Design in partnership between Helix Architecture + Design (programming and interiors) and SmithGroup (shell)
All images used with permission from Helix Architecture + Design
The new College of Dental Medicine at Kansas City University’s Joplin Campus is an $85m expansion, renovation, and addition to the existing College of Medicine. Comprised of a two story Dental Education Center expansion and a three story Oral Health Center and Clinic attached via a student study bridge, this project seeks to provide a much needed state-of-the-art dental care facility for a rural Missouri community still repairing a decade after destructive tornadoes tore through the area. This facility will be the beginning of a phased masterplan extension of the existing College of Medicine, eventually including on campus housing and additional academic buildings, all centralized around a shared campus quad. The Dental Education Center extension serves as the scholastic heart of the Dental program, containing multiple flexible sized lecture halls, meeting rooms, study corrals, a student dining hall, and testing facilities. An elevated study bridge connects the scholastic with the practice, leading to the Oral Health Center and Clinic building. Here a free neighborhood dental clinic will provide students with supervised hands-on experience of their craft, along with multiple simulation labs, faculty offices, and areas for future growth. Rather than just a distant satellite campus, this facility will become an enviable destination for healthcare professionals nationwide.
My contributions extended from Design Development through Construction Administration as a design associate, working collaboratively with Interior Designers and Architects developing architectural and interior design details, progressing vertical circulation methods and components, coordinating architectural elements between the two building design teams, providing quality control, and preparing construction documents in Revit.
Design property of OMNIPLAN
Rivulon is an approximately 250-acre mixed-use masterplan currently in development in Gilbert, AZ. Anchoring the development are numerous state-of-the-art office buildings, home to Fortune 500 companies such as Deloitte, Wells Fargo, and Nationwide Realty, as well as luxury automotive brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Audi. The masterplan’s prominent location along Gilbert Avenue’s proposed density corridor offers a prime opportunity for further development of corporate office, retail, multifamily residential, hotel, and other supporting services.
The Rivulon Multifamily project includes a five-story wood frame construction of approximately +/-420,000 sf and 352-units with tuck under garages, in-line amenities including Fitness and Co-Working spaces, a mix of covered and uncovered surface parking, as well as a standalone garage building installed with electric car charging stations for resident use. High quality design in-character with the surrounding office buildings exemplifies the multifamily residential proposal in order to continue the masterplan’s design cohesion. Located near the center of the masterplan site, the proposal offers pedestrian-friendly connectivity between current and future offices surrounding the site. The building mass wraps around two generously sized courtyards containing exterior amenities and a pool for resident use. Native, drought-resistant shade trees, desert landscaping, and a mix of Corten steel and desert stone walls accompany meandering sidewalks surrounding the site, leading to a half-mile linear park connecting through the entire masterplan.
Utilizing a deliberate blend of exterior finish materials, the design seeks to provide more varied and sophisticated rental option than is typically seen in other Phoenix multifamily offerings. The use of brick and wood-look fiber-cement board siding help differentiate the aesthetic look of the building, while generously oversized balconies and dramatic roof overhangs help communicate a sense of indoor-outdoor living desired by many locals. The average proposed unit size is intentionally large for the market at around 950sf/unit. Each unit comes equipped with high-end finishes such as built-in mud rooms, in-unit built-in desks and studies, high-efficiency laundry and kitchen appliances, gas stoves, walk-in pantries, oversized tile-lined showers, stainless steel fixtures, and a modern finish aesthetic meant to invoke a stylistic balance between mid-century modern and desert naturalist.
Design in partnership between Line Scale Form, Callison RTKL, and RSP Architects
All images used with permission from Line Scale Form
This 40,000 square foot, $19.2 million data center will help power and support the critical, world-renowned research and work being done at the University of Alabama Birmingham. As one of three ongoing construction projects within a 2 block radius, the area around the site is undergoing rapid change and expansion. The building will serve up to 120 data specialists, IT students, professors, maintenance, and other full-time staff members, as well as house the state’s largest super-computer, and will be the first data center supported by a Tesla battery energy storage system. The project aims to communicate its programmatic use through material choice, relating new technology to less traditional material vernacular. Taking advantage of a primarily North facing facade, the building will have ample glazing and natural light, a rarity for new office construction in the Southeast region.
The project was awarded through a partnership with CallisonRTKL Architects PC in New York and local firm Line Scale Form (formerly Herrington Architects PC). The partnership involved sharing the responsibility of schematic and design development, and full responsibility of construction administration. As a member of the schematic design team, the author provided input on building envelope concepts and iteration of wall section details, digital modeling, and exterior renderings throughout the initial stages of design development. The author also produced finished exterior renderings for presentation to the client.
Construction is slated to complete in early 2021.
Design work carried out using Sketchup, Revit, and AutoCAD, renderings created using Podium and Adobe Photoshop.
Design property of Nequette Architecture & Design
Landscape Designer: HGOR
Designed for the film and creative industries, the Town at Trilith in Fayetteville, GA (whose masterplan was designed by award-winning architect and planner Lew Oliver) is a New Urbanist European-style community which features filmmaking studios, homes, shopping and dining, trails and parks. The design of two standalone retail buildings shown here are comprised of a 1400 sq. ft. gelato shop and a 6300 sq. ft. beer garden restaurant/retail concept with an outdoor roof garden. Both projects are located on prime visual axis in the neighborhood: one as the first building seen on the entry drive into the new community, and the other as the terminus of a large outdoor activity lawn. Highly visible from all four sides, these buildings must be thoughtfully composed from every vantage point.
Honeysuckle Gelato: The smaller gelato building is composed of two rectangular masses: one made mostly of masonry and the other set at an offset angle composed mostly of glass. The glass volume comprises a low rectangular mass and a large overhead canopy, sheltering visitors from the direct Georgia sun while encouraging enjoyment of the outdoors.
Barleygarden Kitchen & Craft Bar: This restaurant/retail combo serves as an indoor/outdoor dining gathering point, meant to evoke a balance between the neighborhood’s gritty artistic vibe and a tranquil escape to relax amongst nature. Bordered by a grove of mature oak trees, the client sought a design that encourages a lively neighborhood feel where anyone is welcome. Bonding together the design is a large wooden roof canopy, sloping to reveal a 2nd floor veranda for open-air dining.
Both projects are adjacent to mixed-use residential apartment complexes and are set to become fixtures of activity within this vibrant urban community.
As lead designer on both projects, I lead the efforts from conceptual design through construction administration, while also serving as assistant project manager. Designs were implemented using AutoCAD and Sketchup.
Alabama Council AIA Student Honor Award - 2017
Auburn University: The Work of Creative Scholarship Showcase 2016 - Featured Project
ACSA Preservation as Provocation International Student Design Competition - Group Submission
Team: Tim Astor (Group Leader), Asia Burgin, Kelsey Halla
Interactive VR interior panorama can be found HERE
Designed around the conceptual statement “Even Less is More” as an articulation of Miesian design principles with a contemporary approach, the New Farnsworth Visitor’s Center is seen as a subservient supporting structure to Mies van der Rohe’s world-renowned Farnsworth House. To emphasize this concept as clearly as possible, the proposal attempts to literally disappear into the landscape around it through material ambiguity. The highly reflective thinly framed glass windows surrounding the building form a visually ambiguous plane that blurs the line between interior and exterior, ground and sky, building and land. Once inside the focus shifts, as the interior side of the glass skin is nearly completely transparent, allowing for a visual connection to the surrounding landscape. Embedded between the two glass skins hide the structural columns of the roof plane, which double as the mullions for both glass expanses. The interior volumes are composed of a primavera wood core, a glass courtyard with opposing operable Nanawall systems, interactive projected video displays, and original Mies furniture designs. Upon exiting, the path leads the visitor on a raised walking platform to the re-introduced sculpture garden, hosting a proposed tri-annual design competition to display modernist art. This new river walk park would provide increased cultural tourism to the site, along with providing an ADA accessible approach to the Farnsworth House. Ultimately, progression through the interior volume and along the exterior path is composed as a homage to Mies’ rational design approach and attempts to memorialize his ideas for future generations to learn from and enjoy.
As the group leader, I lead the team through initial design concepts and allocated responsibilities to individual members. Final submission work included rendering and post-production, as well as designing the final board layout for AIA Awards consideration.
Auburn University Urban Studio Masterplan and Thesis submission
Masterplan Proposal Team: Tim Astor & Asia Burgin
Interactive VR interior panorama can be found HERE
Concept Statement: To draw together culture, wellness, and fitness through the amalgamation of diverse creative outlets related to physical activity.
The purpose of the proposed Alabama Center for Movement and Dance is to provide a welcoming and accessible arts facility that promotes the study, creation, performance, education, and enjoyment of dance and movement. This is achieved through multidisciplinary interaction and visual/physical intersections throughout the building. The ACMD will serve as the new home and training facilities for three local movement organizations: The Alabama Ballet, the Arova Contemporary Ballet Company, and The Alabama Dance Council. It will also house a 12,000 square foot open art gallery to display permanent and visiting works dedicated to and inspired by dance and human movement. Included in the program are three group dance studios, a private “floating” studio, a dance and movement laboratory that also functions as a 250-seat black box theater, a public cafe/library, and a multi-purpose ballroom with a large public balcony, all circulated around a five-story central atrium lobby.
Located at the heart of the project is the Arova Dance and Movement Laboratory, named after the local inventive contemporary ballet company. The black-box theater offers nearly infinite arrangements and performance opportunities. The space is meant to encourage unique ways to create and perform, and adds a one-of-a-kind performance venue to the existing stages throughout downtown Birmingham.
Developed for Stillwater Capital, design property of OMNIPLAN. Currently under construction, estimated completion in early 2025.
Located within The Reserve Masterplan in Mansfield, TX, this 5-phase single family for rent community consists of a collection of 2 and 3-story townhomes organized around shared and private yards. Included in the community are a leasing office, club house with fitness center, pool, and virtual driving range. Each unit, ranging from 1215 to 1775sf, is focused on a pedestrian approach with front stoops and protected yards while all garages are tucked behind the homes, accessed off shared alleyways.
Full design and construction services were provided for this project. As job captain I lead the design of the project from concept through Construction Documentation. Design concepts were presented in Sketchup and Revit, final construction documents completed in Revit.
Alabama Forestry Association 49th Annual Wood Design Competition - 1st Place
Commissioned by the rural, culturally diverse town of Mentone, Alabama, a new Arts and Cultural Center seeks to become a tourism and education hub for the future. Working with members of city government, local arts leaders, and the current city architect, the task was to design a multi-functional destination that would serve as the cultural identity of Mentone. The proposal aims to create a monolithic heart from which the planes of the building and surrounding causeways extend to embrace the community. Incorporated into the design are elements of southern vernacular architecture, both formally with a wraparound covered porch, as well as through material use, sourcing local grey basalt from the nearby Choctaw Bluff to unify the building in a sense of grounded monumentality. The building shape evolved through manipulation of three programmatic blocks: one of gathering, one of education, and one of administration. The arrangement of the program also helped determine material choices and visual transparency, with all classroom spaces equipped with expansive floor to ceiling glazing. Along with educational and tourist needs, the community desired the project to serve as an emergency storm shelter capable of withstanding high-intensity tornadoes common to the area. The result, aptly coined “The Rock of Mentone”, provides the city with the iconic tourist destination that it desires.
Design in collaboration between Nequette Architecture and Design and Capstone Communities
The Cottages at Old Monrovia is a 25-acre, 275 unit multi-family development just outside of Huntsville, AL. Designed under the principles of New Urbanism neighborhood planning, the new neighborhood features a unique-to-the-region approach of single-story attached/detached units, each with a private fenced yard, as well as a mix of lofts and two-story townhomes, all for rent. Neighborhood resident amenities include nine to 12-foot ceilings, granite countertops, wood-grain flooring, in-unit washers and dryers, a smart home technology package, fitness center, resort-style pool, centralized clubhouse, dog park, electric car charging stations, car care center, pet spa, 24/7 on-call maintenance and optional enclosed garage parking. These features, geared towards first-time homeowners and empty nesters, aim to provide an amenity-rich rentable living option outside of traditional multi-family approaches in the area. These single-family style rentals have also proven successful in other markets, with a 50 percent faster lease-up period and a 20 percent higher resident retention rate than similarly sized garden-style apartments. With plenty of sidewalks, pedestrian features and open green spaces, the design aims to create a safe and walkable community where residents can look forward to spending time outside enjoying cookouts, hosting community events and connecting with their neighbors.
More information about this community can be found here: https://thecottagesatoldmonrovia.com
Construction is slated to complete in early 2021.
I served as design associate in early conceptual masterplanning, and collaborated with a team in development of all unit types, documentation and development of conceptual digital models, and preparation of Construction Documentation deliverables. Work was completed using hand-drafting, SketchUp, and AutoCad.
Design in partnership between Helix Architecture + Design, Sunflower Development, and JE Dunn
The cornerstone of this project is the creation of new and revitalized student housing for a Jesuit University’s growing student population. The design team believes that student housing is more than an environment to eat, sleep and play. At it’s core, this design aims to create places for students to live, thrive, and grow. This approach delves into the student as an individual and also studies the broader context of the university campus as a community. It also mirrors key Jesuit values, ensuring that the design solutions will be in alignment with the things that the University holds sacred; namely, to provide care of the whole person, as well as to help students find their own educational and philosophical path.
Student housing should be a place that provides students opportunities to be their healthiest selves — physically, mentally, and spiritually — especially for incoming freshmen or students who have chosen a particularly taxing course of study. It is known that Jesuit students value taking care of themselves in addition to acts of service to their community. When spaces are designed to support wellbeing — spaces that care for the whole person — one must be mindful of the unique, diverse individuals who comprise your student population. Thus, having a diversity of spaces to accommodate their different personalities offers something for everyone.
The exploratory nature of college makes student housing a place for discovery and experimentation as each student determines their path. The spaces in the building should enable students to work when and where it best serves their productivity. Offering students choice with furniture arrangements and public or private space accommodates their diverse methods of study. It should also help build community among students, exposing them to what others are studying and find inspiring. The design provides dedicated places for cross-pollination, and also how the outdoor environment can be leveraged to create more community space. Thus, a multifaceted, interfaith space is proposed so that anyone can use and feel like this is a sacred space for them.
The combination of new construction student housing, renovated student housing, and adjacent office and administrative spaces transforms a previously underused corner of the campus into a thriving, multidimensional mixed-use gateway to the community beyond.
