Summer Intern Turns Full-Time Designer in Philadelphia Office

We are excited to announce a new member of The Sheward Partnership team! Sophia Clampet-Lundquist has returned to the TSP team as a full-time Designer, after many summer internships at our firm during her time at Penn State University.

A native Philadelphian, Sophia grew up in University City and became enamored with the Victorian homes around her. Sophia quickly became interested in recreating these homes on paper, particularly in plan. This became the precursor to a fixation; ‘doodling’ architectural floorplans on all her notebooks. When it came to applying for colleges, the field of architecture was a no-brainer.

Sophia received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from The Pennsylvania State University in 2022 with a minor in Architectural History. Her interest in sustainability drove her to join Penn State’s Students for Environmentally Friendly Design (SEED), and in her fourth year she successfully applied for a Student Engagement Network grant along with other club members in order to attend the Greenbuild Conference and Exposition. At this convention, Sophia gained additional knowledge on the future of green building by connecting with professionals who are leading in advancements of eco-friendly design.

A snippet of her third-year project in a nature center, which was located primarily underground and integrated green roof technology with rammed earth dug up from the site.

Eager to explore different environments and seek out new opportunities, Sophia spent her last year of schooling abroad. For the first semester abroad, Sophia attended the DIS – Study Abroad in Scandinavia school in Copenhagen. In Denmark, Sophia studied the minimalist and naturalistic architecture of Scandinavia. She loved living in a city designed for bikers and pedestrians and taking one of the most efficient public transportation systems in the world everyday to studio. She traveled south to a warmer climate to study in Rome at the Pantheon Institute, conveniently located in the heart of Rome. In Rome she was surrounded by centuries of architecture to learn from and enjoyed the delicious food and aperitivo.

Since her first year of study, she has interned at The Sheward Partnership and primarily worked on affordable housing projects, education, and The Sheward Partnership Office! TSP has given her the opportunities to develop her skills and engage with the practicalities of environmental design.

In her free time, Sophia enjoys playing tennis and is an avid Amtrak user to visit different cities with friends.

Below are renderings from her fourth-year collaborative project, working alongside another architecture student and two students in landscape architecture. The intent of this project, Renewed Fabric, followed a vision to reweave the urban fabric of Downtown Cleveland through a new mixed-use development.

During her and her group’s trip to Cleveland, they were able to experience the city’s unique urban character of towers, markets, arcades, and gateways: all which were formative to the history of Cleveland and endured numerous decades of metropolitan decay and disinvestment. These forms inspired the group dive deep into the history of the site, to consider the socio-economic forces that shaped it over time, and to study how this history could inform a path forward.

Site breakdown

Entry: The landscaping was broken down into three spaces: a raised planter that forms a mall of tall grasses directing pedestrians to the piazza, a tiered plaza adorned with quaking aspens that serves as an entrance to the hotel, and a tree bosque and lawn space that slopes up to meet the existing mural on the backside of the Salvation Army. The hotel and apartment building dominate the entry, with the market and arts co-op forming a gateway into the piazza.

Hotel: The hotel became an entry point into the site. Large windows on the facade faced the mall and directed visual focus from outside into its spacious lobby, accompanied by a tiered path following along the mall to the entry. A green roof separated part of the lobby and restaurant to the guest floors.

Market: Garage doors on either side open the entry plaza to the piazza, the marketplace can be opened or closed according to seasonal changes in weather. Exposed HVAC and structural systems abide to the warehouse-style of the surrounding neighborhood and post-industrial past of the city. The brick facade pays homage to existing buildings on the site

Apartments: The apartment building was most prominent structure on the site and abides to similar concepts as the market place, with large warehouse windows that open up to the surrounding balconies. Luxury units face the expansive Cleveland skyline, and all units allow for an integration of indoor and outdoor space in warmer climates.

We are excited to have Sophia back in the office with us. Welcome, officially, to the team, Sophia!