week 5: HOT HOT HOT in Nashville!

There is only one word to describe Nashville this week: HOT! And the office has slowed down a bit, quite a contrast to the past month at ESa. Monday and Tuesday we helped to organize incoming samples and make sets of contractor boards for about 5 different projects. Wednesday morning I got to go back to Brentwood Academy with Leslie to sit in on a meeting and then walk around with the client, contractor, and architect to discuss the project's progress. I love getting to go to the job site and actually see the projects in real life! It's so interesting to see all the little things that happen throughout the course of a project. Wednesday we had a Steelcase rep come in and do a CEU on "Environments for Cancer Care." It was a really great presentation focusing on the dignity of the people affected by cancer and how to accommodate their needs. It was summed up something like this: "Being diagnosed with cancer is bad enough, let's not have the interior environment of the hospital make it any worse." It was the best CEU that I've been to yet.

Thursday I worked on an "idea board" for Leslie Ann's senior living client. Friday was extra slow, so we took the opportunity to do lots of cleaning in the intern station and materials library (we're usually too busy helping the designers with their projects to work in the library). Then I helped Erin with some quick hand renderings of a NICU in a hospital in Texas  for a presentation to the client. This project is just beginning and they have come up with different themes for the different sections of the NICU: bugs, rain, sunshine, and flowers! So I helped render some elevation sketches to show how these themes can be portrayed in corridors and patient rooms.

Jennifer putting together color schemes with her samples

The interns helping Jennifer with all her samples

All week we have been ordering samples for Jennifer's (see photo below) ED ROY hospital in Utah. Most of her samples have come in and Friday we got to help her sort them into 3 different color schemes. Next week we will make them into finish boards so that she can present them to the client. The schemes are BEAUTIFUL! Very rich gold, bronze, and terracotta colors with neat textures. I'm really excited to see what the client chooses! Jennifer is the proud owner of an adorable puppy (I'm not a super dog person, so obviously I don't remember what kind) and she brought him to work this week!

ESa does not purchase goods in house, they only specify and then send the specs out for bidding and purchasing by outside firms.

ESa has been practicing for over 50 years, so they can easily budget and estimate the costs of projects. Most of their business comes from repeat clients as well, so this also makes estimating easier. Fees and costs are determined based on the size of a project, the time that it will take to complete each phase, and the hourly costs for different employees. Extra cost is added in for unexpected things and of course, to make a profit.

Project budgets are managed mostly by the project managers.  These employees watch hours logged on timesheets for each phase of a project based on what amount of time was budgeted. They also watch money spent on the project. If anything seems too far off from the budget, they alert the designers and make adjustments as needed. As far as the client's budget goes, when it gets to the finishes and what not, if costs need to be cut in order to stay within the client's cost range, things can be value engineered to make things more affordable.