Hello there!
I am a recent Architecture graduate from Cork, Ireland. I have just moved to New York and I am seeking out opportunities in leading design firms. Having previously worked in Phoenix, London and my native Cork, I feel that I have already gained a wealth of experience for someone so recently out of University. I have worked for large scale developers and leading architecture firms already, and I am hoping to capitalize on this experience in the New York area.
Tom Hegarty Architects, Cork, IE, Graduate Architect
Throughout my time at THA, I worked on a broad range of projects. These included single family dwellings, commercial cafe and restaurant units, a retail warehouse and I also undertook a graphics project in producing simplified line drawings for updates to the company website.
Up to this point, most of my professional experience had been gained abroad so it was important to me on a personal level to gain experience and familiarise myself with planning and construction processes in Ireland.
Generally, THA would outsource architectural visualizations to a third party, however when a client inquired about this for a commercial project, I made clear to my employer, my willingness to take this challenge on myself. In the end, the client was pleased with the result, saved money in doing so, and we were able to optimise the timeline of the project and go for planning permission sooner than was initially anticipated.
My other roles included technical detailing for residential construction, planning drawings, researching the specifics of building compliance and reviewing material samples, glazing schedules and submittals.
Gensler, Phoenix, AZ, US, Architectural designer
Throughout my time in Phoenix, I worked primarily on commercial banking projects in the Arizona and Nevada areas. Generally, the scope on these projects was very small (Accessibility upgrades, Interior refresh and roll-out of new products like remote atms and electric vehicle charge points). I found great value in this in terms of developing my technical skills as over the course of one year, I worked in one capacity or another, on over 40 projects. Through this, I gained an in-depth knowledge of ADA guidelines and municipal codes, whilst embracing the challenge of managing my time to a point where I could jump in and out of as many as 10 projects on a given week.
Comer Group, London, GB, Architectural Assistant, Part I
I moved to London not long after I completed my bachelors degree, to take a job with residential developer, Comer Group.
Right away, I was thrown in on large-scale developments based in and around London. Each of these projects were at various stages; some were on site, others in the planning process, and some in the early stages of design. Working in such a fast-paced environment was a fantastic learning experience and definitely allowed me to grow as a professional.
Working for Comer Homes, my main responsibility was to link the outsourced Architectural design (Plus Architecture, SOM, Upchurch Associates) and the on-site operations. I also had some individual design input when I was asked to take on a private project for one of the company directors. One of the great advantages to my time in London was the diversity of work with which I was actively involved. From working on apartment layouts for tower blocks, to designing traditional fireplace surrounds for a conservation project, not many graduates can say that they have been lucky enough to work on such a wide range of projects so early on.
Beatty Harvey Coco Architects, LLP, New York, NY, US, Summer Intern
Following my second year at university, I got my first taste of life within a busy architecture practice, through a summer-long internship at Beatty Harvey Coco Architects in New York. Primarily, my duties included those typically expected of an intern - Printing, document control, furniture plans, electrical plans - but I was thrilled by just how readily my employers were willing to throw design work my way. The images shown here are from a Hurricane Sandy restoration project (Coney Island Public Library). My design input on this project consisted of 3D modelling some of the furniture designs, and also putting together a wall mural using images from the mid twentieth century gathered from the Brooklyn Public Library archives.
University College Cork, Ireland, Cork, IE, MArch, Master of Architecture
The design and dissemination of my thesis project aims to scrutinise the ways in which Venice has conducted itself through history and how the emergent mythologies, spatialised through architecture, might inform a proposal that seeks to meet the challenges faced by contemporary Venice. It is an investigation into the city’s relationship with its history, its citizens and its visitors.
The design proposition is a newly constructed landscape for medical tourism within the Venetian lagoon, occupying a territory immediately north of Poveglia - an island revered within circles of paranormal speculation. The programmatic direction is derived from Venice’s history - as a city perpetually preoccupied with maintaining its image – and a design methodology derived from the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova, a man obsessed with beauty, social standing and medicine in equal measure.
The processes and economic model developed for this new landscape can be understood in relation to a wider national context – with Italy already ranked ninth in the world on the medical tourism index. Here, visitors can indulge in the emerging trend of ‘lunchtime procedures’ as well as the more elaborate transformative rituals of plastics and cosmetics.
This thesis proposes to augment the existing tourism machine currently operating on Venice, with the understanding that the city will soon be required to make decisions of serious economic and social consequence regarding the number of tourists allowed into the city daily. A reduction in this number would undoubtedly result in an economic blow for a social gain and it is here, in finding a balance, that the thesis finds its foothold.
The project manifests as a web of entangled mythologies - the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova and the histories of islands within the lagoon - inducing a heterotopic environment which aligns the identities of Venice and the spectral figures uncovered through research.
University College Cork, Ireland, Cork, IE, Bachelors, Bachelor of Science, Architecture
This challenging and engaging course includes technology and cultural/contextual modules, and has a strong focus on learning through activities in the design studio. It is delivered by the Cork Centre for Architectural Education in Cork city, a collaboration between UCC and the Cork Institute of Technology.
Students participate in formal lecture and seminars, and design studio tutorials and reviews. Much is learned from interactions with other students as well as from the academic staff and the architectural practitioner associates. Hence there is an expectation that the workstation facilities provided are made use of, between the formal series of lectures and seminars.
In addition to learning drawing skills, students are expected to become proficient in photography, model-making and digital representation of architecture.
Venice Biennale Fellowship, Grant
Having been awarded the distinct honour during my masters studies, I travelled to Venice after graduation to become an active participant in the discourse put forth by the curation team for the Irish Biennale Pavilion, “Free Market”.
My role within this position was to familiarise myself with the research material, and to engage visitors on a theoretical level reagrding the demise and opportunities facing small towns in contemporary Ireland. The pavilion itself was set out as a market square, with various architectural elements seen around the country being reinterpreted within a framework within which visitors can come, sit, listen and observe.
I felt uniquely positioned to engage on this subject, given my own experience of growing up in a small town, working in a rural community development programme, whilst also still having an overarching interest in the discussions instigated by the Biennale as a whole.
I must of course also mention, that this was a particularly special year for me to be involved in the Biennale, given that its two curators in this iteration, were of course Irish. Having submitted my masters thesis on Venice just two months prior, this expereince was almost cathartic for me, in refreshing my view of the city through a lense that is not solely academic.
