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Ellen Rea

Contact Cell: 2259079392

Email: ellen.equestrain@gmail.com

Ellen Rea

Dance Center

Huntsville, AL

Spring 2024

The building is purposefully designed to showcase the artistry of dancers. Two studios extend to the property line on the southeast and southwest, making them prominent features visible from the street. This design choice creates a plaza for entry and outdoor seating for the café, covered by an overhang to provide shade throughout the year. Brick, in line with the surrounding context, is used for the building’s exterior, while channel glass in the studios allows passersby to glimpse the dancers’ movements without direct visibility.

Section showing the relationship of the theater and 2nd floor studio

Section showing the relationship of the theater and 1st floor studio

3rd Floor Plan

Urban activation on the south corner of the building

2D Wall Section with Master Specs

3D Wall Section

2nd Floor Dance Studio light is diffused due to the channel glass

Artist Co-Housing

North Nashville, TN Fall 2023

Primary focus of the design creating a community for the people and families living in the co-housing. With the intent of creating community, areas of gathering integral to the arrangement of program.

The social, dining, and kitchen areas situated in a centralized back bar configuration. This arrangement encourages interaction among residents, fostering a strong sense of community. Additionally, placing the artist gallery on the corner enhances its accessibility to the public. Connecting parking lot to allow for larger events to utilize it, maintaining a connection between the semi private courtyard to the public gallery and the community.

Courtyard has five zones: outdoor seating, playground, fire pits, vegetable garden, and shaded hammock area

The design of this co-housing project focuses on mitigating the imposing scale of the building. Facing single-family housing behind the site, the units are strategically positioned with alternating setbacks and protrusions, creating visual interest and breaking up the facade. Breaking up the facade created moments of shared spaces. Creating a range of spaces from public to private.

Notably, the main building housing the majority of the units is angled away from the street, ensuring units don’t directly line the roadside.

The unit sizes are stacked with smallest on the largest to create the push and pull look of the facade

1st

East West Section: Connection to the community space to the units

North South Section: Scaling down as it goes to a residential scale

Place of watching tv, studying, and connecting with others

Push and pull of the facade

Adjacent from related to co-housing

Top: Urban section through adjacent buildings

Bottom: Urban section showing interstate cap and busy business road

District

Adjacent from related to co-housing

Public gallery can expand to the parking lot for large events

Cross Connections

Spring 2023

Malawi, Africa

Newby’s Community Center

Malawi, Africa Spring 2023

Maximizing the air flow into the courtyard and into the rooms is essential. This allow for natural ventilation if air conditioning could not be in installed. Placing the cafe and library across the courtyard from each other creating the connection to bring people into the courtyard. They could get food and a book wile spending time in the shade. Pushing all the program to the site edge allowed for maximization of the courtyard in the cent\er.

People can come here to get access to free books

Malawi

Gained Independence from Britain in 1964

Climate

Cold Season

May- mid August

Avg. 70

Hot Season

Mid August- November

Lows 48-50 o o o o

Avg. 70-80

Strong ultra violet rays

Traditional Materials

Burnt Bricks

Sun-dried Bricks Plaster Bamboo

Researching Malawi before designing anything was essential. Know the temperature and the local materials and construction methods informed the design. Also understanding the scale of Malawi to Alabama was also good context.

Comparing the size of Malawi to Alabama

Cafe door open to the courtyard creating allowing for fresh air into the space

Program is pushed to the wall edge to maximize the courtyard space

Guard to kitchen

Entrance to back

Adding rent-able rooms: the community center can earn money

Cross relationship of library and cafe

The angle roof moves the cool air of the courtyard into the building and the hot air out into the surrounding context

Turning to Nature

Flagg

Alabama Forestry Welcome Center

Flagg Mountain,AL

Spring 2022

The building is adjacent to a power easement, strategically placed to offer unobstructed views through the surrounding forest. A terrace, partially sheltered, serves as a communal area linking the main building to the facilities building. Deliberate thought was given to the diverse visitors frequenting the site: office employees, maintenance staff, event attendees, and hikers. To cater to their needs, distinct public and private zones were established.

Locating the building adjacent to power easement allows for visible play for children

Structure models showing the CTL panels and glulam columns and beams

Structurally, Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) walls predominantly in the office area, provide robustness and aesthetic appeal. Conversely, glulam beams and columns support the event space and maintenance facility, offering versatility and strength. The terrace roof is supported by connecting to CLT beams on the main building and supplemented by a column to uphold its highest point, ensuring stability.

Office + Event Space detail section

Overhang connection back to the building

Glulam structure is used in the event space in place of steel to show the span glulam can go

Front Elevation: office lobby is separated from the public lobby

Rear Elevation: offices pushed to the back looking out at forest

Offices are pushed to the back with views to the forest

Auburn, AL

Wood Competition

Auburn, AL Spring 2022

The main focus of the project is the structure. It was focused on the idea of compression and expansion within and round the building. The 1’ depth structure is spaced 1’ apart and the depth and space increase by 1’ till the structure depth and spacing is 3’. This steady increase allows for the compression and expansion to happen horizontally and vertically. Creating the different modules relates repetition throughout the whole program. The layout of the program shields people from the loud noise from the street. The offset of the event space creates this middle area for people if they want to have a picnic in the grass and have a view of their kids if they go off to the playground. The windows on the north and northwest of the indoor classroom follow the same spacing organization of the structure. The structure creates and informs the organization of spacing and flow throughout the whole site. It also creates moments of seeing all of the structure from the entry guiding people inside or to the spaces beyond.