Week 5, Friday 6/17

This morning I finished the new CAD floor plan and got it sent off for review. We are hoping that the Decatur terrazzo samples will be in at the beginning of next week so we can present the new boards. I finished gluing and mounting the finishes, other than the terrazzo, I am waiting on a paint and carpet sample.

I also did window shop drawings for the Clarksville Fire Dept. I had to check quantity, dimensions, roller shade type and elevation.
I did a lot of organizing projects and cleaning up today.

*Pictures are on BB

*Today completes my required 200 hours for my internship

Week 5, Thursday 6/16

In the morning I finished up the floor plan for FirstSource by labeling the rooms, finding the area for each, making sure everything was on the correct layer. We sent it off to the contractor who quickly responded saying that he wanted to use the entire space, instead of what he had given us, (instead of only using about ¾ of it for a potential other tenant) and sent us a pdf of what was on the first floor and said he would like something like that, which isn’t even accurate because what he wants for the new space is much larger in content and square footage. This was a little frustrating because the guy doesn't really know what he is talking about, just knows what he wants, which is to use as much square footage as possible, to get more money out of the tenant purchasing it. But I stretched everything out so it would occupy the entire space, it will be sent to him tomorrow morning.

*Both floor plans are attached on BB

Week 5, Wednesday 6/15

Today Amanda went over with me what I had done for the FirstSource floor plan. I explained to her my reasoning behind things and she made some adjustments and suggestions then showed me how to correctly draw wall thicknesses and decide room dimensions in CAD. I also added some office furniture and casework.

I also began cutting and measuring samples for the new Decatur finish boards.

Week 5 Tuesday, 6/14

Today I worked on the FirstSource floor plan in CAD. I came up with a couple different options to discuss with Amanda.

I tried to attach a pdf of a floor plan but it wouldn't let me. I attached it in BB instead.

Week 5, Monday 6/13

Since a lot of things were changed after we presented the sample boards to Decatur, I reselected the necessary finishes, and then called Sherwin Williams to get the mix of the custom maroon used for South Decatur. I also had to select new mixes for the terrazzo. Later Amanda and I were informed that the contractor had called the terrazzo manufacturer to order the mix for the one terrazzo they did approve. They requested 44,000 lbs of chips, which the manufacturer said they were out of for the next 12 weeks, well this project will be done in 12 weeks. They suggested another mix and are going to send samples of it. And since the superintendant and principles have requested to see it before it’s ordered, we decided to go ahead and make 2 new sample finish boards.

Later I was given a partially open floor plan was told to design it to the clients requested. It is an office space for Firstsource, which includes 80 cubicles, offices, training room, reception, break room, conference room, copy room, ect. This will be done in CAD.

Week 4, Friday 6/10

Today we went to Decatur to present our two color schemes to the superintendant and the two principles. This didn't quite go as planned. One school color is burgandy, the other is blue, which were the two different accent colors of each scheme. This through them off because they felt then that all the accent colors in each needed to either be the burgandy or blue, which down played the overall look, and made it look less fun, with it being an elementary school and all. So they changed some paint colors and they also didn't like the terrazzo which is a little bit a problem because they are ready to start and it takes at least a week to get a sample of terrazzo made. But other than that they liked it.

We then visited North Decatur Elementary where they had already started tearing down the ugly bright blue green and yellow wallcoverings.

Week 4, Thursday 6/9

Today was spent putting together the finish boards, including mounting, and some double mounting as well as creating a title block in Illustrator and a legend. This was very long process. But check out the pics of the final boards!

Week 4, Wednesday 6/8

Today we had to finish getting the Decatur finishes selected and check them with Hal. So I picked them all out, then got samples in the mail for the project saying they wanted Formica instead of Wilsonart and LG Surfaces instead of Corian, so I had to go through and change those, finding a matching laminate was difficult. I then typed up all the samples on a letter head and put back the tons of paint and other samples we didn’t end up using. Hal, along with everyone else in the office liked them, so I started on the finish boards for the meeting this Friday.

Kovert Hawkins finish boards are black matte board with a title block and legend, and then the samples attached. Flat samples such as paint get double mounted. Then the samples get lettered for the legend.

Week 4, Tuesday 6/7

Today I did a webinar on “What’s New in Revit Architecture 2012” I learned some new things that can be done in 3D orbit with locking layers, and some other new updates in the general programing of it that will hopefully be helpful. Later they got into more of the architecture done in revit like columns and rebar and sharing files, stuff we don’t deal with. I was hoping they would have some info on rendering and settings but they didn’t, but I did email them with a couple questions so hopefully they will respond.

We finally got the carpet and terrazzo samples in today that we had been waiting on for the Decatur Elementary Schools. Lucky the terrazzo we had picked out for the original options match the new ones. I then did more reselected of finishes for the schemes.

Week 4, Monday 6/6

At the staff meeting this morning I was introduced as a new employee, which was nice. There are 8 total projects going on for Decatur schools now and some stuff is behind. So Amanda is busy today with that and I had to finish picking out samples for the two elementary schools and I am still waiting on new carpet samples and the terrazzo to come in.

I went with Amanda to New Washing State Bank for artwork install, the guy that had the pictures and was installing them was coming from St. Louis and he didn’t realize there was a time change, and he was 20 minutes late, totaling an hour and 20 minutes of wasted time which is always frustrating. But the pictures were beautiful and really finished off the small open office space.

I then got a small taste of shop drawings. I checked the signage schedule for the Clarksville Fire Dept. I had to make sure the ASI, the signage manufacturer’s shop drawings matched up with was said in the project manual. This was a detailed task and I know that what I did wasn’t the worse aspect of doing shop drawings. And I did actually have to change some things, which means that ASI will have to send us new updated shop drawings that will have to be checked again.

Week 3, Friday 6/2

This morning I went to a pre-construction meeting with Heather, one of the architects. The meeting was for the new Clarksville Fire Department. The meeting consisted of the project manager and superintendent from EH construction, the subcontractors, town council members, and fire marshal. This meeting was a good experience for me, I really learned a lot. Being a construction management minor I have heard all of these terms before and had learned about them in class but to actually hear them being used out in the field in a real situation is totally different and makes everything real. After today I am glad that I’ve choose CM as my minor.

We had another “lunch and learn” today about adhesive roofing. After the meeting Hal one of the principles had a meeting with the Decatur Schools board the night before, Amanda and I have been working on the Elementary interior finishes and had the options pretty much complete. Then Hal tells us the principle doesn’t want any brown. We have a brown based scheme, and a grey based scheme. So we are starting from scratch with two new options. This isn’t a huge deal, except for the terrazzo, because it takes over a week to get samples of terrazzo.

This is a sample of trying to please clients when they really don’t know what they are talking about, “no brown” is very broad.

Today ended awesome. I got offered a paid position for the rest of the summer! This is really exciting because it makes me feel like I’m doing a good job and that they like me, and also because I was fretting about making money this summer.

Week 3, Thursday 6/2

Today was spent on the Elizabeth Library Project. We have two options picked, and one we aren’t very partial too. Amanda had selected two more carpet samples and I selected, paints, tile, wallcoverings and wall base for each. Then ordered memo samples. I also contacted reps about furniture specifications and such for the project. I then began selecting fabric samples for the furniture pieces that require fabric.

Week 3, Wednesday 6/1

I had speced Benjamin Moore paints for the Decatur Elementary schools, and they had speced Sherwin Williams, so I had to go through the SW fan to find matches which was difficult because SW doesn’t have as near as many samples as Benjamin Moore. After I typed up all the finishes we planned on using for the project on a Kovert Hawkins letter head to have a record, and cheat sheet for the color boards.

There was a “lunch and learn” today and a rep from Wasco Skylights brought in Panera Bread and gave us a presentation on skylights, and a new type of skylight that uses polycarbonate panels instead of glass with a nonogel, or aerogel fill that is 100% water resistant, lowers heat emission, and doesn’t change color, and causes a diffused natural light instead of direct light that can cause glare.

We got resource samples in so I put those away in the library, and contacted a rep that a client insists on using to get product information.

*Today marks 100 hours, so I officially have half of my internship complete.

Week 3, Tueday 5/31

Amanda is out on vacation today so she had emailed me a list of things to work on. Our internet and server were down this morning so I had to wait to receive her email and begin on the work she had left me. We had a staff meeting to go over main objectives for the week, and what everyone was working on. I then kept myself busy with mailing samples back to vendors, cleaning up and going over project finishes. The internet finally connected so I completed the list of things Amanda left for me, organizing, contacted a vendor and setting up a meeting, reselecting paint samples that weren’t approved and so on.

We have two options for the Elizabeth Library project, one we aren’t crazy about and Amanda suggested starting from scratch on the second option so began selecting finishes for it.

Week 3, Monday 5/23

I started off with filling out a meeting minute form for the Elizabeth Library project, this included where, with who, when, what was discussed and changes made.

I selected 2 finish options, one for North and one for South Decatur Elementary schools, this included, field paint colors, accent colors, wall base, door paint, vinyl tile, carpet, laminate and solid surfacing. Terrazzo also had to be selected for this project, so Amanda gave me a terrazzo 101 class. I learned a lot about terrazzo that I had absolutely no clue about. Terrazzo is 100% custom (unless you order a pre-made spec). It starts with base which is an apoxi mix and comes in just about any color. Next you select the chips that you want to be mixed in with the apoxi. There are Italian chips, glass chips, and American or Domestic chips. We only picked from the selection of domestic chips due to our budget. Amanda and I choose 6 different mixes that we wanted for the project and then sent in a sample order for them. The rest of my day consisted of ordering samples for the project.

*I am on vacation the rest of the week and will pick back up 5/31, after Memorial Day

Week 2, Friday 5/20

Today I worked on selecting furniture for Elizabeth Library. The furniture plan was already done and Amanda had told me ideas she had for furniture pieces and gave me some manufacturers to look at. So found furniture pieces and contacted reps with questions and made sure they fit within the dimensions of the furniture plan.

Week 2, Thursday 5/19/11

I figured out the square footage for each floor type via CAD for the Elizabeth Library project and then got things ready to go for our meeting!

The project site was half way completed in 2007, and now they are finishing the rest of the building which is nothing but concrete floors and exposed brick. It was really beneficial to visit the project sight and get to walk around inside and really get to visualize the floor plan that had been designed for it. We met with the director of the library, a helper of hers, and the contractor. I took notes as they discussed changes they would like made to the floor plan and questions about dimensions and such.

Next Amanda and I spread out the two finish options we had selected. This went very well, they liked both options, but favored one over the other and of course wanted some things changed on both. Presenting calls for a lot of explanation and some hidden persuation. Amanda did a very good job and it was a good experience watching her get to do this. But by doing this we got a better understanding of their taste. We are going to refine the floor plan and put together an actual sample board for each option to present to the library board next week. So when we returned to the office we reselected some more wall coverings and I ordered some more samples, then cleaned up the mess from alllllllllll the samples we had gotten out yesterday.

Week 2, 5/17 Tuesday

I started off doing flooring designs for the Elizabeth Library project. I did a tile design for the foyer, and a carpet design in the children’s area, we are using two types of modular carpet. I did these layouts in CAD then took it into Illustrator and played around with it there with the carpet and tiles using paint bucket.

I ordered a few more things for the project and responded to email and did a bath tile reselection because the first one was discontinued. Then I picked out wall base finishes and paint colors for the hollow metal door frames for each option selected for the project. Wall base selections is something I’ve never really had experience with so it was neat to get to work with that area of finishes.

Week 2, 5/16 Monday

Today was a busy day. I started off the morning by fixing redlines on construction documents for the Decatur Jr./Sr. High School project via autoCAD.

Next Mindy had me help her select finishes for a the Elizabeth Library project. She explained to me what was needed and her ideas, and then I built off of that. I had to select several different porcelain tiles, vinyl tiles, several different carpets, wall coverings and paint samples. After everything was selected and I discussed it with Mindy I ordered the samples via email from the all the area reps from each manufacturer.

I learned a lot about the type of finishes selected, and the manufacturer and things like why porcelain is better to use than ceramic in commercial bathrooms. This is exciting because I’m selecting finishes that will (hopefully) be used in a real library. The meeting for this project is Thursday and the project will continue to go forward at that.

Week 2, 5/13 Friday

This morning I went with Amanda, the head interior designer, and Tom, the architectural engineer to a finishing project sight in Louisville, KY. This was very interesting and very informative. The owner was Crossville that would be selling the space to tenant pharmaceutical distributor. The contractor, hired Kovert Hawkins. Tome had designed the building in 2007, and Amanda did the interior finishes. We met with the contractor, owner, and super of the project. The contractor was new to the company and complained about everything and really wasn’t very professional.

The work was also done poorly. The control joints in the tile flooring were done in a bad spot and looked very bad. All the cabinetry was done in light, sort of cheap looking laminate with a pretty solid surface counter top which I thought was kind of weird. But the laminate was also installed poorly, it just didn’t look good. But overall the finishes looked good with color scheme and selected finishes. I learned a lot about the selected finishes that will be helpful to me in the future.

Later I did a color labeled floor plan in Illustrator. I’m getting some practice in the program which is nice since we didn’t learn it.

*I tried to upload pdf's of what I've done, but it's not uploading, their's probably too big.

Week 1, 5/12 Thursday

Today I finished up labeling the rest of the plans. I then did dimensions of all the toilet and urinal stalls for the same area. Then I got taught how to do a door schedule by reading it in the construction documents then creating it in CAD. This was very different than doing furniture or finish schedules like we’ve done on our projects before. It included size, material, frame material, hardware, door elevation and such things. This was neat because it was something I had never done before and I didn’t know that much was involved.

Week 1, 5/11 Wednesday

One project is a car dealership is Salem, IN and Mindy, one of the designers had a bathroom tile design done, and it had to be re-done due to color changes. So I did three new tile designs for the bathroom n Illustrator.

I met with Jamie and he taught me and explained to me the symbols that they use on to label the equipment discipline of cd’s. They have a set symbol and numbering system that they use in the firm. Jamie had label the equipment of Decatur’s Jr./Sr. School bathrooms and locker rooms. This included: grab bars, soap dispensers, mirrors, toilet paper holders, towel hooks, soap holders, shower curtains, and ADA floor space requirements and more. This was tedious and in depth detail that I hadn’t realized was put in construction document.

Week 1, 5/10 Tuesday

Mindy sat down with me and taught me the construction document sheet and numbering system the company uses. Since am not familiar with the mechanics of cd’s at all it was nice to be able to begin to understand how they are created and read. I then did a little bit of studying construction documents by reviewing a previous project that had lots of mark ups on it which was helpful.

I also did some work in CAD and re-familiarized myself my layers and how they work, Kovert Hawkins have also created their own layers with set colors and line weights and such.

Week 1, 5/9 Monday

Introduced to everyone in the office, shown around and got situated at my desk with a computer. There was a firm meeting this morning where I was introduced to everybody and got to learn little about them. At Kovert Hawkins there are 2 interior designers, that I follow under. Four architects, and engineer, a landscape architect then the three principles, Hal Kovert, John Hawkins, and Jamie Lake.

The company has a lot of projects going on now which is awesome, so hopefully I’ll be getting to work on a lot of different things.

First I was shown how to use company email, I even got my own dara.conway@koverthawkins.com ! and also learned the computer system where you log your hours and what you did each day.

I first cleaned up the resource library and put some things away. I then went through Sherwin Williams paint samples so I could re-order samples that were gone. I also got to do a little bit of CAD work today which was nice because I got an introduction of their set system. They use CAD for floorplans and then for construction documents as well. They have a standard title block for them, and then use viewports for each drawing. We briefly went over this in graph comm so it was nice to have a recap on it.