The "Emotions, Opioids and Architecture" design competition for a methadone clinic in Venice Beach aimed to recognize the American opioid crisis as a public health concern and enlist architecture as a healing solution. Our short-listed submission "Healing Journey" aimed to use design to facilitate a healthy and productive recovery, become an asset to the community, and dissolve stigma and broaden compassion. Done in partnership with Omar Hason and Elizabeth Bishop.
Iceland Cave Tower Design Competition
Forest is a project about shelter, protection, and the expression of change over different scales of time. Iceland has a rich history of Viking exploration, Norse and Celtic settlement, rich agriculture, seafarers, and adventurers. The island is alive with thermal activity, solar flares, and magical landscapes that don’t occur anywhere else in the world. The location of Grjótagjá, east of Myvtan, is blessed with an abundance of thermal baths and unobstructed landscape views. This unique character draws visitors to bask in the beauty and seek out the baths. To limit the impact to landowners and the ecology of the site, this project defines areas of human impact to allow the surrounding sites to heal.
Deforestation and Afforestation – Iceland once had forests of birch, pine, spruce, rowan, willow and alder. These forests provided protection from the elements, shelter, fuel and materials. Clearing for fields, climate change, charcoal and woody material production resulted in significant deforestation in Iceland, with livestock grazing hindering forest regeneration. Afforestation began in the 1950s to promote forest restoration. Forest does not use wood products outside of the Tower Logs that represent reforestation efforts over time, with the use of the tectonic plate movement to shear pieces of logs every 30 years to symbolize growth, mark the time to grow new trees to production size, and to provide fuel for celebratory fires.
Arrival – When visitors arrive to Forest they will enter a parking lot adjacent to the road that will provide the ability to control access through lockable entry points. Large water collection shelters, wind turbines, and solar lighting, welcome guests into the remote site and showcase the commitment to renewable energy sources and off-grid sustainable development. Circulation will flow from the north to the south where visitors will travel by foot to the visitors center. No vehicle access outside of maintenance requirements will be permitted further into the site to prevent damage to the fragile volcanic ecosystem and encourage regrowth.
Timber Pavilion Design Competition
As the climate changes the summers in the pacific northwest have changed from blue skies and green forest to smoke filled skies and charred towns. PATHWAY serves to act as both a reflection on the forest that we love so much and as a way of asking what the future of our built environment looks like and how that can play a role in maintaining healthy forests. What is the path forward, and how does mass timber play a role?
Entering the pavillion you become surrounded by glulam trees, with a path weaving through the center. As you make your way down you get glimpses into the surrounding landscape where exhibit plinthes discuss: heathly forests, building methods, and the future of architecture.
PATHWAY serves both as an inward experiance, an up close look at mass timber, as well as an outward experiance to the forest and the built environment beyond. A place for quiet contemplation surround by the nature we strive to protect. At the end of it’s installation the pavillion can be reinstalled in another location, as it’s simple construction and modular elements will be easy to transport and assemble.
Portland - thesis 2017
Oregon Preparedness and Resiliency Center
The project was inspired by the Japanese information center network - a network that works to inform the public on disaster preparedness and response - which in turn leads to a much more educated public and a much faster recovery time from natural disasters.
The OPRC is meant to act as both an education and community center for the Portland metro area, as well as a a space for disaster relief organizations to coordinate from. The main driver in the design was to create a flexible building which can serve two purposes that have vastly different scales with efficiency.
The first being a community hub that offers classes like CPR and First Aid, as well as events such as film nights and art exhibits. The OPRC is located in a prime central location in Portland - next to a walking bridge, a riverside bike path, public transit, and has plenty of parking nearby. This central location makes it easy to integrate the OPRC into the everyday lives of Portlanders, the end result of this being that the population of Portland, and eventually more of the Pacific Northwest will being more and more comfortable with disaster prepardness and understand what the proper response to a event such as an earthquake (or even a snowstorm) should be.
The second purpose of this project is to act as a post-disaster staging area. A place first local responders and then regional and national responders can come to organize relief efforts. It’s location is ideal for this as well, since the Willamette river can serve as a transportation option and the OPRC is located next to the only bridge in Portland able to withstand a large earthquake.
The large variety of spaces within the design, as well as the flexibility of these spaces makes it efficient in multiple scenarios. The west side of the site that slopes down to the river is planted with plants that will slow and filter the water flowing down the site, and the large open plaza is a place for people to gather and events to be held as well as a place for first responders to set up base.
At the end of the day the OPRC should be a place that gets integrated into peoples everyday lives, so when something does happen the OPRC is an instinctive place to gather and organize.
New York City - Spring 2016
A competition to create a heavy timber building that incorporated residential space, an Andy Warhol museum, and a market place.
The aim was to bring some of Portland to New York through the use of timber, and the creation of a public plaza at the center of the design.
The residential space is created by apartment types that fit together like puzzle pieces to form a dynamic and open facade. The market is slipped into the first floor in much the same organization, the museum is a larger iteration of the apartment blocks.
The courtyard is the heart of this project - the uneven facade lessons the verticality of the space and helps ensure a sense of ease. The wood patio in places gives way to allow trees and plants to spring up, letting the courtyard exhibit different landscapes throughout.
The aim was to create a space that allowed for both exploring and relaxing. Bordered by the apartments, market, and museum the courtyard is a place for people to interact and connect with each other.
watercolor on paper
see more at www.zoestonedesign.com
Remodel & Addition + Landscape
Kitchen remodel to increase storage space and usability, as well as an addition to the front of the house to add a living area to the existing dining room. During the project we focused on adding more light to the space and creating a floor plan with an efficient layout. We also redid the front yard; adding a retaining wall, a new stair leading to the front entry, and a walkway along the driveway.
Remodel & Addition
The clients on this project were two artists who were looking to remodel the detached garage into a proper art studio that could be used for classes and open gallery days and then add a second floor to the garage that would become a rentable ADU. The main objectives were to create an art studio with plenty of opportunities for light and flexible storage as well as the ability to change the space from a workspace to a classroom and to a gallery space. This was achieved by building interior walls on tracks that could be moved into a few different configurations, as well as having all the worktables be on locking wheels. We added operable clerestory windows and glass double doors in order to get maximum airflow and light within the space.
For the ADU the main objectives were to get the most usable space out of 800 sqft. This was done by creating two main spaces - the bedroom/bathroom and the kitchen/living, which has access to the deck. The bedroom and neighboring bathroom were placed the furthest from the street with windows placed to maximize privacy and airflow while still allowing in plenty of light. The kitchen has floor to ceiling cabinets and is separated from the open plan living room and dining area by an island with storage and the ability to be used as a bar. The living space has access to the deck via a glass double door, which allows an indoor-outdoor living area in the warmer months.
