The City of Easthampton is in the process of implementing road improvements along Ferry Street where it meets with Lovefield Street. Working with a team at McMahon Associates, I created a series of detailed drawings from engineering plans and a final perspective rendering of how the project may look once completed.
The creation of these images was to invite the general public to envision what a revitalized Ferry Street may look like and to generate excitement for its future. The improved roadway includes transforming its intersection with Lovefield Street into a roundabout, improving connections with the Manhan Rail Trail, and creating an entirely new boardwalk along Lower Mill Pond.
The Town of Burlington, Massachusetts identified a desire to create streetscape design guidelines to improve traffic circulation, implement the Town’s vision of reducing congestion while maintaining capacity, and increase the level of comfort in how these streets feel and function for all users. Our team at McMahon Associates worked with the town to create a technical memorandum on streetscape typologies, which provides a starting point for formulating street design guidelines for the Town of Burlington in the future.
This memorandum defines a hierarchy of existing street types in Burlington, proposes typologies for design guidelines for each street type, and provides a toolbox of street design elements for use in future projects. Based on the purpose and function of each road type, as well as the town’s goals, each road type received recommended dimensional requirements taking into account the minimum requirements specified in the 2010 Americans with Disability Acts Standards for Accessible Design, and the recommended minimums from the MassDOT Project Development and Design Guide, National Association of City Transportation Officials , Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The recommendations from this memorandum serve as an initial roadmap for the Town of Burlington to follow as it continues to improve its street network for all residents and users.
As part of a team from McMahon Associates, I developed conceptual renderings for two proposed transit mini-hubs located in the greater Portland area. These renderings were created to complement existing engineering drawings of the proposed mini-hubs, which feature improvements to bus stop shelters and landing areas and propose amenities such as bicycle parking, bollards, waste and recycling receptacles, and trees and vegetation.
The purpose of the Transit Stop Access Project is to improve access to fixed route bus service throughout the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS) region. The outcome of this project phase was the development of conceptual design plans and cost estimates for approximately 120 stops and one to three transit mini‐hubs, as well as targeting bicycle and pedestrian improvements at these stops.
“Complete Streets” is a concept that reimagines North America’s transportation system. Complete Streets are defined as streets for everyone, made to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities. While this definition is meant to allow a wide spectrum of players and perspectives to enter the conversation around street redesign, not all communities and population groups appear to have equal value and inclusion in Complete Streets public processes.
This research report on Community Impact & Complete Streets aims to answer the question: If and how can Complete Streets policies better address equity and social inclusion through their creation, implementation, and coordinated municipal planning? The report reviews three case studies of municipalities where local governments have enacted Complete Streets policies: Somerville, Massachusetts; Baldwin Park, California; and Portland, Oregon. The report reviews existing literature to provide larger context for these cases, and concludes with key findings and recommendations which city planners may use to improve their own Complete Streets policies and related projects in the future.
To view or download the entire report, click here.
Free City is a non-academic biannual publication of the School of Urban Planning, McGill University. A student-run publication, Free City was born out of the desire to reflect on the built environment outside the classroom. Inspired by Cité Libre, a small but influential anti-establishment Quebec-based journal of the 1950s, Free City is a celebration of ideas, thoughts and experiences that uses the city as its podium.
As a Technical and Design Editor, I worked with the rest of the Free City team to create written and visual content for the publication’s covers and interior pages, including the piece featured here on the shifting nature of queer spaces in Montréal for our issue on the subject of fake in urban planning. This publication also featured a unique tête-bêche style binding, with two front covers rotated 180° relative to each other, allowing readers to being their literary adventure from either end of the issue.
Place Vendôme is a new development project designed for the neighborhood of Côte-de-Neiges in the city of Montréal. Located close to the new, expansive McGill University Health Centre medical campus, the site boasts high connectivity and surrounding street life.
Place Vendôme is a mixed use development, with food and shops on the first floor, specialized medical offices on the second and third floors, and residential units located above. The building also allocates 30 affordable short-term units for families with children being treated at the MUHC Montréal Children's Hospital. The building design optimizes the amount of light available to the development's large, landscaped public square at the ground level. Place Vendôme is designed for construction in three phases over the course of 4.5 years using pro forma analysis to ensure its viability and long-term success.
As part of a four-person team working under the name Lokal, we reviewed the City of Montréal's plans for developing a small area of downtown called the Quartier des Gares. Named for its location close to a number of train stations and transit hubs, this area contains many parcels ranging from a hockey stadium to high-rise condominiums to vacant lots. Our primary goal, on behalf of the Peter McGill Community Council, was to review current plans for a proposed park, obtain community feedback, and develop recommendations based on our findings and analysis.
While we found many elements proposed by the City fit within the neighborhood fabric, we were able to offer suggestions to improve the park's overall layout, surrounding street connectivity, and design elements based on best practices for concepts like gender mainstreaming, all-seasons design, and universal accessibility. We were also able to review the City's current plans to include social and affordable housing in the area and offer suggestions for how the Peter McGill Community Council could leverage new laws to influence developers and build more housing for families and lower-income groups in the future.
Using ArcGIS, I created a series of maps based on recent Canadian elections for the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA).
The first map shares simple election results from the 2015 Federal Elections. The map delineates whether each electoral district (riding) voted Liberal or Conservative, and by what margin they won over the next most prominent party.
The second map tracks changes that occurred between the 2011 and 2015 elections, where the Conservative Party lost a substantial number of ridings to Liberal politicians. The map takes into account the 2013 change in riding boundaries and reflects the switch in population composition. It also takes a closer look at key ridings that lost Conservative seats by a close margin, and graphs below illustrate some of their demographic information.
I designed a series of graphic elements as part of a larger effort coordinating a 300-person conference for A Better City in Boston, Massachusetts.
The design elements were created both to enhance the legibility and atmosphere for attendees, and to showcase A Better City's new rebranding. Physical design pieces included an informational pamphlet, on-site signage, and other promotional materials, as well as a coordinated event webpage.
My experience abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark compelled me to record my observations and experiences of public space.
This series of drawings explores a number of facets that shape the human experience of pubic space: where private meets public, community investment and its impact on the public realm, how lighting conditions affect space, and many more.
As an exercise in developing brand identity, I created a series of branding elements for the fictional upscale furniture retailer, “Decor.”
The process of creating the Decor brand began with creating a unique typeface for its name and branded materials. From there, I explored various color palettes and complementary patterns to create an overall feel for the brand and its customer. This was then expanded into a full suite of tags, bags, business stationery, and a landing webpage.
I designed a high-quality art book exhibiting the work of nature artist, Andy Goldsworthy. His work is made to celebrate the ephemeral qualities of the natural environment; he often spends many days of preparation to snap one photograph of his sculptural creations.
I used the seasonal color palettes visible in his work to inform the scheme and layout of the book, as well as his personal reflections on the creation of certain pieces. The book is bound with a soft suede spine.
