Week 1

My first week was so busy! I didn’t even get to sit down at my desk until the middle of my second day! The very first thing I did on my first day was grab a hard hat and head to the construction site for a walkthrough of the Cancer Institute that UT Medical is building. I barely had time to set my things down before we were off and on with the day. We walked around and made sure that everything was going smoothly on the site, which for the most part, it was. As soon as I got back my supervisor, Heather, took me to get my badge and clearance with the hospital. Before we could even walk back from the Human Resource department, Heather was notified that the Arc|Con representative was there to meet with the two of us. He showed us his new fabrics, and there I learned about HAI’s, which are Healthcare Acquired Infetions, and what a new line of fabric is doing to prevent the spread of these. Basically, HAI’s are infections people get because they went to the hospital. For example, if Amy cut her foot open and had to get stitches at the hospital, there is a chance that she may pick up an HAI such as staph if she is not careful. These HAI’s are usually not covered by insurance companies, and can be quite expensive. I learned that there are fabrics that designers can specify that reduce the likeliness of being contaminated.

 After the visit with the Arc|Con rep, Heather and I went on a hospital walkthrough. She showed me the ropes, and tried to help orient me with locations of important places throughout the hospital. Past interns warned me to wear comfortable shoes. I should have listened. We walked around the entire hospital, up and down floors, where she showed me where all our current renovations were. After lunch, we were asked to help a doctor, who had recently had Facilities Planning update the furniture and floors in her office, add more feng shui to her office. She is an alternative medicine doctor, and was very concerned about the placement of furniture in the waiting rooms. After speaking with her receptionist, we decided that we needed a few more end tables, and there we took off to Pier One, Kirklands, and HomeGoods to put the finishing touches. When we got back, there was just enough time to unload before the end of my first day.

Day two was a little less hectic. Before I even walked in the building, Heather caught me and told me we had a meeting with all the big dogs of the hospital to talk about the grand opening of the Cancer Institute. When we got back I finally got my computer log in all set up. Heather was double booked with meetings, so I attended a meeting with an LVT representative alone that day. The rest of the day I ordered samples for the Cancer Institute. Today I learned that a memo is another word for a sample!

Day three I worked on fabric selections for the furniture in the lobby of the Cancer Institute and in the waiting room of the Breast Cancer wing. I followed Heather to a meeting with the President of the hospital to discuss a donation of benches given to the NICU of the hospital. For the rest of the day I worked on fabric selections and ordered some custom artwork for a family practice office. That day I learned that maintenance matters. Crypton was specified in a project around 9 months ago and is completely worn out and filthy because maintenance has not been keeping up with the cleaning as they should.

Day four I worked independently finishing ordering finish selections, organizing the library, and other small tasks. I had a lunch and learn with a lighting distributor we are working with for the Cancer Institute. Today I learned that if you specify a bench longer than about 4’ in a hospital, there is a good chance you will have people sleeping on it, so try to keep all benches 4’ or less.

Fridays I work with Mary Beth on her research project for healthcare design.

The Facilities Planning Department of UT Medical Center is very different than working with a firm. There are no billable hours, there is no bidding process, and the clientele are different. This is nice because if the two interior designers, Heather and Rebecca, feel like I should learn something and we have a block of free time, they have that freedom to go very in depth with an explanation.

Since things work so differently at UT Medical, there is no actual organizational chart to follow. Heather, Mary Jane (the architect), and Ted (the director of facilities planning and the engineer) all work on projects together. The only other people in Facilities Planning are Rebecca, who works under Heather, a purchaser, and a CAD specialist.

HeatherThis is a picture of Heather. I have been following her like a little duckling this week and have gotten to know her quite well. She has two little boys: Morgan and Tristan. They are adorable and she has got hilarious stories about them! Heather is the Project Manager and the Interior Designer here at UT Medical Facilities Planning. In her free time she likes to go shopping, garden, and pinterest!

WEEK 2: THE EXPERIENCE CONTINUES

The week started off slow; Monday I mainly organized the materials library. Tuesday, however, I started by selecting samples for a designer for an apartment. I then made a materials board with the samples and lighting the designer approved. Wednesday was busy. I started the day off with making a materials board for a designer and then delivery the board to the client. Another designer had me pull new samples for a small, colorful space. I also delivered a set of drawings to a client. Thursday I helped a designer reorganize the existing finish system for a large client, HCA. This took most of the day. IDS also had a pizza party for all the employees for lunch. This was fun and allowed me to see most of the employees all together. Friday I assisted a designer by scanning files into the computer so all of them are easily accessible.

Design Phases

Because IDS does not typically work on projects ground-up, projects differ on where they start within the design phases. Even though the projects are not completely new, many projects still follow the typical order of the design phases.

• Programming
• Schematic design
• Design development
• Contract documents
• Contract administration

IDS follows all design phases no matter the size of the project. Some projects involve only one designer, but some larger projects will involve several designers. Most of the time projects do not overlap based on which group receives the projects.

Information is communicated between designers through face-to-face communication, e-mail, and phone. The same methods are also used to communicate between clients and designers. Similar to at UT, there is a server that can be accessed on all computers that has all of the projects that the company has completed and is currently working on. Each project has a project number with different phases within the project, such as space planning and contract documents. At the beginning of each project a contract is drawn up between the client and IDS that determines the time schedule and order of the phases. Time sheets are also kept by each designer and submitted each week to a manager to be approved.

IDS is involved in all phases of design, programming through contract administration. Typically IDS does not take part in ground-up construction. There are several steps that a designer will complete while in the contract administration phase, such as walk-throughs, punch lists, site visits, and construction supervision.

Name: Sarina Walker

Position: Project Designer

Interesting Fact: Nominated as the Woman of the Year 2012

Responsibilities: Part of the Design Studio; takes part in all design phases. Works with other designers and clients. Sarina is also my boss; this means she gives me projects to work on and will give me feedback on my work.

I also included an organizational chart from last week to include a visual in addition to the descriptions found in Week 1.

week 1: feeling very welcomed!

I have completed one week at ESa, and what a full week it has been! I absolutely love the company, everyone is so incredibly nice and friendly! The atmosphere is very positive and everyone does everything they can to help each another get projects done. I am one of about 8 student interns at ESa; Carolyn and Lauren are the two other interiors interns (see photo below!) My first day Carolyn and Lauren got all the interns together to go to lunch so that I could get to know them all - it was so sweet and I have felt so welcomed! It has been extremely helpful, they have spent the entire week trying to help me get settled in and teaching me all they know. I have had SO much fun getting to know and work with these girls this week!

The company has a ton of projects underway currently, and most of them are at about the same stage, the design development and construction documentation stage. This means that we have been ordering literally hundreds of samples and making many contractor boards this week! I learned that a contractor board is a binder full of samples of all the finishes used in a project given to the contractor and client to make sure everyone is on the same page with what finishes have been chosen. I have already gotten to know and work with so many of our local reps in contacting them to get finish samples this week. Our local reps are constantly in the office, we usually have luncheons or informal meetings with different reps at least 6 times a week (I am going to gain 50 pounds this summer because they all bring food). But it has been a great opportunity to learn about new materials.

Earl Swensson and Associates is made up of about 150 employees. They work primarily in healthcare (all of the projects I have been working on this week have been senior living facilities or hospitals). I asked a couple of the designers to explain the organization of the company to me and they described it as being very horizontal. There isn't much hierarchy at all; no junior or senior designers. Everyone under the president and principals is just equal. Which helps describe why everyone gets along so well in the office.

Carolyn and Lauren!

This is Carolyn and Lauren one day after we had eaten lunch outside.  They are both in their second year of interior design school at the University of Cincinnati. They have been co-oping at ESa since March and will be here until mid June.  A fun fact about Carolyn and Lauren is that their apartment is just a 5 minute walk from ESa and it is located right next to a hostel. They hang out at the hostel all the time and have apparently met some really cool people from all over the world that come to Nashville to play music. These girls have been so much fun to work with and have been so welcoming! This week has made me even more excited for the rest of the summer!

Week 1

Monday was my first day interning! I was pretty nervous, but when I first walked in the office everyone was slowly trickling in and very welcoming. First thing they got me setup on a computer and got my intern email up and running. Then we had a Monday morning office meeting in the materials library to talk about all the projects going on and everyone's to do list for the week. I even had a to do list! I was excited they already had a list for me. Monday I learned how to do a signage plan, an artwork plan, and log a time sheet. Monika, one of the designers, was very helpful in teaching me how to do the signage and artwork plans. (My fun fact for Monday was MOB=Medical Office Building). Tuesday I was given the task to design a floor pattern for an NICU. After a few patterns were decided upon, I dropped the floor patterns into Photoshop to add materials. (My fun fact for Tuesday: The firm has been in 4 trade magazines just this month). I spent all day Wednesday getting a rendering done of a NICU Bay so one of the designers could take it to her client meeting Thursday morning. Once I finished I printed off a hard copy for her and emailed the architects a copy as well. (My fun fact for Wednesday is that a rendering can be done in 5 hours!)  Thursday Alli taught me how to do record drawings. Friday I finished up the record drawings and got to pick carpet samples to order for a restaurant they are remodeling. I also got to meet an independent sales rep that reps furniture and fabrics. The girls say she is one of their favorites! I have learned so much in just the 5 days of interning.

Organizational Chart

The firm is a sole proprietor. There are only 7 employees. Their main focus is healthcare, but they occasionally do other projects for some of their clients as well.

Note: Furniture Specification Designer ultimately reports to Principal, but helps each designer with each    project.

Organizational Chart

Lorraine

 Lorraine is the furniture specification designer in the office. Her job is to assist all the designers with specifying the furniture for each project. She also helps the other designers when they need a hand with any part of a project. Lorraine's desk is right behind me, so she keeps a close eye on me! She is the go to person in the office for any computer questions anyone has. When Lorraine isn't at work she is baking, dog sitting, or zumba.

Week 1

Week 1: This week I began to meet people in the company, as well get familiar with the materials library. The first day I went with a designer to assist with field measurements. I also put these measurements into AutoCAD, and drew an elevation for proposed changes within the space. I also selected two material options for a designer, and created the boards for both material options.

Organizational Structure of the Company

The company is a corporation with about 100 employees. IDS is known as a Steelcase furniture dealership, but they are also a design firm. Typically, the company just does existing buildings, rather than ground-up/new construction projects. The company is broken down into several smaller areas that focus on a specific part of interior design. All sections can work together depending on the particular project.

Tom Foster – CEO

Steve Meek – CFO

            Trent Sullivan – VP Interior Architecture and Design

            Charlotte Gramling – Director of Furniture Planning

            Kyle Countryman – Director of Sales and Education

            Daryl Dunn – Director of Sales: National Accounts

            Travis Harter – Director of Sales: Commercial Sales

            Yvetta White – Controller

Specific Groups

• Interior Architecture and Design (Design Studio) – responsible for most commercial projects that involve space planning and client interaction
• Furniture Design and Planning – responsible for ordering furniture and checking space planning to make sure all furniture will properly fit into the space
• Education (Higher Education and Special Projects) – responsible for all work related to Vanderbilt, as well as other higher education projects
• National Accounts (Healthcare Purchasing Group Clients, Nationwide Clients) – responsible for healthcare projects
• Commercial Sales – responsible for all other projects relating to business clients, and other small projects

 

Name: Nick Green

Position: Intern

Interesting Fact: Goes to school in Pennsylvania and has interned with IDS before.

Responsibilities: Assisting designers with projects, such as selecting materials and putting drawings into AutoCAD. Helps with organizing the materials library, as well as ordering samples to keep the samples stocked

Website: Interior Design Services, Inc.