most of my energy was spent modeling and creating interior views while other team members developed CAD plans dealing with more programmatic issues. My biggest architectural contribution is the enormous structural roof which acts as the spine setting the stage for all public events. On one end it houses a large civic plaza. As users move deeper into the complex the roof culminates into amphitheater seating.
Arrowstreet Inc. Cambridge Apt. Housing 175,000 sf housing tower - Lead Designer
project
The is sited within striking distance of Cambridge’s Fresh Pond amidst a barren industrial complex that the city is pushing to redevelop. The developer provided us with an exciting and ambitious mixed-use housing pro-forma. It 135 apartment complex included amenities such as a fitness center, community spaces, a cafe, green rooftop spaces, all over an underground parking structure. .
approach
My goal was to integrate the building into the neighborhood by using materials and formal gestures that responded to the local industrial vernacular. The area is recognized for specialized metal fabrication. When the clients agreed on the approach I used the idea of folded metal to develop clear and simple formal gestures as a means of breaking down the mass.
process
The 8 month process was a push-pull event from the inside out. Using height restrictions and FAR, a large volume was defined. The work then became the process of carving away voids and adding footage back that reflected initial formal gestures with within legal setbacks. Meanwhile, another designer and I collaborated on apartment layouts and distribution. As the form developed, the apartment to open space to community space settled down allowing us to develop a material palette that would support and highlight contrasting forms and scale.
sustainability
Passive elements such deep windows along the East, South, and West walls were developed to control summer day-lighting and cooling loads. Green rooftop terraces were also designed to afford exciting and relaxed experiences for all the penthouses.
Arrowstreet Inc. 80,000 sf mixed-use - Schematic Designer
process
This was one of several schematic exercises that I undertook while working with Arrowstreet Inc. My primary role, as with most projects, was to synthesize program, site requirements, and client interests into schematic plans while developing the architecture’s formal language. In retrospect, I believe this project represents and interesting development of the design process because one can glean how an initial design intent, as illustrated below, goes through an iterative editing process until it arrives at a more comprehensive (and realistic) design solution that clients might actually build. For me, this represents the importance and power of drawing.
Mixed-use Building
Arrowstreet Inc. NY Office Lobby & Facelift 125,000 sf office renovation - Lead Designer
concept
This project is sited on one of New York’s most visible gateways in a vortex of several converging circulation routes. The clients sought to purchase the building and redevelop the old meat packing building into a high profile office complex for “sophisticated clientèle.”
approach
The building’s core was in excellent shape and had a simple grid that easily translated into leasable offices. To borrow from one of Stuart Brand’s one-liners, this was decidedly an exer-
cise in ”facadectomy.” I developed a conventional curtain wall detail to shroud the building’s parking garage aesthetic, removed a large chunk to loft the entrance, then developed an interior lobby that expressed the client’s interest in vehicular speed as a means of reflecting the site. A large folding plane hovers high and engages users in the lobby where they are met by several programmatic areas such as reception, wait spaces, and a cafeteria. The plane’s curvilinear form is echoed throughout each of the elements. Strong horizontals and curving lines suggest the idea of speed and motion.
“We want a clean new look with an exciting entrance lobby”
Arrowstreet Inc.
New Warehouse
14,000 sf woodworking warehouse - Job Captain
project
This was a very low budget warehouse space for woodworkers who needed a building that they could easily sell to manufacturing companies in the event that the economy declined—which it did not too long afterwards. The other requirement called for a building footprint and mechanical system that could easily absorb more footage towards the west of the property in order to accommodate lager manufacturing industries.
My approach was use a simple 25’ bay prefabricated structural system that could be assembled simply and cheaply then to ribbon glazing on all facades with stand-and-seam metal siding. Several details where ultimately VE’d out of the project for ďŹ nancial reasons which arguably, came as detriment to the building due to my lack of experience. This was an invaluable building exercise because I learned front-loading materials and methods research could empower me, as a designer, in selecting and detailing effectively while being as sensitive to budget as possible.
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Arrowstreet Inc.
Town Center, MD
2,000,000 sf town center - Designer
program
The town of Bethesda Maryland chose several large parcels to become their new town center. The concept is to promote local business, retain resident consumers who drive out of the city to reach big box retails, and create a more economically sustainable town with fewer driving demands for locals and workers. The program calls for everything— theaters, a community center, a large grocery store, several stores and shops at grade level, several hundred car parking structures, large office towers, a large housing building, a small museum, and a five-star hotel.
approach
My participation involved a variety of aspects. I was charged with developing “exciting urban public spaces,” developing schematic designs for the housing tower (Building J), and developing schematics for one of the boutique store buildings (Building D). Additionally, I was the project modeler that developed the team’s individual portions into three dimensional representations as the project moved forward.
concept
The concept for building J was to develop a housing tower that broke from convention and took on the appearance of a 5-star hotel.
Building J
Town Center, DC
(continued)
2,000,000 sf town center - Designer
concept
The challenge for Building D was to consolidate a high-end boutique store and 3 floors of above parking into one building. Each of these have unique typologies have opposing requirements such as fenestration, form, and finish. How does one gracefully lay a brutal and concrete park-
ing garage over an elegant glass box? The solutions was organic. The concept was integrate the parking structure’s ventilation screens on the south, east, and west elevations into the ground floor’s facade’s as passive shading devices. They would be perforated elements allowing deciduous vines to climb and both shade and cool each zone.
Building D
life between buildings
Public plazas are some of the most exciting environments to design. The concept stems from Barcelona’s “Las Ramblas” which acts a the shopping district’s green spine. There are places to sit and relax with features such as paved hardscape to denote pedestrian spaces, deciduous shading trees and year round evergreens to punctuate entrances, and a large water feature to help cool the plaza down in the hot summer months.
Building J Building D
Arrowstreet Inc. (post Katrina) AirForce Housing 92,000 sf hotel - Designer
program
The AirForce lost its housing facility during the Katrina hurricanes and needed a new hotel to house service people on short term training operations. It’s essentially a 150 key hotel.
challenge
The military is a hard-nosed client—as they should be. That said, each design decision required the justification of rigourous environmental and war-time circulation route analysis. This, with several other performance criteria such being ‘blast-proof,’ or ‘strategically indiscernible from the rest’ of the complex’s build-
approach
Our approach was to develop a holistic schematic design during an intense 7-day charrette met with governing officials and all the project’s respective professional consultants. All the diagrams shown represent the product of that charrette. The drawing on the bottom right illustrates a typical floor plan that I later developed during the CD phase.
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