Nicholas D. TorresArchitecturAl Portfolio

Design statementWhen I begin to conceptualize a design I am guided by certain principles which relate to its form and context. A project should always be influenced by the context that surrounds it whether it be historic, cultural, material, social, etc, but not a direct reproduction of it. It should be part of and contribute to the urban fabric. The project’s interior should respond to the human scale and intercommunication through spatial connections, openness, and warmth. The project should finally take advantage of envi-ronmental opportunities for sensitive design through passive ventilation and reuse. Together these ele-ments with the collaborative process can we produce the best outcome.

goalsI am planning on working to receive my architectural licence within the next few years and increase my knowledge of healthcare and research design, as well as urban and institutional planning. I also hope to expand my experience with historic preservation and adaptation, particularly mid-century modern struc-tures, and also project management and construction administration.

TaBle oF coNTeNTs

centre/columbus housing

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Xylohistoric museum of new englAnd

columbiA Point mAster PlAn

new bedford wAterfront

ProfessionAl work

JAckson squAre mAster PlAn

Proposed Plan (Watercoloring by Ximena Cruz)2

Fall 2013 - ProF. laWreNce chaN

colUMBia PoiNTchAllenge:Design a transit-oriented, human scaled master plan for Columbia Point, reconnecting back to Dorchester and UMass Boston. Vision:Columbia Point, part of the Dorchester neighbor-hood is currently home to UMass Boston, the Harbor Point Apartment Complex, Sovereign Bank Regional Headquarters, The Boston Globe, and the former Bayside Expo Center. However, due to piecemeal development over the past several decades the peninsula with excellent transportation connections and dramatic water views has languished under auto-dominance and lack of coordination. The goal of this redevelop-ment proposal is to re-design the peninsula into a cohesive urban environment taking advantage of its natural environment and connectiveness. The new fabric is laid out in a grid system consist-ing of three main hubs, a commercial hub, a community hub, and an institutional hub. From each of these hubs the transportation nodes (road, rail, and green) radiate into the surround-ing neighborhoods of Dorchester, Savin Hill, and South Boston, re-connecting the peninsula back to the city. As the southern end of the Innovation Corridor the commercial core will be attractive to the growing biomedical industry and the amount of new mixed income housing created will help keep graduates in the city. UMass Boston will be reconnected as well by integrating Mount Vernon Street into the campus gateway and the campus itself will be urbanized. Our ultimate goal is to have an inclusive, vibrant community, easily connected to the city, and become a new hub of development for Boston.

Designed with Ximena Cruz

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Concept Parti

Existing Opportunities

4Existing Conditions & Progress Sketches

Proposed Condition & Phases5

Urban Square

Community Square

University Square

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Urban Square Axon Community Square Axon

University Square Axon

Common

Library

CommunityCenter

Middle School

Elementary.School

Health Center

Greenway

Supermarket

MattaponnockSquare

Hotel

TrainStation

Urban Core

Main Quad

Edward KennedyInstitute

Performing ArtsCenter

North (Gateway)Square

Lighthouse

CampusCenter South

SquareLibrary

Pump House

Site Sections taken at UMass Boston (Bottom) and the Urban Square/T Station (Top)7

Landscape Diagram Mid-Crit Aerial Rendering

Harborwalk

Harborwalk

Bayside Park

Moakley Park

Gre

enw

ay

Athletic Facilities

Qua

d

Proposed8

sPriNG 2013 - ProF. MarK PasNiK

Existing

JacKsoN sQUarechAllenge:Create a group master plan for the reinvigoration of the Jackson Square neighborhood. Vision:Acting as project manger for our studio class, I led the design of a master plan for a new Jackson Square. Our primary concept was “Stitching the Grid”, reconnecting the neighborhoods of Jamai-ca Plain and Roxbury through a common ground. The square has been ravaged by disconnection and lack of care since most of the neighborhood was demolished for the construction of I-95 which ended up being cancelled. With it being such a natural area for connections at the intersection of two major city roadways, the Orange Line, five bus lines, and the Southwest Corridor Linear park we decided to play off all these elements to rein-vigorate the square. The main hub of our concept is an urban plaza from our two main landmarks, the renovated MBTA station and the old Rockland Brewery which would act as a new community center. The plaza would contain a farmers market and pass through retail. The new development would be primarily residential, allowing for dif-ferent types of hosing facilitating a community driven, long-term sustainable development and different income levels ranging from market rate 4-6 story young professional based apartment blocks to mid to low income family based town-houses with backyards.

Students Participating: Nicholas Torres (Project Manger), Anette Balestrand, Carly Spink, Casey Delia, Erin Hartmann, Jillian Zerbinopoulos, Nathan Neff, Paul Woodworth, Stephanie Greenlaw, Teresa Le, Tyler Moriarty

9Final Plan

10Plaza DetailParti

Promenade

Train Station

ReflectingPool

BreweryChimney

Sitting

Steps

Section through Plaza and Amory Street11

Main Plaza looking towards the Brewery Green Connections to the Emerald Necklace & Southwest Corridor

View from the corner of Columbus & Centre12

sPriNG 2013 - ProF. MarK PasNiK

ceNTre/colUMBUschAllenge:Select a parcel after designing a master plan for Jackson Square and design a multi-family, mixed-use residential building that reflects the new visionfor the neighborhood and innovative housing. Vision:Together with my classmate Erin Hartmann, we decided to tackle this parcel together, but separately. We designed our concept, massing, material choices, and ground floor together so our respective buildings would read as part of the same mass, but approach how we viewed our resi-dences separately, in order to provide maximum amount of residence types for our site. I focused on the northeast building, Erin the Southwest. The concept to my building was “zoning by spatial experience and facade treatments” The units, all duplexes except for studios on the top floor, are set up three-dimensionally with the lower floor being public, and the upper being private. On both floors, the services are kept in the back and you transfer through the “dark” and “light” areas through a breakthrough point. Using Unit A as a template, the basic formula is modified to other units to better represent their position in the building and provide multiple types of housing ranging from studios up to three bedrooms.

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Concept Diagram

Building Parti

14Unit Axons

Section15

Courtyard Facade Unit A from Living Area

Fenestration Order

Exterior From The Gardner Museum16

sUMMer 2013 - ProF. charles ciMiNo

XYlohisToric MUseUMchAllenge:Design a 50,000 GSF art museum for Wooden Objects on Evans Way Park in Boston, MA. Vision:I was guided by several things on the site for my placement, one being the line of sight connec-tion from the entrances to the Park from Evans Way and Louis Prang, another being the main circulation spine that seemed to diagonally cut across the park from the North to Southwest. This allows visitors to the site to move around the building, while still being subconsciously drawn in, by the organization of the paths. With the building itself I was guided by the idea that I wanted to showcase a wooden boatin the large gallery. My museum would be set up to show the history of wood making in NewEngland. Within the site parameters it was clear that my building would have a larger “head” in the North and a smaller “tail” in the South. The head of the building would house the galler-ies and public functions including an education center and restaurant while the tail would house the more private functions like the lecture hall, laboratories, and administration. These two modules would be joined together by a circulation core in the form of an atrium, allowing visual com-munication across the modules, that is lined up with the Gardner Museum entrance as a show of friendship between the two museums. I organized my galleries in the head on several floors, rotating around and growing outward like a tree around the large galleries holding the ship. The galleries on the 3rd and 4th floors are open to the atrium through galleries and allowing viewing the ship from multiple angles. Overall I wanted to provide a straightforward circulation system for my visi-tors, allowing them to experience the objects and rooms themselves in a spatially complex way.

17Entrance Hall

18Wall Sections & Details Progress Development

19Boat Rotunda With Galleries Surrounding

Concept Diagram Structural Model

Proposed Plan20

Fall 2011 - ProF. MUhaMMaD aBDUssaBUr

Existing Plan

NeW BeDForD WaTerFroNTchAllenge:Design a transportation oriented urban interven-tion in an area of your choice. Vision:When deciding on an area to design an urban intervention for my elective “Transportation Intervention & Urban Design” I immediately chose my hometown of New Bedford, MA. More specifi-cally the harbor front area of the downtown. Our final project was to redesign a neighborhood in our area to conform to transit oriented design principals. My main goal was to transform the desolate industrial waterfront into a responsible, bustling, fully fledged neighborhood of the city, respecting its maritime heritage, but also explor-ing new frontiers. One of the primary aspects of my design is burying the Route 18 Expressway, allowing crucial North-South traffic to continue, but putting it out of sight and allowing new devel-opment above. Next most of the fishing industry would be moved to new docks north and south of downtown, allowing the wharves to be activated. These aspects will allow the waterfront of down-town New Bedford to re densify, similar to what it was before the highway plowed through.

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Proposed Aerial of Wharves District

Existing Working Waterfront

22Wharves District

Station District Powerhouse District

23Concept Sketch

Existing Condition of State Pier Proposed Condition of State Pier

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Three-BaY laBoraTorY reNoVaTioN - DFci

Demolition Plan

Schematic Design and Construction Documentation of the renovation of a 1970s era multi-bench laboratory for the use of an experimental medicine group. I also participated in client meetings and change orders during construction, working within a very tight budget.

Equipment Plan Lab Bench Details

ProFessioNal WorK

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caMPUs PlaNNiNG & GraPhics - DFciI worked on multiple planning projects including Long-Range Research Backfill Planning, a new Parking Wayfinding system, several department moves, ADA planning, and revising all CAD floor plans for the campus.

Pediatrics Temporary Move Planning

Longwood Center Backfill Planning New Campus Map

Revised Parking Signage

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MiscellaNeoUs ProJecTs - DFciI frequently took on the initiative to take on new projects no matter how small, from single room renovations, to an AV addition in the Dining Pavilion, to patient space renovations.

Section from Dining Pavilion AV Addition

Real Time Locater Service Instillation Drawings Human Resources Move Coordination

Pharmacy Clean Room Renovation

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WarreN seNior hoUsiNG - coNsUlTiNGI acted as a schematic design consultant for the Caribbean Integration Community Development. I was tasked to design a four-story mixed-use building on a Warren Street (between Clifford & Waverly Streets) site, which is just over 5,600 square feet. The program called for street retail, office space, a community room, and eight one-bedroom apartments for seniors living on social security.

Rendering of the Warren Street Facade

Ground Floor Plan Typical Apartment Level Plan

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FaMilY VacaTioN coMPoUND - sKaI was lead designer/drafter for a multi-phase family vacation compound that included multiple options for different style vacation homes, the renovation of the existing homestead and addition of a barn. This project also included reconciliation with multiple agencies due to its location adjacent to the shoreline and coastal marsh.

House Option Barn Option

Compound Option Plan Original Planning Sketch (By Principal Architect)

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Dcr coMForT sTaTioN ProToTYPe - sKaI was co-drafter for the construction documentation of a prototype comfort station for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation. This prototype is now completed at Myles Standish State Park and Pittsfield State Forest.

Restroom Interior Elevations Rendering of Prototype

Restroom Enlarged Plan Pittsfield State Forest Comfort Station

Nicholas D. Torres41 Castle AveFairhaven, MA 02719P. 508-264-3384E. ntorres2009@gmail.comW. http://ntorres2009.wix.com/torresportfolio