ISABELLE LEE
Multidisciplinary Designer &  Strategist


→ Currently
At the Harvard University Graduate School of Design  
A Design Researcher at the MIT AgeLab
Member of the 2025-26 Climate Leaders at Harvard University

→ Previously
Architectural Designer turned Creative Strategist.

Shaped by radical speculation at Cook Haffner (Peter Cook, Archigram), ecological rigor at Henning Larsen, social impact at TEN-Arquitectos, and experiential storytelling at Rockwell Group. I bring a multi-lens strategic lens to complex, human-centered design challenges.

Imaginative spirit cultivated at the Rhode Island School of Design


About
CV
Work
Case Studies
The Field


NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF SANITATIONRe-Imagining Operations for New York’s Strongest
Project Details


Location
Queens, New York

Timeline
3 Months

Team
TEN-Arquitectos
Andrea Steele, Partner 
Gisela Vidalle, Senior Associate
Sam Rosen, Architect

Role
Architectural Designer

Responsibilities
Co-Design Lead/ Workshop Facilitation
User Research & Alignment Strategy
Feasibility & Compliance Strategy
Information Visualization
Value Proposition & Systems Design
Overview


The Mandate
Rehabilitate a DSNY garage facility within a $28M budget, focusing on structural work and code compliance. The Challenge

Standard municipal guidelines like the DDC “Design Consultant Guide” and DSNY Garage Design Guidelines prioritize vehicle throughput and structural durability over the health and welllbeing of the workforce.

Technical requirements often consume the entire budget, leaving "wellbeing" and "user experience" as afterthoughts, often failing to address long-term sustainability and equity, leading to missed opportunities for city-wide resilience goals.
The Impact

 De-Risked Asset: Guaranteed a 30-year life-span by meeting all structural and code benchmarks, protecting the city’s $28M capital investment.

A New Standard: “A Wholistic Rehabilitation Approach” strategy proves that strict adherence to safety and integrity is compatible witih worker-centric design, creating a blueprint for future DSNY rehabilitation projects.
 Asessment

Contextual Audit & Risk Mitigation

Performed a deep-dive assessment of the DDC “Design Consultant Guide” and DSNY Garage Design Guidelines to establish a "non-negotiable" baseline for structural safety and regulatory compliance.


Mapping Environmental & Operational Constraints

 This multi-modal site analysis identified critical failure points in the existing envelope, providing the data-backed evidence required to advocate for a holistic architectural renovation.



Spatial Mediation of Infrastructure

 The axonometric study explores the intersection of heavy industrial operations (truck plows and fiberglass cylinders) with the surrounding urban fabric, aiming to transform a utility site into a cohesive civic landmark.

Discovery

Site walkthrough and workshop facilitation

This analysis demonstrates a large number of personnel sharing the same daily sequence. As more than 6 hours of each shift is spent off-site, Q11/13 Garage Facility is rarely fully occupied for most of the day.

However, it seems as though between the hours of 6-8AM when shift 1 personnel overlap with shift 3, the building experiences the highest volume of personnel traffic.

Critical/Active work environments identified:
- Operations office
- Main Garage Area
- Locker Rooms
- Multi-Purpose Room

Benchmarking Operational Inefficiencies

Operational Overload

25% - 50% 
Current operational capacity only meets half of the recommended square footage per vehicle. Siloed Connectivity

73% 
Space deficit per vehicle, where the deficit is exacerbated by the "shared" nature of the site, where vehicular circulation for two districts (Q11/13) competes for a single access road. Future Growth

10% 

 Predicted increase in fleet size, yet the facility is already at full capacity with no room for personnel expansion. Programmatic Fragmentation


 The audit identified that forcing two districts into a static 1992 footprint has created a "friction tax" on daily operations, with non-compliant adjacencies and shared locker rooms that violate the DDC's Equity and Healthy Living mandates.
Integrative Technical Strategy

To manage the $28M capital investment, I developed a decision-support framework that separates foundational 'must-haves' from strategic 'value-adds'.

The Foundation (Critical Rehabilitation):
Prioritizes non-negotiable code compliance and structural integrity to guarantee a 30-year life-span

The Value-Levers (Strategic Enhancements):
Identifies opportunities forincreased thermal performance and DSNY Identity as hedges against future carbon-compliance penalties and rising operational costs. By first meeting the rigorous technical floor of the DDC guidelines, we earned the stakeholder trust necessary to advocate for worker wellbeing and sensory interior upgrades.

Design Principles


These five strategies are not isolated improvements; they are interdependent value-levers. By front-loading investment in the building’s 'skin' (thermal envelope) and its 'soul' (worker wellbeing), we move the facility from a depreciating liability to a future-proofed municipal asset designed for a 30+ year life-span. This diagrammatic study facilitates executive-level trade-offs by comparing the long-term lifecycle value of a thermally insulated envelope against a standard rehabilitation.

Operationalizing Resilience: By integrating Photovoltaic Arrays and high-performance MEP systems, the design moves from passive compliance to active energy generation, reducing the facility's 30-year environmental footprint.

Existing Garage Conditions (left), Renovated Garage (right)  

Ground Floor Plan Redefining the Workplace Baseline:
A side-by-side comparison of the 1992 existing state against Proposed Options 1 & 2, showing the strategic unbundling of district services to reduce operational friction.

 High-Density Efficiency:
New 30” wide mechanically ventilated lockers are consolidated to allow for a 10% projected growth in the workforce without increasing the building's physical footprint.
Programmatic Realignment:
Transforming the administrative core into an integrated Roll Call and Operations hub, creating a centralized "anchor" for both districts.
First Floor Plan Sensory Mediation:
By inserting natural light and exterior views into these core administrative zones, the design mitigates the psychological toll of a windowless industrial environment.

Flow Optimization:
The relocation and expansion of shower areas and training rooms reduce "dead time" between shifts, streamlining the transition from arrival to active service.


Equity-Led Upgrades:
The design integrates gender-specific facilities, including a Shared Female Officers Locker Room, directly addressing the equity gaps identified in the benchmarking audit.



Operationalizing NYC 80 x 50:
Visualizing the transition from a failing 1992 shell to a high-performance envelope that targets an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

 Solar Roof Gains:
Strategic deployment of photovoltaic arrays on the existing roof structure to provide a hedge against rising energy costs and meet municipal renewable energy mandates.

Technical Integration:
 A detailed section showing the layering of new thermal insulation, high-performance glazing, and structural reinforcement .



Exterior View from the Highway
Street Level View
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