Portfolio 2026 Master

Portfolio

Matthew Morcos

McEwen School of ArchitectureLaurentian University

Uni Laurentienne 2026

Architecture Masters with Laurentian university

Phone: 647-627-6106

Email: ed.matthew.morcos@gmail.com

LinekdIn: www.linkedin.com/in/Matthew-Morcos

Website: https://www.MatthewMorcos.com/

As a bilingual fourth-year Bachelor of Architecture student at Laurentian University, expected to graduate this year, I am eager to apply my skills in 3D modeling, design, and technical documentation to a thesis defence and professional work within the architectural field. I am particularly interested in contributing to projects that emphasize strong design practices and are grounded in the local context.

Education

Laurentian University/Université Laurentienne, Sudbury, ON

• Bachelor of Architecture - BArch (4th Year)

• Expected Graduation: Spring 2026

• Bilingual Education Certificate (Francophone high school)

» Languages: English and French (Native / bilingual proficiency)

Personal:

Software Proficiency:

• Advanced: Rhyno 3D, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Lightroom, InDesign), Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, Twinmotion

• Intermediate: Autodesk Forma, Large Format Printers, Revit, Rayon

• Proficient IT knowledge (Servers, Code, Networking)

• Beginner: Grasshoper 3D, Unreal Engine 5

Design & Documentation:

• Physical model construction, site analysis, contextual design

• Poster design, narrative (story) development for projects

• Standard architectural technical drawings (plans, sections)

• Data management and technology troubleshooting

Technical Skills Work Experience

- Administrative Assistant (Part-time) | Sanitation Pros, Mississauga, ON

- September 2019 - Present (4 years 9 months)

- Managed administrative tasks and assisted with technology-related issues.

- Co-op placement from June 2019 - September 2019 (4 months)

- Part of M.H.S.

- Teaching Assistant | École Secondaire Catholique Sainte-Famille, Mississauga, ON

- September 2019 - February 2020 (6 months)

- Supported workshop (robotics and woodshop) activities and facilitated learning experiences.

Enthusiastic Learner seeking Personal Growth through self-directed education, the pursuit of knowledge spans from Technology—building DIY computers and managing a home NAS server system—to Photography, a self-taught skill, that has been instrumental in capturing compelling images for business promotion and securing a spot at the university. This visual narrative is accessible on a custom website. In the realm of Finance, independent ventures into equity markets have honed analytical skills and business acumen and management principles. This path is enriched with books, music—expressed through playing the piano—and psychology lectures. Each triumphant step, marked by setbacks, has been a lesson in adaptability, shaping a versatile and dedicated team contributor.

Pixelated Community

4th Year, (2 terms) Project

This project emerged from a studio assignment focused on the redevelopment of Sudbury’s Elm Place mall into a new mixed-use downtown district within the proposed provided master plan. The brief framed design as a research-driven process, working in teams* to develop a site analysis, detailed program including residential, and site-development strategy before moving into architectural resolution.

In response, the proposal organizes the site as a “pixelated” mosaic of interconnected programs shaped by circulation, which intends to draw families into a familiar yet revitalized denser mass timber housing complex. A market, bakery, grocery store, and culinary learning space animate the public lower levels, while housing above is designed for both seniors and families to encourage a more intergenerational downtown community. Paths, porches, terraces, and green buffers mediate between the building and the city, creating spaces for gathering while softening the transition between active public zones and more private residential life. Rather than treating the project as a singular object, the design uses landscape and program to stitch together multiple forms of dwelling, commerce, and public activity into a more porous and community-oriented urban block.

Typical Residential Floor Plans

The Ice Station Project: The Passage

1st Year

This project emerged from a design-build studio framework centered on Design for Place, asking students to respond directly to the environmental, and icy conditions of Ramsey Lake in winter. Developed collaboratively as one of a series of ice station teams, The Passage approached design as a site-specific and informed process (incorporating Jan Gehl’s principles), using observation, analysis, and hands on making. The brief emphasized responsiveness to climate, material restraint, and the creation of meaningful public space within an extreme seasonal setting. The Passage organizes movement as an experiential journey through the frozen site, visitors are guided through the structure, experiencing shifts in light and shadow, compression, and offered different views.

Built primarily from untreated wood and assembled through simple, low-impact construction methods suited to remote cold-weather conditions, the structure was designed for durability, ease of fabrication, and natural material uses. Rather than functioning as an isolated object, the installation acts as a small communal landmark on the lake: a place of passage, pause, shelter, and gathering. In this way, the project connects education, community, and place, demonstrating how temporary architecture can foster interaction, reflection, and a deeper engagement with Northern environments.

The Sauna Project

2nd Year

Laurentian University

McEwen School of Architecture

Design Studio 3: Landscape I

ARCH-2505 - A4

This project emerged from a studio exploration of Northern culture, landscape, and community, using the sauna as both architectural typology and social space. Situated within the regreened landscape of Bennett Lake, the proposal approached design as a siteresponsive and materially grounded process, examining how architecture could support ritual, well-being, and collective gathering while remaining closely tied to its environmental setting. The brief emphasized minimal site disturbance, the use of durable natural materials, and the creation of a meaningful relationship between shelter, landscape, and seasonal experience.

In response, the project frames the sauna as a therapeutic refuge embedded within the Northern environment. Positioned on exposed rock near the shoreline, the building uses local timber, stone, and large panoramic openings to connect interior warmth with the surrounding landscape. The approach to the building is conceived as part of the experience itself: a gradual journey through the site that prepares visitors for the transition from cold exterior to warm interior, and from movement to pause. Rather than functioning as a singular enclosed object, the project combines ritual, gathering, and landscape into a small communal destination. In this way, the sauna connects place, wellness, and social life, demonstrating how architecture in the North can foster reflection, resilience, and a deeper engagement with climate and community.

Analysis

Our goal for this project is to create a space that animates downtown Sudbury, by creating walking and cycling paths that connect the center; while vehicle traffic is separate and designated, encouraging pedestrians to walk and experience the site. The main concept revolves around integrating green space with an appreciation for the lakes in Sudbury. An analysis of six nodes of the dowtown, gives an understanding of the current experience of certain moments, and how they influence the overall feel of city life; a on-the-ground perspective of the existing spaces and uses. From this, we went in-depth on the characteristics of the site and Sudbury's surroundings. The zoning analysis was carried out to get a better understanding of the existing community, and how to optimize the site to add to and improve on the lacking aspects. Given this, housing is implemented on the site, incorporating the concept of mixed-use spaces. Although the site appears to be flat, the analysis revealed that it has a relevant slope towards the north. In combination with the height of Tom Davis Square, a raised pedestrian walkway can be implemented above Brady Street. It will create an unobstructed path of travel between park spaces and the site. This will also further separate cars from our site separating the modes of transportation optimizing each for it’s self, as well as encouraging walking throughout. With this urban renewal, Sudbury will be recognized as the City of Lakes, this is done by emphasizing the concept by representing it in the layout, materiality, and experience.

Our goal for this project is to create a space that animates downtown Sudbury, by creating walking and cycling paths that connect the center; while vehicle traffic is separate and designated, encouraging pedestrians to walk and experience the site. The main concept revolves around integrating green space with an appreciation for the lakes in Sudbury. An analysis of six nodes of the dowtown, gives an understanding of the current experience of certain moments, and how they influence the overall feel of city life; a on-the-ground perspective of the existing spaces and uses. From this, we went in-depth on the characteristics of the site and Sudbury's surroundings. The zoning analysis was carried out to get a better understanding of the existing community, and how to optimize the site to add to and improve on the lacking aspects. Given this, housing is implemented on the site, incorporating the concept of mixed-use spaces. Although the site appears to be flat, the analysis revealed that it has a relevant slope towards the north. In combination with the height of Tom Davis Square, a raised pedestrian walkway can be implemented above Brady Street. It will create an unobstructed path of travel between park spaces and the site. This will also further separate cars from our site separating the modes of transportation optimizing each for it’s self, as well as encouraging walking throughout. With this urban renewal, Sudbury will be recognized as the City of Lakes, this is done by emphasizing the concept by representing it in the layout, materiality, and experience.

Furthermore, the site can be plowed easily, because all the pathways and alleys are wide enough for it. Additionally, some of the alleys will have a partially enclosed roof with a clearstory, which will stop weather such as wind and snow from getting in and make the space more comfortable in winter. There are also some wide paths and alleys that restaurants can encroach onto in the warm months, and when those temporary structures are put away for the winter, the spaces and the square near the middle can be flooded to make ice and skating around the center.

Furthermore, the site can be plowed easily, because all the pathways and alleys are wide enough for it. Additionally, some of the alleys will have a partially enclosed roof with a clearstory, which will stop weather such as wind and snow from getting in and make the space more comfortable in winter. There are also some wide paths and alleys that restaurants can encroach onto in the warm months, and when those temporary structures are put away for the winter, the spaces and the square near the middle can be flooded to make ice and skating around the center.

Event Center/Arena

#2

northward slope and the height of Tom Davies Square to introduce an elevated pedestrian connection above Brady Street, linking park spaces and reinforcing a more continuous public realm. Green space, seasonal flexibility, and lake-oriented identity shape the broader strategy, with wide paths and alleys designed to support everyday movement, winter maintenance, temporary summer terrasses, and cold-season activities such as skating. Rather than treating the downtown as a series of isolated parcels, the plan uses landscape, circulation, and phased intervention to stitch together a more cohesive and animated urban environment, proposing a future in which nature, density, and public life are more fully integrated.

Education Center

3rd Year

Matthew Morcos

Laurentian University

McEwen School of Architecture

Design Studio 5: Northern Building I ARCH-3505 - A8

This play and education centre was developed as part of a studio project for a daycare/school, requiring a full architectural proposal from concept and site planning to classroom design, sections, perspectives, and introduction to Ontario building code integration. The brief placed particular emphasis on habitation, outdoor play, safety, indoor-outdoor relationships, and the design of spaces that support childhood development through both everyday use and imaginative exploration.

The project is organized around the idea of duality: connection and separation, openness and refuge, community and individuality. Sited in Sudbury’s Flour Mill area, near a busy roadway and between residential and light industrial conditions, the proposal responds by creating a protected yet porous environment for children. Form, layout, and detail are used to connect the building to nearby green space, to the surrounding neighbourhood, and to the child’s own sense of curiosity. Through dynamic openings, playful spatial transitions, and carefully scaled indoor and outdoor areas, the design frames learning as an active, exploratory experience shaped by movement, discovery, and connection to place.

Laurentian University McEwen School of Architecture

Design Thinking ARCH1006 - A4

JUST DO IT.

Laurentian University McEwen School of Architecture

Design Thinking ARCH1006 - A5

Poster

Architecture must be responsible

Architecture has been deputed with onuses

Architecture is getting more

Architecture ought not lone consider itswalls

Deputed

Architecture ought to evaluate numerous

Architecture’s assessments of its

Onuses

Architecture ought to examine its pl ce

Architec ture harbour’ s a tnemtimmoc t o eht lbus iminal are sa e l e me

Architecture must evaluate the psychogenic

2 Architecture has been given more responsibilities It has had so many that the field has started to be broken up into specialties.

o Appoint or instruct to perform a task for which one is responsible.

o Used to refer to something that is one’s responsibility.

3 Architecture has many things it needs to keep in mind.

Should design “From a Spoon to the City.”

Architecture is four-dimensional It’s not just about the three dimensions; we move through time so how time works with the architecture is essential to be mindful of.

4 The world doesn’t revolve around architecture.

(The personification of architecture (the field) and the other fields in the world).

Also, about the physical site it’s located, how that’s important.

5 Architecture must evaluate the (psychology)

• The colours of the walls.

• How people will move or how they feel about it.

• The greenery or lack thereof (ex: use of wood).

Psychogenic

o Originating in the mind or in mental or emotional conflict.

Subliminal

o Architecture harbour’s a commitment to the “mental process below the threshold of sensation perceived by someone’s mind” (Subconscious)

Viewpoint Snøhetta

Architectur by Snøhetta

Tverrfjellhytta is a wild reindeer pavilion located in the mountainous region of Norway. The mountain range, called Dovrefjell, forms a barrier between the northern and southern parts of Norway and is home to Europe’s last wild reindeer herds. The building’s design has many thoughtful details, like an organic interior reflective of the land and elements and the idea of a

The drawings and representations communicate this building’s architecture, context and atmosphere through visual mediums. Each seeks to present these ideas with techniques like composition, colour, light and shadow. The representations’ main objective was to graphically communicate the architectural features and experiential

Existing Building Drawings

Architectural Communications

2nd Year Laurentian

Photography Project Architectural Communications

The 1st photograph is the exterior of the chosen building. In terms of the capturing method, all photos used a mirrorless camera and when framing, it was essential to keep the sensor and flat surfaces parallel With that said, this one presented a challenge with access to a perfect frame while out in the field was not possible. This image captures the sunrise a light maintenance vehicle, and a single presumably student passing by.

The 2nd picture is a step through the front doors Welcoming individuals is a 2 story atrium space The reflections on the glass show how this space allows light to pass through its walls easily A glimpse at the fairly dense forest surrounding the campus site, and the west half of this building, is also visible.

The west entrance is the 3rd photo, having moved forward from the previous positions Visible are the east-facing windows presenting the large fie d the first photo was taken from and another look at the natural surroundings. This detail addresses the materiality of wood, glass and metal in this interior; it also captures a plaque with a message the school deemed important to share Finally, as reading week begins, students are seen only passing by

In between the 2nd and 3rd photos are the seats of the atrium. It makes the size of this space even clearer as the bottom of just the 3rd set of steps is visible. This warm tone from the morning light off all the wood surfaces makes the space feel connected to the outside natural environment and the light itself.

The 5th photo demonstrates the building s second and most common materials concrete and tile. These walls bonce the sunlight and fill the rooms. Because of this, even though this detail is focused on the wall, the farthest parts of the image are still clear enough to understand the idea that the end of the hallway is a mirrored space from the one in this photo.

Back outside, once again passersby are seen towards each s destinations One could imagine how full this walkway could be on a typical day. Additionally, this photo nods again to the foliage surrounding the institution, where the trees provide a natural frame for the image

Finally, to wrap it all up is an interior photograph with an almost architectural rendering-like appearance. Multiple ideas are seen, such as the tall trees, the morning light filling the space, and the emptiness of the institution due to reading week where individuals are simply using the space as a means to arrive at point B.

Being away from Sudbury for reading week, the building had to be on an interesting site, and where visits could be done without much conflict The University of Toronto’s buildings seemed interesting Considerations included others located on the Mississauga campus and the architecture building downtown However, the “north building B” or Maanjiwenendamowinan was chosen from UTM Not only were its surrounding natural elements appealing, but it was newer and had design decisions seen within other courses, like LEED, recycled materials applied to it It was predicted to be cloudy or ra ny; thus, a building with good solar orientation was made more important Finally, the story about a space and reading week was best interpreted at this site.

HEADSHOT

Portrait of a family member, taken with a Sony 7RM3 I chose these settings to freeze his motions and create a still life effect. I also was experimenting with shadowed faces at the time instead of the typical lighted ones.

LANDSCAPE

I framed this composition to include a mix of colours, maximizing the complementary red and green. The vibrant red and following the rule of 3rds help capture the viewer’s eye I was also looking to highlight the two-toned light blue sky.

Personal Photography

MORING STILL

MORNING STILL WARM NIGHT

WARM NIGHT

It was the start of a new day, where activities would soon take place that afternoon—the still water creating this enormous mirror of the few clouds above.

It was the start of a new day, where activities would soon take place that afternoon - the still water creating this enormous mirror of the few clouds above.

ARCHED

This landscape demonstrates the power of leading lines and how the observer’s eyes instinctively follow these rushing clouds’ front line, leading to a silhouette of a single tree off in the distance.

Almost falling out of the canoe, this photograph has the clouds wrap around the lens, creating a sense of warmth like blankets enclasping the observer.

Almost falling out of the canoe, this photograph has the clouds wrap around the lens, creating a sense of warmth like blankets enclasping the observer

This is an example of commercial work I did for a private company. I looked to give the viewer that feeling of home . Demonstrating the comfort and coziness of this cottage home.

Mini Muskoka chair

◦ A Truly Canadian project

◦ As a project for my Manufacturing Engineering Tech class, we had to build this mini chair for small children by teaming up with a colleague

◦ To successfully created it, we needed to make an accurate cut list We accomplished this by using my skills in the C A D program, Onshape, to create a 3D model of the chair. There we could be sure that our measurements and cuts would be accurate and line up

◦ Although we didn't get to paint it, I've demonstrated in the top right our intentions for an all-red with a Canadian flag embroidery

◦ Having sold it to a customer, it now serves as a comfortable, safe, mini chair for small children allowing them to feel included with the grown-ups.

Custom Dresser

In the after-school woodworking club, I challenged myself to build this large six drawers dresser made of pine for my room. As it was a personal project, I had to design and construct the entire project As this was one of my very 1st projects, it took a fair amount of time however, it brought forward many learning opportunities I improved my use of wood and the order I cut it in, saving space, time and avoiding problems like tear-out or splintering

Namely, one of the many mistakes I learned from was: assembling the sides and top of the dresser before the individual drawers This led to the whole structure to be precarious, and I ultimately had to scrap those large parts

This was a lesson well learnt; since then, I’ve been ever more efficient and have completed all my pieces, ready for assembly Since I didn’t want this project to be left alone with a simple 3D model, I taught myself how to use a rendering engine and simulated a bedroom to place it in.

Boathouse Project 1:20 Physical Framing Model

Bench and Table Project Hand Sawn with Joinery

Builds

This personal project grew out of an opportunity to directly apply lessons from my Structures and Material Behaviour course to the design and construction of a exterior wood deck. Rather than treating structural calculations as only academic exercises, the project used them to test a real construction scenario: determining the expected load, tracing how that load would transfer through the framing to the supporting columns, and sizing the dimensional lumber (with margin) accordingly. A significant part of the challenge was accounting for the dead load weight of a large volume of water. The deck was built and loaded in real conditions, including the placement of the heavy vessel itself, which carried substantial weight even before being filled.

Course notes

Laurentian University McEwen School of Architecture

Assembly sequence: Digital Fabrication ARCH-4306

1: Securing the dimensional lumber to the underside of the plywood.

2: Securing the plywood sheets to the sides of the dimensional lumber with screws.

3: Using mortar, assembling the rear bricks to themselves and to the back of the frame.

4: Assembling the bricks for the chairs’ surface to themselves and the plywood support.

5: Assembling the type 3 bricks to themselves and the plywood sheets.

6: Cutting and then assembling the remaining side cladding to the sheets.

7: Assembling the brick foot and finishing the top with a smooth concreate surface.

Urban Intervention

4th Year

Matthew Morcos

Laurentian University

McEwen School of Architecture

Digital Fabrication

ARCH-4306 - A3

This project was developed for a Digital Fabrication studio as a parametric urban intervention situated within the broader urban design scope of the studio project. The brief asked for a durable public installation that could be developed through Rhino and Grasshopper workflows, fabricated through file-to-factory processes, and resolved as a fully or semi-parametric assembly using standard lumber dimensions and digital strategies such as sectioning or folding. Framed by ques-tions of public space, urban vitality, and social interaction, the project explored how computational design could extend beyond formal experimentation to support collective use and occupation in the city.

The design directly integrated with a project from a different class. The proposal combines seating, enclosure, and façade-like screening into a modular brick-and-wood intervention that activates the edge of the site as a place to pause, gather, and inhabit. A repeated panel system and carefully sequenced assembly create a structure that shifts between bench, surface, and vertical filter, using variation within a controlled parametric logic to shape the overall form. Rather than functioning as a standalone object, the intervention is conceived as an extension of public life at the building’s pe-rimeter, bringing together tectonic detail, fabrication logic, and social use in a small but highly constructed urban element.