Matiu Masterplan

The project was concerned with altering and improving Matiu’s infrastructure to cater for its residents, visitors and native flora and fauna in a way that supports and encourages the preservation of Te Ao Maori and fosters new kinds of learning.

ReClaimed Library 

Shelly Bay has undergone various transformations over the past century. Changes to its use, geography and cultural connections have made it a controversial site to work with. All in all, the land of Shelly Bay is seen as very valuable real estate in the eyes of urban developers.
The reclamation of land that now makes up the coastline of this bay poses an interesting idea on the thought of reclamation. Land reclamation seen as a physical action resulting in an extended shoreline.
This project aims to question the idea of land reclamation in a more social and cultural context. How has the ownership of land affected its users, as well as its shape and geography?
Through the implementation of Maori design principles, a design process encompassing site and function could be developed. This ultimately led to the conception and refinement of a form that is fit for its contextand its programme.
This project proposes the design for a public branch library of 400sqm in size.
The library will be located near the southern end of Shelly Bay and will be visible and accessible from the main road.

Construction: The High Rise

Following guidelines stated in Guy Marriage’s “Tall”, this three-phase construction project follows the design and in particular construction documentation process of defining the design of a high-rise building. The documentation drawings range from large-scale site plans and structural floor plans of the whole building, to small construction details concerning the materiality and joinery of the building’s structure. The project was split into the phases: the structure, the core and the facade.

Te Aro Depression Recovery Centre

The Te Aro Repression Recovery Trust wanted to design a depression recovery facility that could see 40 people undergoing a 6-week intensive treatment. The research and subsequent design parameters outlined are intended to facilitate the design process and support the brief requirements of this space.

Animate Network

Following exploration of ant colony and tunnel formations, an investigation of form through biomimicry could be carried out. Project one consisted of altering variables and parameters in pouring wax into water to observe organic and fluids forms that formed in the solidified wax. These forms were then cast into a concrete+plaster mix and left to set before removing the wax, and leaving a negative impression of these tunnels. overall mimicking the forms and qualities of underground networks.

Network: The Social Scaffold

NETWORK aims to collate the processes involved in designing a pavillion-like structure that create a space in which people feel simultaneously surrounded by, and completely detached from, the digital and physical connections of the world around them.
This study was born out of the ashes of crumpled up and burnt drawings depicting conceptual thoughts around the experience of inhabiting Wellington’s Civic Square. As the influence of the Square itself loses momentum, the transient nature of the invisible webs connecting people to place come to the foreground.
Illustrations, diagrams and dreams come together to debate the place for concrete and consience in our interconnected city.
As NETWORK focuses on digital and physical connectivity across the land, both physical and digital technologies have been explored and exploited, and ultimately woven into the formal iterative process to produce a pavillion worth listening to.

House on Onoke

House on Onoke proposes a design for a holiday home near the mouth of Lake Onoke, located in the Wairarapa, New Zealand.
Limited by regional construction materials and the brief requirements of housing a couple and not exceeding 50m2, the design reflects the identity of this area through materiality and form.

The house is composed of an open kitchen and dining space, a small living room and central staircase that climbs up to the bedroom and bathroom. The house is intended to act as a “home away from home” and is modelled with he idea of the Kiwi bach in mind.

Heke Rua Archives

Heke Rua Archives proposes the design for a new archive facility and museum near the existing Turnbull library in Wellington City. This is to be the place where our most valuable historical documents are housed and preserved, and where they can be viewed by members of the public. Combining futuristic technology with a strong sense for materiality and structural integrity is at the core of this design’s success. Through study of the solutions that this architecture could contribute to the city of Wellington, and a careful analysis of the site’s conditions and surroundings, the proposed design considers the significance of the past, present and future and how these important settings can be manifested into one cohesive concept. The design connects public and private spaces through a central atrium space that opens up to both workspaces and the archive repository itself. The repository space is organised and maintained by automated technology that ensures the longevity of the valuable archival material, and can be viewed by the public from the central atrium space, emphasising the significance of the archived material and showcasing its adaptability to future technologies.

Metabolic Museum

This museum changes as you do. It changes as our society evolves and reinvents itself under the guise
of globalisation and technology improvements and developments. We must prepare for a future in which modularity offers opportunities to create spaces that adapt to the lives of people experiencing architecture.
The design for the Metabolic Museum takes into account the specified programme of creating a building that can showcase New Zealand’s identity and this nation’s strive to move into a more inclusive future. Adapatability is key to understadning and sharing, and our architecture should be setting the tone for frameworks we may want to see being implemented in New Zealands social and cultural future.

info.

I am an architecture graduate living in Wellington, New Zealand.

I completed my Bachelors in Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington in 2022 and have since been travelling and working in a range of fields. 

Over the past two years, I have gained experience in architectural drafting and design, manufacturing and building. I am available for full-time work in Architecture.

2022

Te Aro Depression Recovery Trust: Design and drawing

Creative assistance and consultancy in spatial design of a new depression recovery centre.

2022

Freelance: Residential Property Draughting 

Producing floor plans of residential buildings for Real Estate companies. Including site visits, measuring of spaces, drawing and digital draughting.

2022

Gerard Dombroski Workshop: Furniture-making

Design assistance and furniture manufacturing. Design, drawing, planning, metalworking, soldering and assembling.

contact.

email: info@ashaburdess.com
tel: +64 21 141 5998

Instagram:  @ashaburd
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