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.



week 4: renderings and samples

This week started off busy; I got a call as soon as I walked in on Monday from one of the designers, Alana, on her way to work. She had found out last minute that she had to fly down to Miami on Tuesday evening for a presentation and she needed a lot done! So we worked all day Monday and Tuesday to get renderings done showing different finish options for corridor floor patterns, nurse stations, patient rooms, patient corridors, and a patient bathroom. It was intense but I discovered that, like in school, I can work really efficiently under pressure. By Tuesday at 4:55 I had finished all of her renderings and she was ready to go! Here's some pictures of all that we did:

so many renderings!corridor floor pattern options

patient room elevations

The rest of the week was relatively slow in comparison. We lost Carolyn and Lauren, they went back to school. In their place this week we got two new interns from the University of Cincinnati (Lauren (another one) and Sam), and Haley from Mississippi State. Our intern space is getting cramped! Wednesday I got to plan a trip itinerary for a designer, Angela, who is taking a healthcare client to the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. We had a couple of great reps come in this week, my favorite was the 3-Form presentation showing their new "etched glass" like product. The rest of my week was spent ordering lots of samples, attending lunch and learns, and helping to train the new interns. 

Lauren at the intern workspaceThis is Lauren, one of our new interns form Cincinnati. She is about to start her 4th year and this is her second internship location. Lauren loves to ride horses and has a horse named Max!

ESa markets their services in a number of ways. First of all, 85% of their business comes from repeat clients. However they are constantly advertising in magazines with articles on different projects, mailers with pictures and information that go to specific client types, on their website, and they also are very involved in the community which helps to give them a good reputation. The main market that ESa targets is healthcare and education, however they are trying to build up their hospitality, so currently a lot of marketing is being done to try to attract new hospitality clients.

here is the firm's website, which is really great and pretty much captures the firm's attitude. The site features information about the company, its ideals and  mission, and a full portfolio of completed and in progress work:

ESa: people, places, perspective

here is a link to the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center project in the online portfolio that potential clients can view  (I have been helping with this project this week):

Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center

As far as strategic planning goes, the firm is working really hard to start training employees to be leaders as early as possible, always thinking about the future. The company really strives to maintain a focus on positive attitudes, a desire to work together to solve all problems, and most importantly building relationships with clients and coworkers. That is what makes ESa so successful is the relationships they have with their clients, hence the 85% repeat client base.

Accounting at ESa is accomplished in house and is overseen by the marketing director, under which a few accountants work. As far as billing hours, the timetables are set up so that employees can log hours worked on individual projects. Supplies used for each project are also logged, whether it be binders, foam core, shipping costs for ordering samples, printing, etc. The accountants sort out all of this and bill the clients. 

Here are a couple of pictures of the office:

intern computer workspacepart of the materials librarymy favorite: the view of downtown Nashville from the materials library window!

WEEK 5: CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S HALF WAY OVER

Monday I mainly did some library filing and organization. I also helped a designer organize her pictures that she took at Neocon. It was cool for me to see some of things the designers got to see last week while in Chicago. I also pulled some samples for a designer, Brenna. A designer also wanted to have me send out some fabrics to have them tested on specific furniture for Coalesse. I learned how this process works, and called a rep to order a larger sample for the testing.

Tuesday I started off the day with going back to a job site with Nick to get some additional field verifications. This was needed to get information about the load occupancy and plumbing. I also converted these verifications into AutoCAD. In the morning there was a lighting rep that presented information about LED lights. There was also another rep from Mannington that came in during the afternoon. In the downtime I did some organization of materials in the library.

Wednesday I started off the day by driving to a job site to verify existing finishes within the space and to choose a couple options for accent colors. There was also a rep presentation from National Wallcovering. The rest of the day felt kind of chaotic. I was trying to find samples for a designer, and some of the information was vague or the rep was busy and could not help me. It was a little frustrating, but the end of the day ended well with another designer giving me a project to work on. I had to order extra samples for the entire project, which includes about six different spaces, so that both the architect and IDS has a copy of the sample. Come early next week I will be receiving a lot of packages! I get more mail at work than I ever do at home. 

Thursday morning I continued to work on the large finish project. I called and emailed a lot of reps. After that I worked on a small finish schedule to include with a finish board. One of the designers planned a picnic at a park nearby the office. It was nice to see all of the designers outside of the office and to get to know everyone. Many of us have suggested this become a weekly event, which I definitely approve of the idea! :)

Friday was a quiet day at the office. Many of the designers were in and out of the office going to different meetings. I started to work on a finish board for Vanderbilt, and the rest of the day I hung down in the materials library with Melody.

Costs, Fees, and Budgets

IDS is a Steelcase dealer, this means that the company does have an in-house purchasing department. So more often than not the firm purchases their own products and goods. Occasionally the client will put the furniture out for bid, and IDS will be included in this. Simply said, IDS purchases the products and then sells them. On the finishes side, typically IDS specifies the finish and then the contractor will order the product.

Project fees are determined by the scope of work needed, the estimated length of the project, and assessing the risk of the client. The rate that will be charged is usually determined by the architect or the manager of the group (these people were discussed in the first week’s organizational chart). A fee can either be an hourly rate (flat rate) or a fixed fee. An hourly rate can also include a maximum hour. Once the designer has worked on the project for so many hours then the client can no longer be billed for those extra hours, if there are any.

Budgets, fees, and costs are handled mostly by the designer working directly with the client. From the few clients I have met, the client is pretty on top of what the budget is and how much the designer is spending on products. Melody and Yvetta are also aware of the budgets for each project, because they keep track of all the time sheets. There are always meetings throughout the project with the designer and client to talk about the project, including budget. This also helps manage the budget. Options to help manage the budget can include, alternate options that provide the same function and aesthetics but at a lower price, value engineering, and just being aware of the original budget from the start of the project.

This is Keats! She is part of the design studio, and is super fun. I have enjoyed getting to know her and look forward to getting to do more work for her.

[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.

[week.01] the other side of market square

So Steve says, Hey Michelle, do you want some coffee?

I say yes and drink about half of it. I should have known better than to drink architecture-grade coffee on my first official day back in the game. I'm not even sleep deprived yet! For the next few hours I proceed to shake despite my desperate attempts to quell the unforgiving caffiene that is now coursing through my veins. I attempt to learn Bentley Microstation and bombard Steve with a thousand questions about how to use it. 

Needless to say, now I know Microstation and it is not a struggle. Thank you Steve! 

My internship is not just on the polar opposite side of the square, it's the other side of square life too. It's dressed up in business conversations, attire, and agendas. Before starting my internship I had seldom explored the western face of the square - now after just one week I am quite sure that I have eaten at every restaurant on the square. 

I'm working at Smee+Busby Architects above Bliss Home on the square. For my first two official full-time days, we had a couple of kids from the county schools shadowing us. They told us they want to be architects because they like legos, like houses or like to draw, those kind of answers. One of them really likes Justin Bieber. 

Smee+Busby is a PC (Professional Corporation). Everybody here is a team and definitely a family. Our bookkeeper's daughter is in the office with us a lot, and she is a joy! She is a junior athlete and we are always hearing stories about her accomplishments and we are so proud of her! 

Susan is the only interior designer at the firm so she holds up a lot of responsibility. It has been really fun being her intern - I am getting a lot of great experience and exposure. She makes sure to always let me know what's going on and to show and explain things to me - she is a great mentor!  This week we prepared a few different sets of floor plans and finishes to present to our client; we are preparing for a meeting with the CEO of the corporation at the end of the week. We pull together clip-style presentation boards for an interactive meeting. The presentation is complete with furniture selections, lighting, architectural details, sample construction documents, the whole gang.  Susan gives me reign to choose things myself  - it is great working with her. She is so smart, has great stories, and I am pretty sure that she knows everybody! We have had lots of lunches and meetings with reps, and a lot of signing for USPS packages as our samples keep avalanching through the doorway. 

The really great part about the firm is that there are multiple brains at work on each project. It's so relieving to share the load with others, and to work interactvely on the same files. With each day everything on the other side becomes a lot more natural - a great feeling. 

This week's focus has really been about getting acquainted with the firm and with all of the projects that we have going on right now - we have been keeping very busy.  This week I met Amanda, a tile company representative. I didn't get a chance to get her photo, but she is a beautiful girl! She meets with us whenever we need to get caught up on current project or just want to catch up in general. 

Friday launches itself into existence and I find myself on the way to Lebanon, TN with Scott and Susan. I am at my first client meeting for the project and it goes very well. It was very eye opening and refreshing to see the actual process.

My job rocks - I'm living in a world that I already know very well, but on a side of it that I have never seen before. 

Happy Textiles of the week: 

Cute PrintSmiley Watermelons :)