Contents Youghal Wakeboarding Centre, Cork - Ireland Live-Work Units - Kilkenny, Ireland
Lindville Cookery School - Tipperary, Ireland
Design Charette 1 - The Dissembler Design Charette 2 - Exploration of Movement
Thesis Design Project - An Exploration into Decision Making & Movement
Internship at Elite Architects L.T.D, - Cork, Ireland
Residence at Ballybunion, Kerry, Ireland - Revit Case Study
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Youghal Wakeboarding Centre, Cork - Ireland Walk-through animation available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjzSfBfzOqM. The Youghal Wakeboarding Centre was my final design project of the Bachelor of Science in Architecture. Situated at a disused dock-land area in a fishing town in Cork, Ireland, the site and scale of the recreational project became quite a challenge. I approached the project with a monumental intention whereby the scale of the structure would facilitate the sport but also act as a landmark in the docklands of Youghal. It was my first attempt at an exploration of parametric modeling with Revit Architecture. The project became a learning experience for the programme as it forced more comprehensive modeling skills and thus the design itself became impacted by my personal limitation with the software.
The project brief comprised of a coastline recreational facility for indoor wakeboarding training; a community cafe/restaurant; jump training facillities; changing & shower areas; a public viewing area; equipment hire/storage and indoor wake - pools with straight run and ramped areas. The project was the first multi-purpose and recreational project undertaken so it became most challenging to deal with the complexity and size of the brief in relation to its location in a sleepy coastal town.
Live-Work Units - Kilkenny, Ireland This Live-Work conceptual design was complleted as part of the B.Arch Urban Design Module. The aim was to design 16 units which would provide both a living space but also an adaptable work space which could be used as a workshop or craft store in which the woker could make a living from their home. The site was a taxing one a very thin piece of land in a busy urban center. As a result a stacked town house concept arose from the site conditions. The borough of Kilkenny does not allow for high rise structures and the neccesity to work and create almost a street feel to the ground floor of the residences would also be hindered by height. Each individual unit extrudes out to the street to provide a canopy of sorts but also to provide privacy to garden balconies on the second and third floors of the properties.
Lindville Cookery School - Tipperary, Ireland View walk-through of design at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5glfqJnBfg The Lindville Cookery school was part of the Rural Complexities design module where every student’s design was in a rural part of Ireland. In the vicinity of the site which was chosen for this cookery school are a combination of large industrial sites and grand 500year old domain houses with large expanses of land. This particular site had an interesting history whereby a large dwelling has been documented on the site but the only evidence present for this existance were the historical maps of the site and the basement of the construction which had since been covered over for farming use. Evidence suggested that it as a large red-brick building with additional maid quarters, a private Victorian walled garden and cascading terraces to the adjacent river. At the rivers edge are two existing boat houses which suggest that the cascading gardens would have been flanked by ramps at either side. This history of the site and the industry of the area led to an my concept of playing on the old pitched form of the domain house combined with an industrial modern steel structure which would emanate the industry.
Design Charette 1 - The Dissembler The aim of this design charette was to capture the essance of a character from the Greek writing’s of Theophrastus in the form of an 11” x 11” space. My submission was chosen to be displayed in an exhibition within the Waterford Granary Museum, Ireland. [Dissembling, to define it in outline, would seem to be a pretence for the worse in action and speech.] In capturing the essence of the dissembler I endeavored to create a space which potrayed the two sides to the the dissembler: the one which he potrayed to the people he encountered (straight, liniar, structured) and the one which showed his true motives for action and speech. (complex and unstructured) The aim was that upon first appearance the character appears straight, structured and a true reflection of his speech and actions. However, upon closer examination the character’s actions are decieving. The true nature of his thoughts and motives are conveyed through diagonal and random projections within the cube.
Design Charette 2 Exploration of Movement Following from Design Charette 1 this model was an exploration of my thesis investigation into decision making and movement in space.As movement has largely complex factors within space, the focus of this model was an examination of a questioning or decision-making space. The concept was derived from the exploration of labyrinths and mazes, but also Le Corbusier’s “savoir habiter” aspect of the architectural promenade. In order to portray a decision making space the final model of this exploration followed a three dimensional maze structure, where decisions are required to be made not only on the horizontal axis, but also within the vertical realm. Following Le Corbusier’s model of a decision making space there are glimpses of light, cast through the voids in the model. Rhythm, light and the scale of each block played a part in the design of this three-dimensional maze. In order to access the material quality and portrayal of light within the model, grey/black polystyrene was used as a stark contrast to the light being cast within the space.
Project 4 Design Charette 2
Thesis Design Project - An Exploration into Decision Making & Movement The primary objective for this design thesis was to explore how architecture can encourage movement without restricting a person’s free passage and decision-making within the built environment. It became a very much experimental and model based research project with a heavy lean towards landscape design. This was unintentional but provided a unique stage in which to develop my skills outside the comfort zone of simply architecture. The site for the thesis project was the historic Iveagh Garden’s in Dublin, Ireland. The site although provided great scope to design for freedom of movement, given its scale and picturesque landscape, it subjected the project to more restrictions given the steep history and existing fabric of the site and its surrounding structures. Following a large model based study whereby many models were completed focusing on the movement of the site, the primary design and brief development of a singular structure became secondary to the project. It was only in the closing stages of the project that a brief developed to become a series of nodal point pavilions and one larger multi-functional structure which had an abundance of choice and freedom at the heart of the concept.
Internship at Elite Architects L.T.D, - Cork, Ireland Elite Architects was founded at the beginning of 2008 by its current Managing Director, Andrew Shorten. Since its inception Elite Architects has gone from strength to strength, working on a wide range of projects, from luxury sea front residences to basement projects under Central London houses. During my experience with Elite Architects LTD. I was fortunate to work on several projects with my primary focus being on 3D modeling and rendering. As Revit was at the beginning of its use within the office, I undertook the role of working the first project from planning to technical drawings using Revit alone. Coinciding with this work it was necessary to build a large catalogue of 3d items (which had to be drawn to Passiv Haus standards) which could be used with parameters to be adjusted as the other members of the office required. As the other architects of the office had been predominantly using Autocad for 2D drawing and Sketchup Pro for the 3D work it was also necessary for me to carry out tutorials with the senior staff to assist them in the use of Revit. The experience albeit unpaid, proved to be very rewarding in terms of the learning experience. While I became a teacher of sorts for Revit, I certainly became student once more when it came to residential and urban design. I was fortunate to work on all aspects of the design process from small design assignments to planning applications, large scale client presentations to full tender packages. It became a unique experience also with the firms working knowledge of Passiv Haus construction. Every drawing, model, and construction drawing became a learning tool towards my knowledge with affordable energy efficient construction.
3D Modeling Works
Residence at Ballybunion, Kerry, Ireland - Revit Case Study The residential project at Ballybunion, Kerry became an experiment of sorts for the Elite Architects office. The office had aspired to change over from AutoCAD and Skethup to use Revit alone for their work from planning to construction phases. As the office had a complete set of styles for drawing with the other software I worked directly with the director, Andrew Shorten to ensure that what was beeing stylized and worked up on Revit fitted in or improved on their style of drawing and rendering. As with many of the office’s projects, every module of the building was required to be drawn both in 2D an 3D to Passiv Haus standards. As I had just completed the Bachelor of Science programme the level of technical knowledge I had for this task was a weakness but provided an amazing learning experience to work up construction drawings in 2D and 3D and to have to learn through practice how the various elements fit together and function within the construction of the dwelling. The project itself was a large residential project perched on a hill of a small seaside town in Kerry. Strict planning regulations had a strong determining factor on the projects completion. In a very traditional town the initial proposal was rejected in favour of unsightly pitched roof apartment blocks. Due to the economy and planning issues the project did not advance past the planning stage while I was interning at the company The project however was extremely successful from an internship point of view but also in the changever to using soley a BIM programme alone. The development of this large scle residential property ensured a large catalogue of elements were developed to the direct specifications for the firm.
Production/Construction Drawing
Section Detail 4 Scale 1:5
Section Through Domestic Dwelling Scale 1:50
The following drawings are part of a Passiv Haus tender package I completed during my internship. It was a standard residential home in Ireland designed to ensure the highest levels of air-tightness, energy efficiency and comfort in the dwelling. As with many Irish homes it is a concrete block construction with aditional thermal blocks at junctions where air-tightness may be compromised.
Section Through Domestic Dwelling Scale 1:50