Weekly Update

Greetings,

December is finally upon us. I still can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It seems like just the other day that I was starting my first day here at Nightingales. This was somewhat of a short week as I still had leave-days outstanding, one of which was taken on Monday past.

As you may know from my previous update, the Papworth project is no longer being worked on, therefore therefore there has not been much work in the office. When I returned from my long weekend, I was informed by one of my colleagues that Nightingale Associates will be retrenching quite a few employees, whichn includes all of the contract employees. The firm will be retrenching employees due to the lack of work coming in. Hence, there will not be enough work to accommodate for the entire staff in the new year. In addition to this, Nightingales will no longer be employing students. Seems like the recession is not taking a rest, but let's hope that things turnover soon enough.

Aside from the bad news, we as the students at Nightingale Associates were required to do a presentation on our Hub projects as well as our Major Integrated Project which took place in Grabouw. One thing I must admit, I was abit nervous at first when doing the presentation and trying to memorise what I wrote down for my presentation speech. However, the more I didn't look on the page on what I wrote down, the more comfortable I felt speaking about the respective topic. I felt that somehow this was my breakthrough in improving my presentation skills.

The only next big thing to look forward to is my results for the year. I am patiently waiting in anticipation, just a few days to go and then I'll know. Peace and Blessings people.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings,

Finally the last hurdle has been reached with my student work. I've finally managed to upload my essay for my MIP (Major Integrated Project). Now all I have to focus on is finishing the rest of the year at Nightingales. It's not that much time to fill though, because the office closes in the middle of december.

To keep you guys updated on what's happening at the office, in my case its always on the Papworth project. We got all the work done for the deadline last week friday. There was no overtime required, because our team worked hard and pushed through to get all the work done in time. However, despite all our efforts in finishing the required drawings, we got word in from our Director that Papworth is currently experiencing some controvercial issues between the contractor and the client. This resulted in the project being put on hold. I was so dissapointed that all our hard work that the team put into this project, was being sidelined until further notice. Our Director noticed this and then came up with a solution. He suggested that we complete the Papworth Revit Model to immense detail, so that it can be reviewed by IBI. The Revit Model will be reviewed so that we at Nightingales have record of what the Cape Town office is able to produce with Revit. The better reviews we get, the better the chances there are for Nightingales to get in more projects. So all in all, that made it a bit better. I know that we produced an excellent Revit Model and I'm positive that it will recieve some great reviews.

Its strange how the project of Papworth reached its final drawing up design phase, and then got put on hold almost immediately thereafter practically when our academic year has reached its end. I guess things have a way of working themselves out. Peace and Blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings everyone,

After what has been a very busy week lastweek, it has still not come to a stop just yet. As last week was one hectic week at the office, as well as having to get together some of the final work for student work. So I had to juggle both my office work along with my student work.

We were requested by our Director last week that we had to keep 3 days vacant, for possible overtime. However we only worked 2 days overtime last week. That's still a lot, because those are 2 12hour days. That is sure to drain you. More layout changes were recieved on the Papworth hospital, and therefore it was back to having to remodel these changes on Revit. One of the most outrageous things though, is that the changes were sent through the week before, and the deadline for issue was scheduled for Friday 11th Novermber. Although our team was already sceptical from the beginning whether we would make the deadline or not. The Thursday night, which was the night before the deadline, more changes were recieved while we were already working overtime and they requested the changes be done for the next day. I was so upset, and thought to myself that those people sending the work had no consideration. I then suggested to my supervisor, Lennie, that he send them an email on the matter. Once he did that, they were kind enough to extend the deadline, I was so relieved.

After all this work, I feel like I need a good long rest. I think I should take leave, good thing that I still have 5 days of leave to take for this month alone. I'm excite. lol. Peace and Blessings to all.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings everyone,

It has been quite a while since th last time i've updated you guys on the progress I've made over the past few weeks, that's because it's been so hectic. However I had a great learning experience over these past few weeks, because I've so much more in these past 2 weeks than i have in the previous 2 months.

So we as the 2nd year architecture students went to site in Grabouw to start working on the St. Michaels' school prject. I was so excited to start working on the project as it was a first time experience. We built a Pergola for St.Michaels' Primary, which strectches from the classrooms, all the way to the playground and jungle-gym area. We also include timber decking that steps outside the classrooms, as well as a small staircase the depresses toward the jungle-gym area. Taking part in this project for the school really taught me alot, not only about aspects in this field of work, but to also appreciate everything that we have been blessed with in our lives. We successfully finished the project lastweek friday, including all finishes and final touches. It gave me great pleasure to know that I was part of giving back to the community, and seeing the look on those childrens' faces really made this year worthwhile.

It feels so different being back in the office, I wonder what my supervisor has in store for me this week. I really hope it's nothing too hectic, because I still feel a bit drained from working in Elgin. There's only a month and a half left for me here at Nightingales. I can't believe how fast this year has passed us by. I know I'm going to miss the staff the most. Peace and Blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings,

I apologize for not updating you on lastweeks events, things came up and it just slipped my mind. This week was cut short due to my site visit to Hermanus on Wednesday.

It's been a while since I've been to the site in Hermanus for the hospital upgrade. Wednesday's site visit was for the Progress Meeting. Judging from my last visit to Hermanus, I can see that things have surely taken off in terms of construction work done. The project is basically starting to take form. Nonetheless, I had to take down the meeting minutes and as it was my first time taking minutes, I was given more time than required. I managed to finish the document for the meeting minutes and thereafter was put back to work on Papworth, but work this week was minimul.

I've been looking forward to the weekend since this week started, because I felt like I needed a break and just felt like doing something fun. Although now that the weekend is here, I don't feel like doing much of anything. Oh well, we'll see what the next few days bring. Peace and blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings,

Lastweek was a bit of a laid back week for me, nothing too hectic, although for majority of the staff here at Nightingales, it was a roller-coater. Many of the staff worked about 3 days overtime lastweek, and yes that i alot of overtime for one week.

I managed to complete all the tasks assigned to me on McGill, Í completed minor adjustments according to the mark-ups sent to me by Annie Cheung. Once I was done with that, I was back on Lennie's team working on Papworth, a project that was reaching a very hectic milestone.

With regard to working on Papworth, the team and myself seemed to have been having trouble with Revit. The program just crashed out at random times. We had to take precaution to this by saving or synchronising as often as was possible, to make sure that none of the work was lost. As this problem persisted, our IT department had to take action, and sent the Papworth BIM (Building Information Model) to the IBI Group for a general review in order to assess the problem. (IBI Group is an organisation which consists of a number of firms which includes, engineering, architecture etc). We recieved feedback from IBI, and they informed us that there were over 1000 warnings in the Papworth Model, which is what caused the program to crash all the time, and it is also what caused Revit to lag. So Lennie assigned me to the task of fixing and cleaning up of the Papworth Model. Revit has a special feature with fixing up warnings, it has a special tab just for this particular problem which lists all the warnings, and with the click of a button, it takes you to, and highlights the problem immediately. This is what I spent most of lastweek doing. It is a long and dragging task to do, but I managed to fix over half of the warnings and errors in the project. Our team have agreed to fix warning messages as soon as they pop up while working on Revit, this will save us the trouble of having to fix them afterward, and not causing anymore crashes.

The entire office worked so hard lastweek, that the UK were so pleased with the time and effort put into the work, that they gave the entire office (Cape Town Branch), friday afternoon off, so we all got an early start to the weekend after a very stressful week. Seems like the saying is true, "a little goes a long way", it really does, goes all the way to the UK. lol I trust all are well, peace and blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings,

So this weekend, surprisingly I was not asked to work on Papworth, which includes the rest of the team. I suppose this must be because I was working on McGill all week. So my week was quite moderate, not too hectic.

As I said, working on McGill all week, that means working with Annie Cheung once again. The changes which she sent me lastweek, surprised me quite abit. All the work which I completed for her during the previous weeks, were reveiwed and she sent me back major internal layout changes. I carried them out as instructed, and now all thats left if the finishing touches, so that they can be sent away for final submission. I'm assuming that won't take up my entire week.

One exciting thing to tell though, they set up the projector here in the office, so that whenever the Rugby Worldcup games comes on, preferably when South Africa play, then the entire staff can gather to watch the match, how generious. Peace and Blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings to all,

Its monday now, and lastweek only ended for me on Saturday as Lennie and I were asked to work on Saturday for the Sunday deadline. Once again another "weekend" at Nightingales. As you may know this never usually happens, although it seems like its becoming a norm. Nonetheless, what needs to be done, has to be done.

We worked on the Papworth Revit Model, because UK had sent us markups which consisted of new internal layout changes. Therefore, once completing the cadding of the changing layouts on various floors, the room linking process has to be re-done..depending if the changes to the layout affected the room tags and room link in anyway. We've been working on this Papworth hospital for a few weeks now, issueing drawings on a regular basis, and from what I gather, the building looks quite different to the first Revit Model we did on Papworth. This is in terms of the materials which they are going to use. The structure initially had a fully glazed exterior, it currently has these concrete blades on the exterior, which help support the structure. I take the this change was mainly from the structural engineers side.

The company has decided to grant us a day of, if we so wish, or double-pay for the time we've put in the weekend. I think that I'm going to take a day off, because I really need some time to re-energize myself. Until next time. Peace and blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings folks,

Well, I don't really have much to say about this week at Nightingales. I was off for 2 days of this week, because of Eid, which was on Tuesday. I took the liberty of putting leave in for the day after, as I know that my energy is always drained after Eid, because of the day being so busy.

Nonetheless the week was not completely empty with regard to work. I recieved emails from Annie Cheung, she needed help on McGill again, it wasn't hectic things to complete for her, but it somewhat does take time up. I make use of a Remote Desktop, hence I log on to a PC which is based in Canada. So whenever I am required to complete work on McGill, I log on to the Remote Desktop. The thing also about the Remote Desktop, and logging on to a PC based accross the world, it can somehow slow down the speed at which you work, which is why I said it somewhat takes up time, even for small things. I must admit though, it is pretty neat, the idea of working on a PC in Canada, while I'm based here in Cape Town. It just shows how advanced technology has become over the years.

Nonetheless, despite the dragging process, I managed to get all the tasks complete that was required by me and I can confidently say that this has been a very successful week, and I have only my Creator to thank for that. Peace and Blessings to everyone.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Greetings,

The reason I am updating you today only, even though it's my monday, the end of last week only ended for me on Sunday, which was yesterday. This was the first time ever that I was asked to work on a weekend for Nightingales. The Papworth team's deadline was today, therefore we needed to push, because we were pressed for time.

The team and I worked on Papworth all week, cadding up the entire structure, which included internal fabric, external fabric, columns, floor slabs etc. Once this was done, we were issued with a Schedule of Accomodation.  We make use of this schedule as a guide in order for us to link rooms to various departments. Each room having it's own required areas, and these links give a broad overview whether the respective designed internal fabrics of the hospital are meeting the requirements with regard to space and circulation etc. The linking process is very time consuming, which is why we were required to work in on Sunday. Nonetheless, the Papworth team put in the hours yesterday and we managed to complete linking all the rooms. My main supervisor, Lennie, will be issueing the data this morning.

I feel quite good that our team were able to meet this deadline, because it really seemed impossible at first. This kind of situation just made it even more clear to me, like the saying goes "never count the chickens before they hatch". I leave you with that quote for the week. Peace and blessings to all.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

So this week it was back to work at the office, and I have to say coming back to the office after a week at campus was quite tough. It was expected though but once you pursevere, you get through it, and what do you know, it's the end of a successful week once again.

When i got back, I continued to work on the door schedule for Swansea. It was not too long until Lennie needed me back to work with him on the Papworth hospital project. Ofcourse I'm not going to complain about working with Lennie, because whatever work I do with Lennie is done on Autodesk Revit Architecture. This is exciting for me as I get more experience on Revit. So we continued on Papworth, cadding up the internal fabric of the hospital according to markups sent from the UK.

Wednesday was quite interesting for me I have to say, as we had word in of the McGill project again. Lennie and myself had a conference call with Annie Cheung, who is a chinese architect along with the rest of the team abroad who are also working on McGill. This conference call was done online through an application called GoToMeeting. It was nice communicating with foreigners I must say, I really enjoy it. Although there Revit skills superzede ours here in Cape Town, that wasn't much of a problem as this whole experience is a learning process. Therefore we learn from each other as the days go by.

It was quite a successful week, and it turned out better than I expected when I reflect back on it now. The only part I seemed to struggle with was and is fasting when at work, because I tend to get hungry very quickly, food somehow makes me work so much more efficiently. Not long though just another week and a half of fasting then I'll be back at full pace again. Peace and blessings to all.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

I'm finally on time with updating you guys on this weeks progress, probably because that was the first thing that was on my mind when I woke up this morning. Although there hasn't been much excitement at Nightingales this week.

The team and I are still working on Swansea, on ceiling layouts. However yesterday I started doing the door schedules for the hospital. So like I said, this week has been pretty laid back with regard to work at the office. Although Nightingales have employed some new recruitments, one of which has already been employed by Nightingale Associates. It's always a pleasure meeting new people, because it builds ones' character even further.

So it's back to CPUT next week for block 2, I must admit that I am a bit excited, just to see everyone again. I am mostly excited about getting feedback on my sketchbook, because I have so much to show. Nonetheless next week I'll be reflecting on my week at Tech, so until next week. Peace and blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

I have to apologize again for giving this update so late, but there has been problems with my PC at home which I had not foreseen. My hard drive crashed and I was not able to access the internet all weekend, because I had to wait until I came into work this morning in order to update my blog. As I was on leave yesterday for the first day Ramadaan, hence the first day of fasting. Nonetheless, I am going to update you guys on everything that took place lastweek.

The week had gone pretty smoothly, the team and I worked on the Swansea hospital project by making ammendments as requested by the Harwell office. It went steadily for the entire week, friday was the most exciting day of the week I would say, and not just because it was the end of the week. On Friday, my project leader, who is incharge of Swansea here at the Cape Town office, was out of office on sick leave. Therefore, the only people left on the team that day was  myself and Zubair, who is also a student at CPUT, finished third year Architectural Technology, and is currently working for Nightingales. The date of issue for the drawings which we had been working on all week was for that friday, and someone had to issue them, henceforth, it was up to the two of us to make sure that those drawings got issued. Zubair and I went through and rechecked the ceiling layout drawings one last time, and then emailed them through for submission.

I know that this may have not sounded as exciting, but it was a first for me, and it just shows that my Directors are trusting me with more and more responsibilities as the days go by. I have to say that I am truly grateful for the opportunities which they have given me. I shall keep you posted again at the end of the week on what's new, every week there's something new. Peace and blessings to all.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

I sincerely apologize for the late weekly progress at work, but you won't be dissapointed as I have exciting things to tell. Updating you on the events of lastweek ofcourse, I was yet again back to work on the McGill project. My main supervisor, Lennie, was needed on another project, which is the Papworth hospital. A project which we have worked on before ealier in the year. Although that was before it was transferred into BIM (Building Information Model) software, eg. Revit Architecture. Therefore I was left to carry out most of the work on McGill.

So for starters, knowing that I would be doing most of the work on McGill here at the Cape Town office, I was already over excited. It might be a lot of responsibility to put on the shoulders of a student, but I can say with confidence, that no matter how difficult the task may be, I shall take it on with full force. I recieved emails from the Canadian branch, and continued to make ammendmants as requested by the persons concerned. What was exciting for me was communicating with these new personalities, and I even got a chance to discuss over the telephone with one of the project leaders. For example, if there were any instructions given by the office in Canada, I would send them an email asking for a convenient time in which I could call them, because of the time difference between Canada and South Africa. I spoke to a Chinese Architect, Annie Cheung, who works for the Canadian branch and she was the one who was authorised to clarify any queries which I may have had based on the work which they initially sent me. At first, I had a hard time understanding what she was saying, but the more I got to communicate with her, the more we understood each other. This made me feel so much better, as I did not just get to finish the work assigned to me, but I was also able to communicate with a foreign architect and that is an experience within itself I would say.

Annie told me that she won't be sending me any work this week, as she will be on leave for the next 5 days. Therefore she will only be back next week. I see this as a good thing, because Lennie told me that he would be needing help with the Papworth Hospital project this week. Exciting stuff, so I know this week is going to be filled with new lessons and accomplishments. Peace and Blessings to all.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

All I can say is, WOW! To what has been an amazingly tremendous week for me here at Nightingale Associates. I know I said lastweek was exciting, being exposed to Revit Architecture and all, but this week was even more over the top. I've been running a project basically for 3 days.

My supervisor, along with some of the other staff including one of our leading Directors, Adriaan, went for a Revit Training course in order to better their Revit skills. The Revit Training spans over a period of 3 days, therefore they started the training course on Wednesday. This meant that someone had to be left incharge of the McGill project while my main supervisor, Lennie, was away. I was left incharge of running the McGill project in the office for 3 days. Lennie showed me all the processes which I needed to follow in terms of getting in, and producing work. This meant keeping in contact with the Canadian office via email, if they needed help, they would email markups with well briefed descriptions of whatever needed to be done. Henceforth, I would then carry out the desired task.

I have to say, I felt really honoured when my supervisor trusted me enough to leave me incharge of the McGill project. It shows that he truly has confidence in me and I surely have to make it my duty not to dissapoint him. It has been a tremendous week and I wish everyone well. Peace and blessings to all.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

What can I say? It's been a pretty exciting week for me at the office, my main supervisor called me in for a meeting on tuesday, to inform me of about helping him on the McGill project. The McGill project is apparently the largest University/Medical facility in North America. A facility which stretches over 700 000 square metres. Just by this short description, one can already tell the magnitude of work that has to be produced is quite immence.

Before I could even start helping my supervisor on this particular project, he informed me that I should get fimiliar with Revit Architecture, as this is the software currently being used for the McGill project. After hearing this, I was filled with excitement. I know that Revit Architecture will revolutionize Architectural based software in all aspects for atleast the next 10 years. I spent most of the week going through the Revit Architecture manual, which includes tutorials on the programme, which is over 300 pages long. I completed these tutorials this morning, and I've got a basic idea of what this software is about. Ofcourse it may take more time to master, but like the adidas slogan goes, impossible is nothing.

This has been quite a tremendous week, as I am finally getting exposed to Revit Architecture. Hence, I feel like this is a huge stepping stone into my future. Peace and blessings to all.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

The end of a short week at work, as i was on leave on monday past. This week our team focused on plotsheets for the Malaysian hospital, because they are to be issued before this coming monday.

I wouldn't really call this an interesting week, because nothing interesting happened. One would think that doing plotsheets would take a day or two, however it took our team 4 days. Surprising to anyone yes, but it is the checking and rechecking process is what consumes all the time. This is what accounts for 4 days of work on plotsheets alone.

I really hope we do something more interesting next week, but until then stay safe

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

As most of you should know, last week was a short week for most if not all of you due to the public holiday on Thursday 16th. My week was cut even shorter, as I put in leave for Friday 17th as well as monday the 20th, this is what I call a well-deserved break.

The Team and I continued on the Malaysian project lastweek as scheduled, and we were required to do overtime on the monday. In my personal opinion, the overtime done was really not necessary, as everything that needed to be done got done practically a day before the date of issue. So this must've been what one would call a "safety precaution", so rather to be safe than sorry i suppose. All in all, everything is up-to-date and on-track.

I wonder, after my long weekend, what the office has in store for me this time, peace and blessings.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

An update on lastweeks events. Friday was the deadline for the portfolio review, so it was quite a stressful week. It was stressful having to upload most of the work, because most of the time the work takes quite a while to process and upload on the relative site. Nevertheless, everything was uploaded on time.

With the regards to the work produced in the office, we had gotten briefed on a new project which has already kicked off, the Malaysian hospital. Currently the team that Alfred and I are working with, are to produce, by tuesday, the cad files/pdf drawings of the internal fabric of all the floors of the hospital, and this hospital consists of 11 floors in total. Included in these drawings are the dimensions of each room, door tags for window schedules etc. So it is most likely that we'll be working overtime on monday and tuesday to meet the deadline.

We'll see how far we get by the end of today, if we get far enough, overtime might not even be necessary. I won't hold my breath on that one.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

It is friday once again, the end of a good week. Not much to say though, although I am almost done with the property that I have been busy with on the NOAH project. If i have not mentioned this before, "NOAH" stands for Neighbourhood Old Age Homes.

Nonetheless, our next site/property visit will be done in 2 weeks time, as I have put in leave for next week. Andrea will be doing the next property. The clients came in for a meeting at the end of lastweek and confirmed the go-ahead on the project, although we'll not be doing as much as we initially anticipated, because they will only be recieving more funds for this project in November of this year. Not a big issue, as we will still have enough work on NOAH for the remainder of our stay at Nightingales.

So seeing as I'm going to be on leave next week, it will give me some time to get ahead with regard to my tech work. The only problem is finding the information required to do certain tasks, that remains a challenge on its own, but where there's a will, there's a way. Stay safe.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hi to all,

I apologise for not updating you sooner as there had been problems with blogger once again i was having trouble logging on. Nonetheless, lastweek we had the chairman of Nightingales came to pay the Cape Town office a visit for an entire week.

At this moment I am still unsure for the reason of the visit, as our Head Studio Director will inform us when he returns nextweek from leave. In the meantime progress has been made on the NOAH project, I have completed the drawings to an extent, there are just a few minor adjustments/additions that need to be made. As all us ''archi-folk'' know, when you are under the impression that you're done with drawings etc, there is atleast still a few days work that needs to be done in there before it is actually completed.

Will keep you updated on the reasons for the chairmans' visit as soon as I get the feedback.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

Apologies for not updating you on lastweeks events at the office as there had been technical difficulty with blogspot last weekend. Nonetheless progress on the NOAH project has been made over the past 2 weeks as we went to survey a new property this time.

Myself, started cadding up the dwelling. It has been abit tricky to do, because there had been so many alterations done by different people through various time spans, however, i managed to get the basic outline or foot print of the building which made everything workout and fit into place.

Although progress has been made on this project, the clients suggested that we put the project on hold as we had underbudgeted for the project costs by a substantial amount. My main supervisor for this project advised me that I should still carry on with the drawings and such, so when the information is needed by the clients and they are ready, the necessary information will be at hand.

All that we are waiting for now is to hold a meeting with the client, but until then, tune in to find out more.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello to all,

Yet another 4 day week past and another story to tell, to say the least. Good to see everyone back at the office, as all of the people who took leave are back, too bad they don't look too happy about it lol.

This week, I accompanied one of my Directors' as well as my supervisor to the site in Hermanus for the second time for a technical meeting with the contractors etc. It was good to know that most of the issues regarding the site were resolved. On our way back, we stopped at a site where they were constructing a steel structured house, even though it was merely frame and concrete to the untrained eye that one would observe, I could envision the finished product and I must say it was an architectural treat. It was just the most beautiful house ive ever seen, with views of the ocean and mountain.

My main supervisor/mentor was on leave for the past week and a half, so when he was finally back in the office, we took some time to sit down with my tech work and he helped me with my studiowork exercises, as I did not fully understand some of the questions.  However, I am making progress. Tune in again next week.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hi to all,

Another week has come to an end, well another short week to say the least, as we prepare ourselves for yet another long weekend. Exciting stuff for those of us who enjoy sleeping late.

There's not much to talk about, except for the fact that things have been really laid back at the office because of all the April holidays which resulted in majority of the staff taking leave for the days inbetween. Our Head Studio Director, informed us this morning that we'll be given the privilage to go home early today as we'll not be getting any calls in from the UK today due to unforeseen circumstances, I'm not complaining. Getting a headstart on the weekend. Hope everyone enjoys.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Good Day,

Quite a convincing week where work is concerned, as we got started on the NOAH housing project. We were firstly required to survey various properties which regard having to modify these dwellings in order to make it a better suitable living environment for the enlderly residents which are occupying them at the moment.

A team of four went on the first trip to record the first property, which included Janet, our main supervisor for this project, Alfred, Andrea and myself. I was excited to finally get the project up ad running, however I was not at full capacity on the day which resulted in me being home sick the following day. Nonetheless we spent a good few hours at the property measuring up and keeping a photographic record of everything. We also asked the residents questions about staying in such dwellings etc. As this would help us in future if need be that we are required to design an extra space in the respected dwelling. We are scheduled to do atleast two properties per month, so Alfred has taken the liberty to draw up the first one on CAD, I will then do the next one after him, and then Anfrea will do follow thereafter and so on and so forth right up until December.

Its quite abit of work if you think about it, as we as the students are responsible for producing majority of the work on this project. So now we know our main priority in the office is for the remainder of the year at the office. It has been a day in the light, I do hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello there,

This week was quite a stressfull one, as I had to work overtime for 2 days in a row. So I would say this week took quite abit out of me.

Even though it was abit exhausting, the week went quite quick. I also took sometime inbetween working hours to find some interesting things for my sketchbook. I came accross something really interesting, Japanese architecture. The joinery details which the Japanese have mastered is quite intriguing. I came accross a simple canopy design, which was constructed of timber and found that there were no nails which held the structure together. A tongue-and-groove method was used, which stabilized the canopy. Hence, every component just fits into each other. I think that this is a very cost effective way of constructing timber of wooden structures in general, but requires skill to master and do properly. The thing that I love most about the world of architecture, is that you're constantly learning more and the opportunities for learning in this field are limitless.

This was a good week, and just goes to show that not everything you learn comes from the workplace, it comes from the will to find information by ones self.

Ciao- G

Weekly Update

Hello everyone,

Another week has passed, and all I can say is that there has not been much to say about work in the office this week. As we are only scheduled to start the new project from next week onwards.

So as you may tell, the excitment in starting to build up slowly but surely. I was not going to let a laid-back week at the office go to waste. I took this week to work on my sketch book as well as my Hub project. After getting feedback for my Hub design, I consulted my supervisor to help me further. We went into more detail after I particially redesigned and analysed my Hub. It was quite helpful, in many ways it helped my ability to analyse precedent, functional zoning, as well as detailing. Therefore I feel that my knowledge of architecture is growing to an extent.

So I feel that this week taught me quite a few things, and opened my mind to taking more things into consideration when designing a structure. I am looking forwarding to updating you with the new project which is scheduled to start next week.

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday was the end of another week at the office. Not much excitement in terms of work was produced this week although an introduction to a new project, which Alfred, Andrea and I would be producing the majority of the work.

The briefing of this project took place earlier in this week, where we had a consultation with the client. The project involves having to turn existing homes into a small type of medical facility for elderly people. This will require measuring up the existing dwellings, and drawing up plans in order for us to design the required space for the residence who will be making use of it. This will also require council submission drawings.

Hence, over the next few weeks we will be starting on this project and I have to say that I am very excited to get involved in a project that means to help the community. 

Ciao -G

Weekly Update

This week was quite an interesting one, the founder of Nightingale Associates, Mike Nightingale came to pay the office a visit from England. It is abit intimidating being in the presence of an architect who has so much insight  and knowledge about architecture.

Alfred and I were eager to have an indepth dicussion with Mr. Mike Nightingale, just to get an idea of how he thinks in terms of design and how he goes about starting a project as well as the process which goes along with that. I learnt that he got lots of his inspiration from the past, in terms of why certain buildings were designed the way they were and not merely just building a complex shape which people would remember for years to come. Another important aspect about architecture which he made us aware of is human behaviour. By studying human behaviour, one learns how to position certain elements and how they relate to one another. Mike Nightingale even took the time to advise me on my Hub project, it was amazing.

This week was tremendous, because it was the first time I've gotten insight from a very well-known architect who specialises in Health, Science and Education. It was a great learning experience, and we look forward to learning more from him when he returns in October.

Weekly Update

Hi there people,

Last week was a dragging week, probably because there was not really that much work that had to be done in the office. Although what was exciting is that i went on my first site visit in Hermanus.

I was so excited, Alfred, Andrea and myself have a sheduled year planner, so we each get a chance to visit the site numerous times during the year. I accompanied my employer as well as one of my team leaders to the site, for a meeting with the client, contractors, engineers etc. The project is a Hospital upgrade in Hermanus. They had a discussion/debate about the trenches that were dug, because the client wanted to move a boundary wall which would be moved over 400 square metres.

I shall upload pictures of the progress of the project soon.

Weekly Update

All I can say is, what a week! We worked overtime so much, that they let us get the rest of the afternoon off on wednesday. It's been quite hectic, but I must say that the week went quite quick, and I guess the hard work paid off. As the UK office were pleased with the results and work produced. I apologise for not keeping you updated over the past few weeks, as work at the office has been so much that I've barely had time to think straight. However I must say I am getting the hang of this blogging thing, and I will be posting my work on a regular basis from now onwards.

Back at work

hi there,

its been a week and im back at work. waiting for the 'festivities' to start.lol...ive been told by one of my colleagues that the work has really packed on since we left for the academic block..might have to work overtime tonight..something i don't mind at all, because they feed us:)..but seems that many of the people are stressing here because the deadline is tomorrow..wish us luck..

gsteyn
ciao