Week 9: The Ending

I can't believe it has been 9 weeks at ESa. Time sure does fly by really quickly and what a wonderful experience it has been!  

This week at work I've spent the majority of my time working with Kearra Barkley. Kearra is does some Health care but she does a lot of Education work as well. I love doing things for Kearra because she explains things thoroughly, she likes to gives me tips (which are VERY helpful) and when I ask her questions she answers them even if they are really dumb. So I've been pulling different types of tile for a project in Winchester, VA for a university called Shenandoah. It started out that I was just pulling looks but then we have started pricing things out and I've had to go back and find tile for cheaper. Kearra has taught me lots of tricks like try to buy as much from the same company as possible because then it will be cheaper and their sizes will match up. I've also spent my week pulling boards together, ordering tons of samples, and sending back lots of carpet. We are kind of in between jobs right now, I feel like everyone has deadlines within the next few weeks but right now everyone is just busy working away. I also got to spend some time this week with Leslie going over our evaluations of what it's been like at ESa. I've thoroughly enjoyed going over those with her and seeing things from her perspective and not my own. I feel like I've learned so much and they've been able to steer my in the right direction of what else I need to grow in.

What happens when you have a lot of projects and not enough space.

The design philosophy at ESa is "Anyone who has a passion for design should also have a passion for humanity." Mr. Earl Swensson himself has founded ESa around this philosophy and this is what he asks of the designers at his firm. Which I believe to be very true at ESa, before I came Abbey told me that ESa is a very special place and very different from a lot of other firms. Everyone that is there is a team, which they have done their best to make it this way. It's one thing to say that, it's another thing to actual do it. I have watched over the course of this summer as the designers have been passionate about the work they do and seen the underling message of what can we give to the people. I've seen it in the luncheons with have with different companies where we are taking about ergonomics and how can we better improve the lifestyle of nurses, make better chairs for them to sit in and design that will benefit them so they can give back to the community around them. I've been in informals where designers ask lots of questions of how things can meet code or colors we can add for the clients benefit or ways they can accomplish something impactful for the designers. These people I'm surrounded by do not only care about humanity but they care about the people they meet with and the community they work with. I think it is one of the reasons they are so good at what they do. They listen to the needs of others and try to meet them. And when they see issues and see ways they can address things they do. And people know that. The reps that come as them there opinions and how they can better their products to meet these needs. I've seen this design philosophy been lived out at ESa, which I think is a really cool thing.

AlanaThere are so many more designers I could introduce to you, I've barely skimmed the surface of all of them but I'll introduce to you one of the first people I've worked with at ESa and one of the smartest, Alana. Alana went to University of Tennessee-Martin she graduated in 2001 and started working at ESa in August of 2001. Alana is very very good at what she does. She works on Health care Design projects and I feel like she knows everyone at ESa and knows them very well. She also has really good questions she asks, and is wiling to tell people what she thinks about their product and what they need to do to benefit the needs of their clients. Not only is Alana smart but she does things really fast and she is wiling to help you learn. She is the first person who let me work on Revit and she explains things so clearly that I only have to be told once. All the interns have worked on different projects for Alana and she is usually the first person we go ask if they need help. She can always help us find something to do and has another project to give us. We like Alana not just because she gives us something to do but because we have all benefited from her knowledge. 

The Vanderbilt Plaza next to Loews where I work.

Well, I usually tell ya'll a funny story but I guess I'll finish off with a closing word instead. At ESa, I have learned a lot about: Photoshopping perspectives, label making, dry mounting, Revit, making finish boards, ordering fabrics, sending professional e-mails, and communicating. The amount of knowledge I have gained has been such a gift and I'm excited to move forward with that information and to get to use it on new projects that I have at UT. I have only praise to give ESa as they continue to do great things in the community of Nashville, Health care Design around the world and push forward to be a voice for humanity. Thanks for letting me be apart of it all! And also to my intern friends, Lauren and Anna I could not have made it through this internship without them, they have taught me so much and we have laughed so hard.

Week 7: Humes House

Door Hardware in the Salvage RoomFinancial Aspects

There are not often project fees for Knox Heritage. It differs from the typical firm or designer because a firm for example typically would has a client aimed business. Knox Heritage has a focus on restoring and maintaining history.

Knox Heritage is a non-profit business. Therefore it mostly relies on donors and grants. For example the Salvage Room receives all of its inventory from donations. The money made in the Salvage Room goes back to Knox Heritage.

This Week

The most interesting thing I worked on this week was doing research on the Humes House. We have pieces of the Humes House in the Salvage Room. It was one of the four most important historic houses in Knoxville. I learned about the history of the house and Thomas Humes who had it built. Thomas Humes was the first president of the University of Tennessee. He also was an important figure in Knoxville in many subjects. The house was torn down in the 1980s. A man named Bill Powell saved the pieces from the house with intentions of rebuilding it. However the house has still not been rebuilt.

I also finished my as-built drawings of the Fowler’s Mill this week. I also worked on inventory, price research, Nostalgia, and Westwood.

Salvage Room sign at NostalgiaNew Person

This week I am going to introduce Jeff. He is the manager of Nostalgia. He is kindly donating an area in Nostalgia for the Salvage Room to use. He has helped me several times when I am doing difficult tasks at Nostalgia. He has helped me carry large items and hang items out of my reach. He has an appreciation for vintage and historic items.

Week 6: Learning Experiences

This Week’s Activities:

Working on the IIDA Composing Great Design competition slide showsIt was great to get back into the swing of things at Lauderdale Design Group after the long 4th of July weekend! This week I was happy to continue with some of my on-going projects. As usual I kept up with my email, opening and storing packages, and keeping the materials library updated.  I also kept up with the phones, scheduled rep meetings, and did some internal laundry room cad work. This week was also a great one for me because I started my first ever file cabinet that hold my information and work that I have been doing on projects! It is so nice to stop using a folder and actually start filing things into my desk by project names. I should have organized myself better from the beginning, but now I know!

I have been working on putting together a materials board for one of LDG’s higher education/hospitality projects for quite some time now. As I stated previously I ordered all the materials being used in preparation to actually make the boards...3 weeks later, all the samples have all finally arrived! I have organized all the samples by the space that they will be used in. This will make it easier when I go to make the boards, which we are doing a board for all major spaces. For example, we will have a typical corridor board, lobby board, typical room, etc. We decided we would really like the boards to have some type of frame so I spent a bit of time researching where to purchase them and how to make them yourself. I also researched different board layout and different ways to title block the boards and label the items. We also went ahead and configured a list of the items we will need to make the boards, like double sided tape, foam core, sticky back, etc. and got those items purchased. Of course, now everything is prepared, but it is protocol that the previous phase is finished and approved before the next phase that includes the material boards can be started. So I am waiting for the okay to begin the boards. 

Company meeting with Joy, Deborah, Dani, and CathyJust like last week, creating the IIDA Competition Slide Shows has been a big priority for me this week. I have spent countless hours editing plans in photoshop and creating graphics, etc to go in our submissions. Like I previously mentioned, LDG has entered to compete in both the corporate and residential categories of the competition and have two projects going into the corporate section. We really would like our submissions to stand out and the projects to speak for themselves. It has been tricky to work with the template they gave us but keep our LDG aesthetic in tact. Overall, I think they powerpoint presentations have turned out really well and I think everyone will be happy with the end product. Keep your fingers cross we win something!

Thursday was a huge day for Lauderdale Design Group, and for me personally as a intern. I got to participate in my first quarterly company meeting! It was so much fun and a great learning experiment for me! The first thing we did was go over our mission statement and elevator statement. We made little changes as well as coming up with a design slogan to go on our email signatures, notepads, proposals, etc. We also spoke about different marketing things the company could do. We spoke about their previous first friday and how often they would like to participate, how to find local artists to showcase for first friday, and how long to keep the artist work showcased in our office. It was a great way for us to brainstorm ideas. We also talked about our personal and professional goals, companies we admire, and social media marketing. We are looking forward to the upcoming website and facebook renovations and can’t wait to showcase the amazing photographs Denise has shot for us. Thats about it for this week!

This Week’s Focus: 

Lauderdale Design Group Materials Library This week the focus is on furnishings, fixtures, and equipment resources. It is very important at LDG that we keep our resource library up-to-date and very well stocked. Since I first started working with LDG it has been one of my job descriptions to keep the library in order. LDG keeps it’s material library up-to-date in a multitude of different ways. We are constantly getting emails from reps who want to come over and present their newest products. I am in charge of scheduling those rep meeting and then filing the product samples after the meetings are over. We also have reps sending us new product samples on a regular basis that I also file away. Some reps choose to do a drop in, which does not take any time away from the designers. Instead, they will look through our library and determine what samples we need to be given and then update our library by themselves. Whenever I receive samples from reps I always let Dani and Deborah know so that they can view for future projects. 

Our materials library is organized with Tall, large black bookcases that line the right interior wall of the office. They are categorized as follows, wall coverings, flooring, paint, furniture, lighting, textiles, surfaces, etc. The loose items that do not come in a book, such as textiles and surfaces, are stored in clear plastic bins for easy access. Those bins are labeled by manufacturer name, or sample type for surfaces. This makes it extremely easy for the designers to go to the section they are looking for, pull the manufacturer, and find the product. The way our materials library is organized is very clear and concise and it took me only a couple days to get a handle on where to find what I was looking for, as I am constantly filing samples away. 

This Week’s Introduction:

Mary Holt and her 2 beautiful daughter's.This week I am introducing you to Main Solutions product rep, Mary Holt. Mary has lived in Atlanta, GA since 1985. She grew up in Greensboro, NC and graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before deciding to move to Atlanta and attend Interior Design school. Upon graduation, Mary worked in Atlanta as a designer for several years at Quantrell Mullins & Associates. She started as a junior designer but soon found that she had way too much energy to sit behind a desk all day. So she joined a multi-line rep team in 1989 and began selling both furniture and textiles. Four years later, in 1993, the owners of the rep firm scaled back, giving Mary the opportunity to continue on her own with her career. She partnered with Rick Proffitt and found Main Source in 1993. Their business was very successful and they sold primarily furniture and textiles. In 2004, they merged to create a bigger group of partners and manufacturers. Mary and the team at Main Solutions love the products they represent and watching them evolve, bringing out products that are relevant to the changing needs or designers and spaces. Mary has two children, age 10 and 8. She loves traveling to the beach to relax away from the hustle and bustle of Atlanta. She also has a wonderful white lab who is both kind and loving. While at the beach they enjoy shelling, riding waves, antiquing, and much more! 

Week 8: That time the ceiling caved in

I know you are waiting in anticipation for me to tell you what my title means, you'll just have to wait til the end.This week the pace of things were pretty normal, compared to last week when we had to through together boards at the last minute. I finished up the specs binders for Sewanee Inn, one of the designers Jenny had me come back on Monday and scan all the pages we had put together into the computer because they wanted a digital copy as well as physical copy, so I worked on that. Then I pulled together samples for Leslie for her St. Mary's project and then later in the week she had me Photoshop some floor plans. Leslie is really good at what she does, so it was great to see where these materials I was ordering were going and just see cohesively how all the project works together, so I enjoyed that. And Anna helped me Photoshop because she is a pro, it takes her like half the time to finish a project, genius Anna at it again! Besides that a lot of this week was spent putting together boards for different projects, which I have become a pro at working the x-acto knife again. And different designers create boards in different ways so we learned how to lay them out in InDesign and print them off which was nice and makes everything really neatly laidout. We also learned how to dry mount which I didn't know was an option so that was great too! I think the highlights of the week were one of two things. First, Christie called on Tuesday and was having a problem, apparently someone sent her boards to the wrong location in Colorado, some how I was volunteered for damage control of the situation and frantically called Fedex employees to figure out what was happening. Let's just say my heart was racing because Christie needed them to transfer the boards to the correct city that day because they were presenting at 7:40 on Wednesday morning. Thankfully all was successfully taken care of, but it was unnerving that I was taking to a Fedex representative that was in a room with 100 other Fedex employees who answer the phones and look at the their computer screens to track where packages are. Lesson learned for the interns, get your friends to double check the address you put and make sure it's correct. Then Thursday night we went to Post NeoCon! I didn't know this happened and was thrilled to get to meet vendors and see the new products. That was really fun and we got lots of free stuff! Not to mention I ran into some UT grads that are working in Nashville. What a fun way to celebrate design!

This is our materials list. The designers pull it from Revit and once it's ordered and they are sending it we highlight it. It's how we keep track of all our samples.

This week we discussed how ESa present to the client their design ideas. There are multiple ways ESa goes about doing this such as: books, contracts, models, renderings (interior and exterior), 3D renderings from Revit, hand renderings (interior and exterior), finish boards, digital boards, PowerPoint and loose finishes. Depending on what phase of design the job is in will determine which way ESa presents to the client. In schematics it is usually hand renderings or 3D revit renderings,sometimes models if it is a big job and obviously power point presentations in the initial design. Then these are left there. If the company is dealing with a non-profit  they have renderings prepared and leave them to help raise money for the project, they also do this with models as well. In CD's (construct document), they take loose finishes and rendered floor plans and leave them there if the client needs to look over them or if they need a reference. In DD's contractor binders are given to them for reference now and later. As well as edited renderings along with finish boards. The client gets to keep all of these and store them incase they need to refer to them or re-order materials. ESa uses Revit, Photoshop, SketchUp, and InDesign when creating these different visuals for the client. They also have a rendering department that specifically works on hand renderings and computer aided renderings. So that's a little look at how ESa deals with that presenting to the client.

This week I want to introduce to you Haley. Haley was hired last year and interned previously with ESa before that. Haley graduated from Mississippi State University in 2011. Haley is very outgoing and very involved with ESa as well as extra curricular activities around Nashville. She is apart of Young Professionals of Nashville and is also apart of ESa's kickball team. Haley works next to Emmy and is paired off with designer Molly Alspaugh, she works mostly with health care design. Haley is one of the nicest people I have ever met and always willing to help if you need to get something done. I'm pretty sure she knows everyone that works at ESa and she gets everything done on time. She is one of those people that is apart of a million things and contributes to everything and you just wonder how she does it all. We interns also have loved Haley because she was an intern and knows how to do everything. Not to mention she let us help her with the design of a physical therapy building recently, which was very exciting.

Now to the part everyone has been anxiously awaiting. I know you probably think that by saying that time the ceiling caved in you thought I was talking about the mass amounts of work we had to do this week, but I was not. Actually, the ceiling sprung a leak. So Thursday we were sitting at our desk and then it was raining really bad outside and we heard something that sounded like water dripping. And she enough in the hall outside our cubicle we see water dripping. The architects were in a frenzy running around getting different trash cans to put under it and then we noticed that a large group was gathering by a cubicle. Sure enough another spot was leaking, but this time it was bad. This nice man named Rocky was out of town and it was his desk that it was leaking at. Now, this was probably the worst possible place this could happen because Rocky has mass amounts of Vol collectors items. So they cleared his computer off his desk and started moving stuff. While we are all standing there watching the ceiling tile caving and waiting for it to bust. Well before it busted maintaince came in and stuck a hole in the tile and let it drain into the trash can. They had to do that with two other tiles, it was a crazy day and it was also humorous because then all the architects were trying to figure out what was going wrong and how to fix it. Very exciting! 

And of course have to finish off the week with a funny little photo from our comedic relief Lauren. 

Lauren modeling our newest shipment of bubble wrap.

Week 7: Holiday Week

This was surprisingly actually busier than last week, even with it being a holiday and everything! I continued to work on the Sewanee Inn spec binders which were finalized and sent out on Wednesday! I think that stuffed about 400 plastic dividers sheets if not more! But it was amazing to see how much goes into the spec binders for hospitality design and that the Sewanee Inn is just a small hotel with around 40 rooms, I can only imagine how big of a project it would be with a Hilton! I spent Monday and Tuesday working on spec binders pretty much all day long and ordering more fabrics that had to replace the fabrics I was cutting and putting into the spec binders. Wednesday I was helping finalize everything but it was pretty much a wrap by then. So I helped the other interns prepare for two projects that had to be sent out that day. One project was for Northside Hospital, this was kind of crazy because we had been working on this project then had kind of paused on the project and then the director miscommunicated with the designer and called about us having boards ready for by Monday. The designer handled it really well and we pulled together what we had, which turned out to be everything (only because we took some samples from the contractor binders) but Anna through the boards together in two hours (seriously, she's great at what she does!) then we printed off labels, found packages and sent the boards off around 4 o'clock. Then Lauren was working on another project for Shanadoe. Lauren was photoshopping more photos for the presentation boards and I had to pack up all the samples and make a list in case they liked any of the samples and wanted to keep them. Materials got packed away and boards got put together and we sent it out at 5:30! We also had to get creative because we ran out of bubble wrap, so we resourcefully used our recycled paper. (Go green!) We had Thursday off and then the majority of the staff took Friday off too, but we did not. Lauren and I came back in on Friday and immediately began working on another set of finish boards and contractor boards. We spent the whole day putting together three finish boards and then started ordering materials for another set of boards. That pretty much sums up my holiday week!

Highlighting Floor Plan for materials

This week we talked about the client/staff relationship and what that looks like for ESa. ESa works mostly with healthcare clients and a large percent of the projects they work on our continuious rennovations to these facilities through out the years. The productivity assesments for clients and square footage ratio has been used in previous projects with ESa, though they do not use these methods everytime and on every project. When designers work with clients they go through many formal and informal meetings to better understand what they want from their project and decisions are made during each of these visits. Not to mention lots of e-mails and phone conversations with their clients. I know a lot of the designers will pull things such as different paints and have them sent off to their client to okay to help them move in a different direction. Obviously in design the client/staff relationship is incredibly important to the company and they do their best to fix all issues that come about on the job and after the job, especially since they always want the client to be able to call if they need more work to be done. A way they effectively do this is the way they pair different designers and architects together as a team. In most case their is one designer that has been their for more years and a new designer that are paired together to work on the designs, the same thing goes with architects. Not every project is like this, but in doing this it enables the newer designers and architects to learn the ways around meetings and working with clients.

This week I wanted to introduce you to Sarah Woodard. Sarah is a hospitality designer for ESa and she is one of the designer I worked with on the Sewanee Inn project. Sarah is a wonderful part of the ESa team, particularly in luncheons and informals because she always has questions for the products being shown and she isn't afraid to give her opinion. Before Sarah worked at ESa she was a bartender, which works very well in getting along with clients. Sarah went back to Watkins School of Design after over 10 years of bar tending. Sarah has one daughter and spend her spare taking her on really exciting trips. She left town on Wednesday to take her to California, where they are renting a car and driving up the coast! I love working with Sarah because she is always willing to give you the wisdom she has learned and talk about what she does on her projects, she has a very specific way of doing things and excels at it. 

For the humorous things happening at ESa this week I'll have to tell you a little story.

Harry Potter Wand

On Friday Lauren and I were finishing up some finish boards and Harold (office mail delivery specialist) came to drop off some samples and boxes that had arrived. Harold does this every day, at least twice a day if not four times a day. We also get the packages that are not specifically addressed to anyone so we can send out an e-mail and search for the designer it belongs to. Well, Lauren was going through the packages and we got on that was in a skinny really fancy box and we were both really curious because it was unaddressed and we'd never seen a sample in this kind of a box. To make it fun, Lauren said we should each guess what was in the box. Lauren guessed chocolate and I guessed a wand (side note: I love Harry Potter). Lauren opened it up and to our DISBELIEF it was in fact a wand! I was in shock because it was a guess and I wasn't trying to pull a prank on anyone. We were both dying laughing and also seriously confused. Lauren continued to open the box and it said Ron Weasley's wand. We were laughing so hard, Leslie came to see what was so funny. She laughed and said it must be a gift someone ordered for their child in the office. I'll never forget the day we got a wand in the mail!