an architectural portfolioBY: HENRY CHI

a preview of my journey through third year...

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Designing a wellness center near the core of Downtown San Diego can be a chal-lenge when taking in consideration of the urban lifestyle: fast-paced, deadlines, stress, rush hour. Urban Escape is a direct response to what the local community needs and desires. The concept is wrapped already a highly practiced exer-cise in San Diego: YOGA. Taking the ele-ments of the child’s pose, the idea of stretching and circulating came about. Urban Escape stretches across the entire urban city block while adapting to the con-text through topography. The circulation in and out of the building is a continual move-ment. A green roof allows people to not only circulate within the building but also on top of it. This opened up the opportunity for more exterior spaces and green spaces in an urban environment. Just what Down-town San Diego was calling for.

TREATMENT + REUSE

1. Water treatment for all purpose reuse2. Collection of runo� + rain

recycled water to maintain green roofrecycled water to maintain community garden

water runo� + rainphotovoltaic panels

section - nts

west elevation - nts

a moment with light

01 existing site 02 corridor + punched opennings 03 shifting of building to allowlight to reach ground

04 removal of existing buildingto allot more square footage

05 directing the corridors tocoincide with true south

06 �ipping the residential building to increase daylight exposure

07 rotating work building to increase daylight gain and createa courtyard

08 breaking the edges to bringdaylight in

09 stretching of building form toincrease square footage and createlarger volumes

10 create opennings for vehicularand pedestrian entry

We believe that one should have the ability to control the quality of light that in habits their space. In this project, we focused on achieving the quality of daylight not only quantity. Using the suns natural motion, we were able to design a structure that not only harnesses daylight, but portrays emotions in the quality of light. From dawn to dusk, we were able to depict three distinctive plays of light. Fur-thermore, structure promotes an introverted environ-ment that is a direct response to the density that is inevi-table in urban cities.

SITE

India St.

Fir St.

CommercialMixed-Use

10,000 s.f.

SITE

India St.

Fir St.

India St.

Fir St.Note:

Existing fountain and eating area.

SITE

Note:Not an activated

sidewalk.

LITTLE ITALY

SAN DIEGO CA

DOWN TOWN

little italy

street activation circulation

1ST FLOOR 2ND FLOOR 3RD FLOOR

4TH FLOOR 5TH FLOOR 6TH FLOOR

floor plans - nts section - nts

SAN DIEGO CITY HALL

3

54

6

7

1

2 21 parking access to north2 cross axis3 views4 wider floor plate for auditorium5 ground level council chambers6 cafeteria7 outdoor theater

DIRECTION + CONNECTIONA site where direction is self defined through paths. Paths which paved the connection to: the museum, the park, and the city. A connection to the bay, a connection to nature, and a connection to the people and the city. Spaces where light is not of abundance but of desire, where quality balances with quantity. Glare is minimal while exposure is maximized. The north overpowers the south. And the people articulate the spaces.

1

233

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78

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1 CAFE2 COUNCIL CHAMBER LOBBY3 INFORMATION ROOM(S)4 DAYCARE FACILITY5 WAITING AREA6 TELECOM/SERVER ROOM7 MAILROOM8 MECHANICAL/BOILER ROOM9 TRASH/RECYCLING ROOM10 SECURITY OPERATIONS11 RESTAURANT

1

2

3

456

7 88

910

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1 BRIDGE2 RESTAURANT3 OFFICE TOWER LOBBY4 PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM5 SERVER/CONTROL ROOM6 MEDIA ROOM7 AUDITORIUM8 CLASSROOM(S)9 CUSTODIAN10 STORAGE11 SECURITY OPERATIONS

1 STORAGE2 OPEN OFFICE3 BREAK ROOM

1 2

3

1 BREAK ROOM2 STORAGE3 OPEN OFFICE

1 STORAGE2 WAITING AREA3 BREAK ROOM

1 STORAGE2 PRIVATE ROOM3 MAYOR’S OFFICE4 OPEN OFFICE5 RECEPTION AREA

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1

3

1

23

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2 3

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5

A

B

1’ -

0”10

’ - 0

”1’

- 0”

concrete slab

operable window

low-e double glazing

dropped ceiling

photovoltaic panels

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

xx

GROUND LEVEL FIRST FLOOR

SECOND FLOOR

COUNCIL LEVEL 1

COUNCIL LEVEL 2

MAYOR’S LEVEL

FLOOR PLANSNTS

FLOOR TO CEILING SECTIONNTS

N

mass program separation open level horizontal shift elevator/mechanical core

public open spaces retail/commercial activity events (public speakers) events (gatherings/festivals) events (farmer’s market) connection

museum city

midway

park

vehicular access

parkingshipping + receiving

drop

-off

/ vip

views

bay

downtownmidway

coronado

MAYOR’S OFFICE

COUNCIL’S OFFICE

OFFICE

LOBBY

OFFICE LEVELS

OPEN LEVELCOUNCIL LEVEL

OPEN LEVELMAYOR’S OFFICE

ROOF

SECTION A-A SECTION B-B

elevator / mech core

fire stairs

fire stairs

CIRCULATION

raw rendering

post-production

Henry K Chi808 4th Avenue #508 . San Diego, CA 92101

E: irhenryc@hotmail.com

P: 909.210.6517

- more work can be shown upon request -