Architecture Portfolio T h i s
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Wenjing Xiao
Curriculum Vitae Wenjing Xiao
2017-2019 2015-2017
March 2019 January 2019 July 2018 July-August 2017 Hi, I am a Year 3 architectural student from the University of Liverpool. I have been fully attracted by this field since high school because I like drawing and designing without a standard answer. I am passionate about the experience of buildings. I believe that the structure is also a way for buildings to convey the beauty. After I decided to choose this subject, a civil engineer asked me whether I was scared about the toilsome process of architecture study, I said definitely not. I never regret my choice, instead, I really enjoy designing. I am still eager to study more after graduation. In my spare time, I especially like playing guitar and cooking. I had a rock band in Year 2. I think arts are interlinked and my hobbies provide me with power and inspiration in my architectural study.
Nationality Chinese
Contact Email Phone
W.Xiao8@student.liverpool.ac.uk +44 7713894486
January 2017
Education
University of Liverpool (United Kingdom) Bachelor of Architecture (Year 2-Year 3) Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University (China) Bachelor of Architecture (Year 0-Year 1) Vice president of the Guitar Club (2016-2017)
Experience
Decades of LSA Women Alumni (United Kingdom) Liverpool School of Architecture Volunteer: General Steward The Spring School Workshop (United Kingdom) Liverpool School of Architecture with Schneider+Schumacher Topic: Evolutionary Parametric Optimisation Madrid LABIRD Workshop (Spain) School of Architecture (ETSAM), Polytechnic University of Madrid Topic: Reclaiming Urban Tissue. Mercado de la Cebada Deyang International Student Construction Competition (China) Honorable prize Project: Four Generation under the Roof INUCE, Fujian (China) Architectural intern Poster and project souvenir design
Skills
Autodesk AutoCAD Adobe Photoshop Adobe InDesign Adobe Illustrator Sketchup Rhino Lumion Microsoft Office Freehand drawing Physical model making
Interests
Guitar/rock band Travel
Cooking Drawing
Volunteering activities Running
Content
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Swim
A pavillion for open water swimmers Page 02
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Stay
Hotel Page 14
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Work & play
Office + bowling centre Page 28
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Stay Parametric installation Page 42
Travel
Linking network Page 44
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Work
Garden office Page 50 01
01 Swim
Buttermere Valley, England Year 3 Studio 1 2018 This project focuses on swimming, a theme of leisure. Nowadays, many people are struggling to spare the time from their busy schedules to do some healthy activities. We spend too much time on screens, sometimes ignoring some dramatic things in the real world. My design project aims to attract people to back to the nature by creating more leisure infrastructure to explore more opportunities of healthy activities and interpersonal interaction. Open water swimming is becoming more and more popular in the UK. Swimmers usually enjoy this outdoor activity in seas, rivers and lakes such as the Buttermere Lake. There are, however, only a few facilities for swimmers in these areas, so it is a good chance to design a pavilion for them. The site is located on the southeast side of the Buttermere Lake. The reason why I choose it is that it is at the end of the lake, which can have a good view of almost the whole lake and also help to check the condition of each swimmer. It is also close to the road and a car park, therefore it could be convenient for swimmers. My starting point is to create a connection between lands, water and mountains. Going across a stream, the building extends through the trees and ends on the lake. Through this design, I hope I could link people, nature and the building closer together. 02
Design strategy
a. In this site, there is a stream separates the land into two parts and then flows into the lake.
b. I want my building could link these two lands together.
c. The form of the building changes in order to protect the trees.
d. This place might be flooded, so let’s lift the building up!
e. The building extends to the lake and woods to create more open space.
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Sequencing
Final design
The layout of the building is according to the sequencing of different users. 1:500
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10m
6m En 10 tranc -15 e m 2 lobb y
So 10 cial s 0m 2 pa
Sw Bu Ou Ch Sle To i 20 angin 20 epin 10 lets 10 imm 4m 2ilding no tdoo m 2 ing m2 g s m 2 g sp m 2 sto limi r sw ce eq pa t ace im re + u c mi e ipm kit +4 ng ch e sh n are en t o s a we fac tor rs ilit e ies
(i) Outdoor swimmers:
Developed arrangement:
(ii) Other groups: (hikers/ bird watchers/ nonswimming family or friends)
1 Entrance lobby 2 Dry room 3 Changing area 4 Toilet 5 Shower room 6 Sauna 7 Accessible toilet and changing space 8 Bedroom for 4 people 9 Dry land training area 10 Swimming equipment store 11 Steps for sitting 12 Water bench 13 Outdoor swimming pool 14 Panorama staircase 15 Diving boards 16 Social space 17 Building store 18 Kitchen 19 Serving window 20 Plant room 21 Roof structure used in events day 22 Path linking with a small car park next to the road Only used for delivery and disabled people 23 Outdoor bench facing to the mountains
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Lake
(iii) Integrated result: Good view
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100m
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Section AA'
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Construction
1. Wall construction (outside-inside): 150/20 mm pine cladding Waterproofing layer 18 mm OSB 50/100 mm timber post-and-rail filled with insulation Vapour barrier 150/10 mm pine cladding
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2. Floor construction (up-down): 13 mm pre-finished pine flooring 50 mm screed Waterproofing layer 18 mm OSB Structural platform of 100/50 mm squared pine filled with insulation Vapour barrier 32 mm treated plywood 153/102 mm treated timber beams Concrete piers
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3. Roof construction (outside-inside): 0.5 mm profiled sheet metal Polyester coating 18 mm OSB Waterproofing layer 50/50 mm battens filled with insulation Vapour barrier 9 mm OSB 150/6 mm pine cladding 4. Translucent glass supported by timber truss 5. Double glazing folded door in timber frame
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The truss structure in the social space aims to support the translucent glass and the folded doors’ track. This structure allows a no-column space underneath, which helps to achieve some alternative uses for this space.
a. Normal days
b. For training courses or club activities
c. Event days The doors could be folded to one side so the space is totally open. People could have barbeque or hold a party outside. For some big events, a service window in the kitchen would serve people outside the building. 11
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02 Stay
Seel Street Liverpool, England Year 2 Studio 1 2018 In the beginning, I did a study of the hotel guestroom design. In this study, I tried to break the stereotyped room layout and thought about how guestrooms of a hotel could be and how to arrange them in a narrow site. The new solution is used in this small hotel project based in Liverpool. This is a gap site in Seel Street in Liverpool’s centre area. The reason why this site is attractive to me is that sometimes you cannot figure out what the interior space would be only based on one screen. The space behind a normal façade could be much more fascinating or crazy than you though. Creating a space with a sense of mystery plays a vital role in my decision. What is more, this site is located next to a busy crossing, opposite to a car park. Many bars and restaurants are close to it. From a higher level in the site, guests could have a good view of the Liverpool Cathedral and the sea, which are the landmarks of this city. Therefore, it could be an ideal site for a hotel. What is more, designing for a gap site could be a complicate task. It is a big challenge and I like it.
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Room design
The normal guestroom design places the bathroom next to the entrance, so the general layout is relatively long, which is unsuitable for a narrow site. Therefore, I put the bathroom out of the main room, so that the layout can be shorter. This new solution has many types of arrangement. And they can be overlapped with many possibilities. 15
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Design strategy
(a) The building is placed into the site.
(c) The ground floor is opened and used for reception and a small bar.
(b) Each block is rotated in order to allow more daylight in and widen the view.
(d) The material of external walls is brick, which is the same as the surrounding buildings. The colour of it is also carefully designed to response to the context.
(e) A glass roof will cover the whole gap site to protect the interior space from bad weather. The idea of this envelop comes from the geodesic dome. 17
Final design
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Basement
Ground floor
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First floor
Second floor
Third floor
Rooftop
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Bronze railing
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Construction Glass envelop 1 Reinforced concrete beam 2 Adjoining building 3 Perimeter steel beam 4 Glazing 5 Gutter 6 LED light 7 Steel box beam roof structure 8 WALL CONSTRUCTION (OUTSIDE TO INSIDE) 228/108/40 mm facing bricks laid parallel 50 mm cavity Waterproof membrane 100 mm rigid sound insulation Vapour barrier 103 mm clay brickwork 12 mm plasterboard painted white
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9 FLOOR CONSTRUCTION 10 mm floor finish (carpet) 40 mm cement-and-sand screed Waterproof membrane 40 mm impact sound insulation Vapour barrier 150 mm precast concrete hollow core floor 13mm gypsum plasterboard
1:20 Bronze mesh sheet
10 WALL CONSTRUCTION, BASEMENT (OUTSIDE TO INSIDE) 60 mm porous boards 3 mm mortar coat (waterproof) 100 mm peripheral insulation 2 mm vapour barrier 240 mm in-suit concrete wall 10 mm plasterboard 11 FLOOR CONSTRUCTION, BASEMENT 15 mm magnesite flooring 80 mm screed 2 mm waterproofing 150 mm thermal insulation Vapour barrier 200 mm concrete ground slab 50 mm lean concrete 24
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Soft downlighter
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03 Work & play Upper Parliament St. Liverpool, England Year 2 Studio 1 2017
This project is set on the Upper Parliament Street, a busy traffic line leading to the Liverpool city centre and the airport. The site is large and vacant on the edge of the Georgian Quarter and close to the Liverpool Cathedral, which is one of the landmarks in this city. Mixed use, which increases urban vitality and has greater energy efficiency, is the main proposal of the design. How to make full use of the land in this grand housing area and how can different kinds of people interact with each other are crucial points relating to the proposal. In this project, it consists of office spaces and a proprietary bowling centre. Located among beautiful terraced houses, urban response is a critical aspect. The design will follow the grid plan of this area and create more opportunities on vertical connection inside the office area and between two different functional spaces.
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Design strategy
1 A new entrance is needed for this project.
2 It would be spread out along the boundary and face to the main road.
3 The office area will be placed above the bowling alley in order to achieve the mixed use of a building. Because the size of the bowling centre is larger than the other one, a green roof is designed to cover the longer part behind the main building. This accessible green roof is also used to link the west and east side separated by the huge block.
4 In order to allow more daylight into the interior space, the southfacing faรงade is changed into a full glazed wall. A stainless metal sheet second faรงade, which remains some opening to response to surrounding buildings, will be installed around the building to provide shading.
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Final design
5 A corner is cut off to broaden the view toward the Liverpool Cathedral on the west.
6 Where to place the building in this site? Firstly, it cannot be too close to the west side as the existing building on the west might obstruct the view to the cathedral. Secondly, a car park and a bin store should be accessible and close to the road. So they are place on the east side of the site and the building is next to them. 30
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1 Entrance 2 Main lobby 3 Reception 4 Manager office 5 Reception area 6 Storage 7 Bar 8 Activity room 9 Green roof 10 Mechanical room 11 Emergency exit 12 Kitchen 13 Disabled toilet 14 Outdoor garden
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Second floor
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First floor
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Outside the exit to the green roof on the first floor 34
The outdoor garden on the first floor
Under the green roof
Slope to hide visibility of the bin store and parking lot. Electricity sub station
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Column
A big staircase with sitting areas going from the ground floor to the first floor.
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Vertical connection
Office
Green roof
view view
Bowling alley
The centre part of the second floor is supported by a steel structure linking to the roof slab. Therefore there is no column under the floor slab and the space under this structure can be wider and flexible.
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Furniture design There is a small furniture design in this project. It is located on the north side of the second floor and it aims to make the office space more flexible. This furniture can be divided into three different height plywood bookshelves, which can be served as a bench, displacing areas and space dividers. They are supported by furniture castors and the centre one is installed in a linear slot so each block can slide in a straight way and rotate.
Sitting area for a small meeting 38
Space deviders
Communicate space
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Construction
Roof construction (up to down) Gravel Waterproofing layer Thermal insulation Vapour barrier Screed Concrete slab
Sheet metal capping
Suspended ceiling
Floor construction (up to down) Flooring covering Screed Waterproofing layer Impact sound insulation Vapour barrier Concrete slab
Foundation construction (up to down) Floor covering Screed Waterproofing layer Impact sound insulation Vapour barrier Concrete slab Lean concrete
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Geotextile mat Coarse gravel Drainage
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The double faรงade system Stainless metal mesh supported by steel structure
Main structure and the green roof
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04 Stay
Mobius Architectural Installation Liverpool, England Workshop 2019
In the Liverpool School of Architecture Spring School 2019, students worked in groups in three days and focused on the use of parametric methodologies to create and optimise large spans and grand structures. The form should be used as a structural element. To achieve this, we are given an introduction to Grasshopper, Rhino and some simple optimisation tools based on evolutionary algorithms available in these programmes. Group member: Xiao Wenjing, Wang Yitong, Zhao Xiayu
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05 Travel
Campo de la Cebada Madrid, Spain Workshop 2018
It’s a group project of the Madrid LABIRD Workshop. It took place in the School of Architecture (ETSAM) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid in the summer of 2018. This five-day workshop aims to reclaim urban tissue and give new possibilities to the Campo de la Cebada, which is located in the southern part of the city centre and near the Plaza Mayor, an important node of this historic city. Currently, this area is a multi-functional outdoor playground used by citizens and delimited by the metal fence. In this workshop, we were encouraged to think creatively and crazily. Don’t be limited at the present time and it was strongly recommended to come up with something impossible. How can this project bring new opportunities to the site and even the city? And what a city could be like with the future development? Group member: Xiao Wenjing, Lin Yifan and Cui Langheng
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In the first day, we had a brainstorm about what might be impossible for the Campo de la Cebada and the Madrid city. I mentioned the Ferris wheel and we were inspired by its feature, which was that it was infinite, had neither a starting nor ending point, however, on the other hand, each gondola could be the beginning and ending of the journey. We used this concept to develop our project. It’s a project about travel and transportation network. Because of a growing shortage of land resources, human’s social activities and transportation systems will be transferred to a floating system throughout the world. This system is consisted of many stations above famous and important places in cities. Each station has a unique platform, which is shaped according to its context and floating in the air at varied heights. The Campo de la Cebada is one of the stations in this system. Stations are connected by belts and these belts will go through and revolve around some major buildings or go down and connect with the underground to enrich the travel experience and fun.
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It’s the model we presented in the final review. It shows the network from a large scale to smaller scales.
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06 Work
Garden office 2017
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This garden office could be placed in a private backyard. A pitched roof is designed to match the common element in normal houses. The total area of this office is no more than 4sqm and this furniture can be divided into four single movable pieces. Each piece is supported by furniture castors. Owners can rearrange these pieces according to different demands.
For getting together with friends in the garden, these pieces could provide both sitting place and shelters for people.
If we do not need to use it in short term, this way could save more space.
Structure
Design analysis
Wood structure:
Multiple uses:
Each thin wood layers glued together, like the construction of plywood, to form a complete structure without joints.
Different heights of the board could provide many kinds of opportunities to do different activities and create multiple relationship between this space and the users.
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