Editorial
Make Yourself at Home by Borum Kim
Borum Kim’s Make Yourself at Home explores housing, public realm and portfolio storytelling for architecture students.
On this page
Make Yourself at Home by Borum Kim is an architecture student portfolio project about housing, public realm and neighbourhood life in London’s Royal Docks.
The project is useful because it reminds students that housing quality is not only about unit plans. Streets, shared space, thresholds and everyday public life shape whether a neighbourhood feels liveable.
Project images
The project visuals support the portfolio story by showing atmosphere, public space and the relationship between buildings and everyday life.
Atmosphere matters when a portfolio is trying to explain how people use shared spaces.
The strongest housing projects explain the public realm around the homes, not only the buildings.
Project overview
Borum Kim is a Part II Architectural Assistant with an MArch and BSc from the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University. Her experience spans cultural, commercial and residential work, with a particular interest in housing and public buildings.
Her final design thesis, Make Yourself (at) Home, Inside and Outside, looks at how public realm can support housing development in the Royal Docks.
What students can learn from it
- Start with the site problem, not the image style.
- Explain how public routes and shared spaces improve the housing proposal.
- Make the relationship between inside and outside clear.
- Show who benefits from the public realm strategy.
- Use captions and headings so the reader understands the work quickly.
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Use this as a portfolio check
Before sending a Part II portfolio, check whether each project explains the site, design decision and user benefit quickly.
- Can someone understand the brief in 30 seconds?
- Does the project show your judgement, not only your software skill?
- Are the public spaces, routes and thresholds labelled clearly?
- Does each caption help the reader make a decision?
Read the Part II portfolio guide
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Next step
Read the Part II architecture CV and portfolio guide, browse Part II Architectural Assistant jobs, or submit your student project.
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If this project has made you rethink your own portfolio or next move, browse current architecture jobs or contact Architecture Social for a recruiter’s view.
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