SEAN CHIDGEYDESIGN PORTFOLIO

SEAN CHIDGEYEMAIL - chidgey.sean@gmail.comPHONE - 0432563940

EDUCATION

Secondary schooling - Brisbane Boys College, 2009 graduateTertiary studies - Bachelor of Design (Honours) (Architectural Studies) Second Class Honours - Division B (QUT)Exchange studies - Texas A&M University school of architecture, United States

AFFILIATIONS

Tarmac student committee member 2014 - Tarmac is an initiative of the DIA Queensland branch run by the student council. Tarmac prepares the next generation of emerging designers for take off into an exciting design career. The program connectsdesign students with design professionals, and transforms student learning into professional practice.

WORKING EXPERIENCE

John Mongard Landscape Designs Following a trip to the living classroom in Bingara, NSW John invited a select group of students to continue with their designs for council submission. After multiple consultations with John and the Gwydir council town planning representative three designs for mobile chicken coops to be constructed from scrap materials were finalised.

SKILLS

Proficient in; Revit, Autocad, Sketch up, Adobe acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, MS office (word, excel, powerpoint), Mac/Windows platforms. Experience with; Corel draw.

SUMMARY

I have recently completed my final year of undergraduate study at Queensland University of Technology I am now focused on gaining practical industry experience. Throughout my years of study I have become particularly interested in the ‘veil’ or ‘skin’ concept and how it creates compelling space whilst addressing practical architectural problems. After studying local and international exemplars I’ve found them to be a malleable solution to varying design settings. My latest design, which I will include in a collection of my work features a timber lattice which appears to grow over a glass inner shell. The veil in this example responses foremost to the climatic condition but simultaneously creates an intriguing architectural condition.

CONTENTSA summation of formative and passion projects, this design collective collateswork from four years of study and influence. The chosen exemplars display a diverse range of projects from large scale community architecture to industrial styled furniture design.

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CONCRETE TABLEYear - 2014

BINGARA’s CHOOKs Year - 2014

TEXAS A&M VISUALISATION BUILDING Year - 2013

QUT D-BLOCK DESIGN LAB REFURBISHMENT Year - 2014

DEMOCRACY HOUSE Year - 2014

01CONCRETE TABLEYear - 2014

Necessitated by my own desire, I began experimenting with concrete cast furniture design. After initial success with un-reinforced pots and bowls I sketched plans for concrete slab bed side table (Image 1).

Image 1: Sketch up mocked plan. Image 2: Finished concrete cast bed side table.

Cast 300 x 500 x 40mm the slab is reinforced with a 3mm steel rod web. The slab is then removed from the casting and sanded smooth of any imperfections. Treated with concrete sealant the tabletop is then finished with formply legs at 10 degree angles for extrastability. The result; a personalised, hand made, industrial style bed side table (Image 2).

The Polished Concrete Coffee Table (1200 L x 580 W x 460H) is a Contemporary industrial styled piece. Polished smooth like glass the concrete slab top is sealed with a concrete sealer for strength and durability. The slabs edge is finished

with a 20 degree chamfer detail. In the construction I sourced the cement aggregate (5mm river stone) from the upper Brisbane River. The meranti timber legs, inspired by timber saw horses are fixed with

Image 3: Concrete coffee table with meranti timber legs.

dowel joinery for a clean traditional finish. The legs were then varnished with a clear solution and sandedlightly for a smooth finish. The legs and the table top are fixed with interlocking tongue and groove

system, so that top can be removed for transport purposes. Sharp, clean and on trend, this concrete coffee table exemplifies my personal designstyle.

02BINGARA’s CHOOKs Year - 2014

Image 5&6: Concrete blocks from 2000 Sydney Olympic. Bingara refuge station. Image 7: Bingara’s Olympic Chooks with herb and vegetable garden.

Bingara’s Living Classroom is the passion project of John Mongard.Donating his time over the past decade, John in conjunction with theGwydir council have re-purposed poor farming land into a model of sustainable agriculture practice. In QUT’s project week, students volunteered their time to assist designing gardens and small built formsto be implemented utilising primarily re-cycled materials.

Bingara’s Olympic Chooks captures the intrigue of visitors whilst show casing the chooks vital role in the fertilization cycle of the grazing land. As a model of sustainable agricultural practice, grazing lots are systematically rotated between live stock, fertilization and recovery stages, whilst also supporting woodlots. Bingara’s Olympic Chooks demonstrate this mutually beneficial relationship and highlight the advantageous by products of this system(Image 4).

Image 4: Grazing lot fertilization cycle.

Image 8: Bingara’s Vagabond Chook Trailer.

Image 9: Exploded construction isometric, with locally sourced materials.

Bingara’s Vagabond Chook Trailer, similar to the Olympic Chooks, is designed to maximise theuse of locally sourced materials in its construction. Light weight and manoeuvrable the trailer istowed into the grazing lots after the cattle has consumed grass. The chooks then assist in the recovery of the lot by fertilizing the soil. The trailer requires minimal maintenance, featuring automatic feed and watering stations complete with timed solar powered door.

03TEXAS A&M VISUALISATION BUILDING Year - 2013

Image 10: Proposed Texas A&M University Visualization Building. Image 11: Project Parti.

In 2013 I elected to undertake a student exchange program at Texas A&M’s College of Architecture. With more than a century of tradition Texas A&Muniversity has one of the largest Architecture programs in the United States.

After overcoming the obvious initial challenges of the imperial system of measure,I found myself relishing the opportunity to immerse in a student culture. Thestudio based project was the re-design of Texas A&M’s Visualization Building. A part of the College of Architecture, the visualization department had out grown its current facility.

The studio begun with the development of a ‘parti’ (Image 11). Exploring the stages of an impact, the series of images breakdown the cause and affect of a hypotheticalprojection on a traditional built form.

Image 12: Isometric section - Texas A&M Visualization Building.

Image 13: Isometric section - Texas A&M Visualization Building, with connection to adjacent building.

The proposed Visualization building features classroom spaces,lecutre halls, computer labs, and various media screening andediting spaces.

The large atrium at the core of the building provides central circulation, both within the building and to adjacent buildingsin the College of Architecture precinct. Furthermore the impact depresses the entry into the building providing a small covered forecourt (Image 13).

Image 14: Texas A&M University, Langford Building complex model, with proposed Visualization Building - aerial view.

Image 15: Texas A&M University, Langford Building complex model, with proposed Visualization Building - street view.

04QUT D-BLOCK DESIGN LAB REFURBISHMENT Year - 2014

Building services are an integral aspect for architects in re-design of anyproject. Fire, Electrical, HVAC, and hydraulic services must all be consideredto ensure the re-design functions properly. As an exercise to integrate allrequired services, level 4 of QUT’s D-block building was re-designed to deliver an intensive creative space for students.

As a 24 hour student accessible space the design lab features, computers (with relevant software), Kitchen facilities for after hours use, and private outdoor space for reflection. Mono shaped shade awnings have been replaced with an organically formed glazed covering. Green walls feature heavily throughout halls to cover otherwise blank facades.

The re-design meets Australian standards with regard to fire services andemergency exit procedures. The passive ventilating zone controlled HVAC system ensures low running costs whilst meeting satisfactory occupier comfort. The high volume classroom spaces have acoustic baffled ceilings to mitigate excessive noise. The intensive creative space is designed to encourage productive working habits for QUTs design students.

Image 16: Queensland University of Technology, D-Block Gardens Point refurbishment.

Image 17: Proposed classrooms with baffled ceiling and bi-fold divide.

Image 18: Outdoor reflection space with bench and green wall.

Image 19: 24 hour student computer lab, with task lighting.

Image 20: Green wall corridor with grow lights and automatic watering. Image 21: Green wall and gutter detail. (Revit)

Image 23: Outdoor feature extension, with planter box detail.

Image 22: Outdoor feature extension.

Interior and exterior green walls feature throughout the refurbishment plan. Advantageous three fold, these green wall systems add visual appeal to the space. Furthermore they provide a healthy and thus more productive working environment for the students. Thirdly, the walls may also provide a fresh source of edible plants for the students to utilisein their kitchen facility (Image 19&20).

The student retreat balcony is accessible from the kitchen,classrooms,and computer lab. With raised counter tops over looking the artisans plaza, students can enjoy their late night snacks with a view. The feature extension with glazed awning is exterior focal point of the re-design. Mirroring the organic form of level two, this extrusion provides students with a space to reflect. Adjacent to the computor lab it also negates the need to exit the building for a recovery break(Image 22).

05DEMOCRACY HOUSE Year - 2014

Democracy House is a public buildingon George st, Brisbane. Opposite StateParliament the building facilitatesvarious public meetings spaces. Democracy House is a ‘building today’, for the people of ‘tomorrow’ and will critically shape the public realm and its role in our democratic future.

Todays’ democratic society is a product of yesterdays; tomorrows’ will be product of todays. This interrelated past, present and future time line shapes our democratic communities. The need for understanding and education of the past is paramount tothe democratic state of tomorrow.

Image 24: Democracy House - William st perspective.

Image 25: Democracy House - Ground level floor plan, artistic representation.

Image 26: Democracy House - Level 1, small meeting area and entrance space. Linked via walking bridge, the heritage listed George st Mansions connect with level one; thesmall meeting spaces. Here Diplomats, political committees and lobby groups can meet in private quarters to plan and schedule the democratic resolutions of tomorrow.

Image 27: Re-in visioned Keppler Glazing system with magnetic interlocking groves.

Dictated by the brief, Democracy house was to be largley glazed. Posing an obvious problem for the location this was resolved using two major systems. As a product of earlier studies and re-invented luxfer prism glazing system (Image 27) is utilised. The Quad-ruple glazed windows feature two concave perspex panels to spread the light hitting the window. The outer glass panels protect the inner perspex which is susceptible to scratching.

The second, low tech strategy is the vertical timber skinwhich wraps the building in an organic free behaviour.The forecourt is cooled with shading from trees and grided pools of water (Image 28).

The glazed nature of Democracy House also produces a vibrant illuminated night condition (Image 29).

Image 28: Democracy House - Front entrance way.

Image 29: Democracy House - George st night perspective.

Thank you for your time and consideration.Please feel free to contact me via phone oremail for further information or additionalwork samples.

Phone: 0432563940Email: chidgey.sean@gmail.com

© to Sean Chidgey