Week 2 was a little bit more mellow at HOK. However, it was exciting in it’s own way. Arts and Education campaign, which started the previous Friday with guitar hero lunch, lasted all week.  There was a silent auction all week featuring some iconic pieces that unfortunately got very quickly out of my price range. I thought I might get the Sayl chair, but once it jumped to 200 I stopped bidding. On Wednesday, the campaign sold HOK coloring books, which was a huge success. On the more businessy side, this week I continued to finalize fit plans and waited for strategic planning to hand over our final program so that we could continue with detailed plans.

Intern Charette

On Thursday, we had our intern charette. This was the highlight of my week for sure. The two architecture interns and myself will be designing a rooftop garden for a non-profit in STL This project will actually be built!! Thursday the program was presented to us and we took a quick site visit and set right to work designing. On Friday, we presented our ideas to a panel, and this next week, we will present to the owner of the building.

Existing Garden of UrbanHARVESTstl founded by Mary Ostafi of HOKRooftop Garden Site with August, Mary, and MyselPerson of the Week: August is the other intern. He studied architecture at Mizzou. This week, he won tickets to Thoroughly Modern Mily at The Muny through HOK. He took the interns plus his girlfriend to see it. It was so fun!

As far as predesign, for larger projects, the company relies on strategic planners to get the exact numbers for current and for future. They use complex math strategies to determine these future needs, and then the client will have to sign off on the numbers. For example, 300 cubicles for our current and 500 for future, the same process is done for all room types. Then, the analysts had over the program to the designer. At this point the designer talks to the client, if they find any problems from a design perspective with the clients requests. For all scheduling, they utilize a massive computer program that sets dates and time frames.

The information for all projects is organized on the server. This is where all project information can be found and it is organized for by year, then, by project number. Because of the amount of information located in each file, there is a strict format for the organization of folders. There are folders for the models, programs, deliverables, and contract documents. Company e-mail is linked with the server so that all e-mails can be saved for project records.  For each project there is an E-BIM Manager who is in charge of keeping the standard format intact. The project manager is in charge of scheduling and coordinating meetings, handling more client relations stuff than the other lead designers on a team.



Comments

[MBR]

The intern charrette sounds amazing! What a great opportunity for you, and it benefits the community. Is this a program HOK does pro bono, or do they receive a fee? The Sayl chair from Herman Miller -- is this the same one that Ryann won at the IDEC conference? Lots going on for you in week 2 with all the activities in and out of the typical work schedule. The work environment sounds both stimulating, educational, professional and enjoyable. Glad you are picking up on the details of how projects are organized and the distinct phases projects follow. August is definitely the person of the week -- more like the champion of the week treating you all to great entertainment! Good work!