[week.02] stay on the scene

9:30 on Monday morning we have a staff meeting. I give a synopsis of how our client meeting went on Friday. We all get each other up to speed on current projects. I'm finishing drawings for the morning, choosing lighting, and refining our finish selections. I spend most of the afternoon after lunch refining lighting choices and making sure that the luminaires are not discontinued.

Tuesday I get my eyes dilated at the eye doctor. Really great for close-up work, huh. I leave the doctor's office one blunder away from blindness and waltz into the firm wearing my sunglasses inside like a hollywood outcast. I assure my coworkers that I am in fact wearing them for a reason by showing off my massive pupils, and as a result nearly blinding myself into oblivion. I have never seen so much sunlight in the office before! I spend part of my afternoon with the Design Tex rep Katie (my lovely person of the week) checking out and ordering new product samples. She got us some great ones. 

Chris is back from Haiti and we have a full house. He likes to jam to good music on his headphones. Good to have the desk next to me occupied again. :) The design process is all going great - I am spending a lot of time 3DModeling.

This week's focus has been about getting final decisions made in a for a national restaurant chain, and finishing programming information for another project that we are working on. At Smee+Busby, we recognize the contract phase, programming, schematic design, design development, and contract document phase of all projects. During the contract phase, the client researches and seeks out the best firms to work with. From there, they seek out the designers, view portfolios, and narrow it down by questionnaires, interviews, informational documents about the firm, and site visits. The scope of work is determined.  During the programming phase, the designers ask initial questions about the project (i.e. the employees' workspaces, facilities, habits etc), and use surveys etc to gather information. Schematic Design is the initial design phase. Designers are brainstorming, ordering samples, and collaborating often. Final decisions and drawings are finished during the design development phase, and the contract documents phase warrants the completion of construction documents and specificatioins. 

Information here is managed by a server - we have projects ogranized keenly and are all able to access the files. If we have a joint venture with another firm, we are able to access certain files from their server via an FTP site. At Smee+Busby we have staff meetings every monday morning to get each other up to speed on the current projects and other events or updates. We constantly email each other tidbits of information or files - we are always working together. Elaine is our book keeper, and she keeps a close eye on billable hours for a project to make sure that we stay on top of budet demands. Smee+Busby is definitely involved in contract administration; we do site visits and oversee the contractor's progress. It is a very well-rounded experience. Smee+Busby is very involved and connected in Knoxville. 

Here's a peek at some things that made me happy this week. 

Floor Plan TextileTopo Map Textile

Entryway to The Bungalows; our Interior Design LoftWall in the Design Room

Cheers from Market Square.

Comments

[MBR]

Glad you see the connection of the project phases to both scope of work and client contracts. How the phases are managed is critical to a well managed business. The level of involvement you are extended is wonderful and will contribute enormously to learning the practice side of interior design. Need to add details about your person of the week. I don't see any information about Katie.