25-29 APRIL

Hi there, excuse the delay in communication but these public holidays just slows things down. And what do you know-yet another one on monday.But Im not complaining. Ive had an eventfull 2 weeks so far. Last week we went on site and measured up a huge industrustial building in Epping,(the one with the ducts below NGL) just to make sure that every measurement is accurate,its a matter of life & death with this one. The project is however progressing nicely, now the nerve-racking part is over. Small projects have been coming in as usual and i've been doing some of the designing and presentation drawings which makes me happy. I started my own project last week, consulted with my first official client (my Aunt-dont tell!!) and its been a blast-doing small projects is really fun,exploring options, giving ideas. Mr Bossman gave me a couple of browsers and catalogues which i regularly collect, they'r helpful and give some direction as to where you headed. Its all I think about. Her house. How its goinig to look.  How the space will change and how it will free her and make her feel- lighter & refreshed. Spaces can do that for you if you know how to treat it. I recently recieved my decorating diploma from intec which i was completing on the side and i just want to beautify everything i see-thats why I'm tackling my grans house-she deserves it and its fun. But my biggest moment came today. Mr Bossman ask me if i would like to spread my wings and be the eagle i'm suppose to be. Not some little birdie locked in a cage. I was scared, it was daunting but i said yes anyway. without fear there wont be anything to overcome. So, i officially met with my first real client, FOR-REAL!! Someone who's not related to me! Found the place, consulted, measured, gave ideas, was'nt intimidated, gave more advice, felt nice, final brief then bid my goodbyes. Sheer bliss. Cant wait to get cracker-lacking on tuesday. fun fun fun.
Have a good workers day on monday-which means dont work!
(until tuesday) - im sorry i had to

04-08 APRIL

Another interesting week. Just when you thought you were done-think again!! Two projects had to undergo more changes and I think for the better. Had to put my thinking cap on and play around with my favourate part-designning. I had to swop the braai/entertainment area with the tv room of the complicated house(Marquard) and it made more sense. Spaces seem to flow and open up and it just worked! House Sonn was my favourate yet. Client wanted an additional room and lucky for him the house is now perfectly symmetrical and well balanced. From a T - to an U-floor plan, private and public spaces are now separated harmouniously yet are linked/are in a good relation to each other. Final touches on the elevations still need to be done but when the plan functions and works well-thats the main priority. Had more valuable lessons with Mr Bossman on the design process - what to look for and how to understand your clients needs; the sizes of rooms in relation with each other; how to achieve symmetry/balance/harmony with simple things such as window/pillar placements etc.Saw some pics of good buildings and how not to design.Fun! At the end of all of this excitement I had to do a small change to a block (on autocad). Easy right? Not so much! Had to rotate dimensions and text in two different directions whilse in 3 different blocks! Oh man- when I saw the drawing I nearly cried/wet my pants- I cant tell I was to overwhelmed. The task was easy enough but not when you dealing with large machinery on one level spaning 60m and ducts below NGL on a site larger than 2000m2!!!! (sure this may be small for some but not when you have little experience). And autocad can mess with your mind-for real! Each measurement is of uttmost importance and Mr Bossman entrusted me! an intern!with his life! to do this! a rediculously easy task!that may cost my career!how could he!! I just pray I have the strength to make that daungting change on Monday-Then I'l be able to say I conquered ducts!!!
Happy drawing

APRIL FOOL

Good Day All.

This week was pretty chilled. Doing amendments once again which was very productive. I spoke directly to a client who was very pleased with the drawings I sent her. She would now like to proceed with the next step and I'm extremely chuffed about our little engagement. (I know its a small step-but its a step indeed). We received an additional two small jobs for a boundary wall-nothing out of the ordinary! And finally we came to a point of reference with our "mansion" drawing, which we had to merge with another. It was very confusing and complicated but its starting to come together. Barry and I (the Boss-man) had frequent chats this week about how to conduct ones-self with clients and at council (which I will do progressively during the year) which  was informative. He believes that there are many parts to architecture. 1. Council - running around like a maniac, 2. Designing-sure bliss (at times), 3. Meetings /consulting with clients which can be daunting depending on the client of course and then there are other things involved in architecture aswell. But Barry likes to think that I'm more suited to handle clients-because I have a certain way with people. I would have prefered designing but a compliments a compliment hey and I look forward to working on all of those skills. I also had the opportunity to scan a detailed quote on one particular job. And detailed it was! From sand to sand paper and everything else to the teeny tinyiest of materials including labour, which came to about R40 000.00. A second quote came to literally double the amount with absolutely no detail as to how they arrived at that amount, excluding labour. Lesson-always to your homework!

Enjoyed learning this week. Till next time