The Woodward House

This was my last summer project in my residential class and was probably my favorite project so far.  I was tasked to remodel and design the kitchen, dining room, family room, master bedroom, and bath of my instructors home.  Ms. Baker wanted a Bohemian style and to incorporate some of her existing pieces in the design.  It was great being able to visit the space and see it in person, it made the design process much easier.

elevation of the master bathroom

I kept the overall palette neutral adding pops of color, texture, and pattern throughout the house.  Also in my design, I had to incorporate “aging in place”, to accommodate accessibility for their future use.   I

 

The Charles coffee bakery bourbon

The Charles was a fun project to work on.  In my Commerical class, we were able to design our own version of a “Sweet Shop” creating a style, name, logo, its location, and the overall feel of the place.   The only criteria of this project were incorporating green environmentally friendly products in our design.  I decided my unique sweet shop would be perfect in Cambridge, MA…The Charles coffee bakery bourbon was born.

In all of our projects, we have to develop a client profile and a concept statement.  I found this is the hardest part of my projects, putting words to my thoughts and design.   Reading a client profile and concept statement allows you to understand the client’s needs and explains your design. This is my client profile:   “Robert and Helen Jennings, successful bakery chefs, purchased an old building on Charles Street, Cambridge Massachusetts to open their unique bakery. The 1930’s building will need a complete renovation which will allow the Jennings to create the sophisticated charm of the unique coffee bakery and bourbon place while also focusing on sustainable products that will be used. Their commitment to sustainability not only carries to environmentally friendly business practices but also building materials and products that are designed into space.”  My concept statement, “The Toledano Design Group will create a sophisticated charm with a modern twist, where your first impression of The Charles might be that of a 1950’s lounge. A spirit of timelessness is created with warm shades of green, golds and vintage aged leather. Wide plank reclaimed hardwood floors and stain dark walls paneled in pine boards salvaged from a 1860’s local textile mill are a few sustainable building materials used in this space. A feeling of coziness is created with a patina brass cash wrap and a long upholstered velvet banquette paired with aged saddle leather club chairs invites vibrant conversations while enjoying a specialty bourbon drink paired with dessert. The overall ambiance of the bakery is reminiscent of the somewhat masculine style of Ralph Lauren.

Another great project to work on!

West Hampton Elementary School

.The first project in my summer commercial class was to remodel a school in the Hamptons NY.  Each student was assigned a certain grade designing the space based around the color pallet, logo, and the over all theme, coastal feel that we all developed as a class.  I was assigned to design four classrooms and an activity space for the second grade.  My approach to this design was to keep things bright and airy in the classroom with very little color on the walls and using pops of bright colors on the floor and furniture.  The color on the floor shows direction and different learning stations throughout the classroom and activity room.  I really love the way the activity space turned out.  I designed the space to inspire the student’s imagination.

 

Retail Space

Summer semester can be a crazy busy time, spending Monday-Thursday 8:30-4:30 sitting at a computer and this project we had a little over two weeks to develop. However, working on a retail space with incredible handbags didn’t seem like work.  We were given a list of retailers to pick from so I choose les petits joueurs, and at the end of this project, I was dying to own one of these incredible bags.  For this project, we had to develop retail space, visual signage, and a window display.

My design intent read, ” For Maria Sole Cecchi the 30-year-old Italian designer of the French named Les Petits Joueurs handbag collection, it’s all about communicating through a universal language. Her handbags, adorned with whimsical pop symbols, like studded lightning bolt, black and white panda faces, brightly colored poms poms, and sequined rainbows embodies a lively aesthetic. The fame of her handbags has been a quick evolution since creating her first signature bag by chance. Decorated with the word “Love” with child’s brick legos, friends and family quickly began requesting ones to buy.  The opportunity to open her second store on Madison Ave NYC will soon happen. The store’s bold youthful look is enhanced by the playful palette, cubical displays reminiscing of Tetric game, white and black graphic floor. The white walls and pop color create the perfect backdrop for the graphic patterns on the handbags to pop.”

The Healthcare Center

In this project, I was asked to design a waiting room, a logo and a nurses station for a Women’s Healthcare center. This is the client profile that was given to us to base our design around….”Moses Cone Women’s Center for Health is a new 4,468 square foot all-female facility located on Green Valley Road adjacent to Moses Cone Women’s Hospital. They offer a variety of services to their clients to include: early cancer detection, planned pregnancies, infertility, disease prevention, health management and pre and post natal care. Dr. Phillips and Dr. Tucker want to create an environment that is natural, holistic, neutral, organic, and curvilinear. They want to create a healing environment and want to incorporate healthy building and design practices into their practice.”

In every project, we develop a concept statement, which lays the groundwork for the visual components of the design. It will effectively convey your inspiration and vision for space.  My concept statements read  “Moses Cone Women’s Center is a space of calmness and serenity, where women can exhale all tensions, stress, and apprehensions and breathe in a sense of tranquility, an almost spa-like atmosphere.The over all theme captures the peace of the ocean, with water being the symbol of purity, fertility, adaptability, and healing. I will capture this feeling of nurturing through use of variations in texture, materials, and color. Sand and sea colors along with generous use of white appear to bring in natural light to lift the spirit. The pattern on the floor hints of a directional flow of water intentionally leading to other sections of the Center. Materials used on the ceiling over the nurse’s station create a sense of ocean waves, hanging chandeliers visual cues of bubbles, and the palette a calming sense of serenity. The organic forms of the nurses’ station, art, ceiling, and sculpture evokes the nature of the female body – soft curvilinear lines.

 

 

rendered using Podium 

rendered using Photoshop 

I really like how this project turned out.  It was the first time I had rendered in Podium, it gives it more of a photograph look.  The waiting room will be something I will redo do as a continuing to learn more about Podium.

 

 

The Faculty Lounge

The Spring and Summer was a busy time in my Commerical and Residential classes. I have lots of projects to get you caught up on.

My first project was in my Commerical Design class.  We had the opportunity to redesign the RCC faculty lounge area.  The existing space was in much need of a facelift!  They were looking for an inviting, functionally space, more of a lounge feeling.

My objective of this design was to breathe new life into a tired and dated space.  The concept that I developed is more inviting and more functional.  I provided a space for the faculty to rest and refuel, as well as inspiring their creativity.  The exposed ceiling and white wash brick brighten the space, while the reclaimed wood paneling and living wall add warmth and texture.  More seating areas provide room for dining and relaxing giving them that lounge feeling they were dreaming of.

I really enjoyed working on this project. It was my first time working with Sketchup and Photoshop ….so much more to learn.

The Dover House

The Dover Project is a 1950s 2700 square foot ranch styled home that I have completely renovated. Half of this house was taken down to bare studs, including the bathrooms. The house was dark and the layout was not functional, so I decided to get my hands dirty and make it what it had the potential to be. The room with the greatest improvement was the kitchen. Before, it was cold, cramped, and dated. Now, it is filled with natural light with a view to the pool, warm tones and bright cabinetry add to the new charm that the Dover House will have for a long time to come.

the dated kitchen.

The new kitchen. photographed by Chris Groch.