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Rachel Ran Yan

I am an architectural designer based in Toronto, with experience in residential, commercial, and public projects. My work is grounded in the belief that architecture should be both thoughtful and felt, clear in its logic, precise in its making, and meaningful in the way it shapes everyday experience.

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Across academic and professional practice, I have worked through multiple scales and stages of design, developing a sensibility that moves between concept, space, material, and execution. I value architecture that is rigorous yet intuitive, and I approach each project as an opportunity to create spaces that are coherent, enduring, and quietly expressive.

CORE SKILLS

  • Develop design concepts from pre-design and schematic design through design development and construction documentation, translating ideas into precise plans, sections, details, and coordinated drawing sets.

  • Produce diagrams, renderings, and visual narratives across concept design, competition, and client presentation stages, communicating design intent with strong graphic clarity and consistency.

  • Apply parametric and performance-driven workflows during concept design, schematic design, and design development to inform massing studies, façade articulation, and climate-responsive design strategies.

  • Bring working knowledge of building codes, zoning bylaws, and building systems into schematic design, design development, and permit / regulatory submission phases to support clear and buildable design decisions.

  • Work effectively within professional architectural workflows across design development, construction documentation, and consultant coordination phases, meeting project deadlines, deliverable requirements, and technical standards.

  • Collaborate across disciplines throughout design development, documentation, and construction coordination stages, supporting integrated design outcomes through clear communication and coordinated decision-making.

TOOLS

  • Design & BIM
    Rhino, Grasshopper, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Revit

  • Visualization & Graphic Representation
    Enscape, Twinmotion, V-Ray, Lumion, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

  • Environmental Analysis & Simulation
    Ladybug, Climate Studio, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

  • Fabrication & Digital Prototyping
    3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Milling, KUKA Robotics

  • Project Coordination & Management
    Bluebeam Revu, PlanSwift, Microsoft Project, Monday

  • Productivity & Additional Tools
    Microsoft Office Suite, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Nano Banana

EXPERIENCE

Project Management Associate | JY Construction | Toronto, Canada

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  • Played a key role in the renovation of multiple Swiss Chalet restaurants, delivering full interior reconstructions. Interpreted architectural, structural, and MEP drawings to translate brand standards across varied site conditions, shaping spatial composition and detailing to preserve design intent and buildability. Projects were delivered with minimal deficiencies, revitalizing existing locations into refined architectural settings.

  • Led the delivery of the newly constructed façade for Swiss Chalet Niagara Falls, completing structural reconfiguration and visual upgrades under a two-week schedule, positioning the project as one of the brand’s most distinctive locations.

  • Worked as a key member in the redevelopment and structural construction of an office project. Applied OBC requirements including egress, barrierfree access, and structural loading to review spatial configurations, integrating code logic into architectural detailing and layout decisions.

  • Independently led early-stage strategy across diverse projects, including KFC renovations and a private wellness centre fit-out, translating concepts into buildable designs and advising the design team on execution risks from both architectural and construction perspectives.

Architectural Designer | gad Architecture | Qingdao, China

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  • Led the façade upgrade of a hotel redevelopment project, preparing 4 façade proposals and supporting decision-making through iterative design studies focused on visual identity, arrival experience, and buildability.

  • Drove the development of the firm’s parametric design workflow, creating reusable templates and a component library to standardize massing studies, façade iterations, and option testing.

  • Led the design of an architectural installation for a nationwide exhibition, widely recognized for its conceptual clarity and refined spatial execution.

Architectural Designer | gad Architecture | Qingdao, China

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  • Contributed to the design and realization of a 3,000,000+ sq.ft. GFA community, including 6–8 storey mid-rise apartments, courtyard housing, a sales centre, and a mixed-use community hub. During schematic design, led massing explorations to shape architectural identity, developing spatial concepts through 10+ iterative schemes. Through design development, evolved selected schemes into resolved proposals, refining unit typologies and façade systems within coordinated BIM environments.

  • For the community project, produced 30+ floor plans and sections, and 15 unit typologies contributing to construction documentation sets, coordinating interdisciplinary drawings and advancing key sectional details.

  • Led pre-design site and topographic analysis for a 10-acre hillside commercial centre with 25m grade change, conducting GIS and climate studies to define buildable zones, access, and view corridors.

  • Developed sustainability-driven proposals for a public library, conducting passive design and performance studies to improve daylight by 18% and reduce projected energy demand by 22%, while optimizing material selections through life-cycle analysis.

Computational Fabrication Designer | Coast Design Lab | Qingdao, China

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  • Co-led KUKA-based robotic 3D printing workflow development for modular housing in a firm–university research group, supporting toolpath scripting and material calibration to fabricate a full-scale prototype.

  • Resolved robotic fabrication challenges by prototyping custom hardware configurations for material-specific conditions, increasing print stability by 30% through iterative system refinement.

  • Led the design of a kinetic shading system for a public plaza using parametric modeling. Developed a rule-based mechanism linking panel movement to solar analysis, increasing shading coverage by 35%.

Intern Architectural Designer | Beijing Institute of Architectural Design | Beijing, China

  • Supported the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic Chinese courtyard houses, restoring traditional courtyard typologies and retaining century-old materials while integrating contemporary interior programs.

  • For the courtyard housing project, conducted on-site surveys and resident interviews, translating lived needs into revised layouts and service upgrades that improved usability and occupant experience.

  • Prepared presentation materials and rapid multi-media visualizations to support interdisciplinary collaboration and design development.

© 2026 by Rachel Ran Yan

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