Marketing & Submittals. 
The past two weeks for me at Coast have focused a majority of my time on firm marketing and designing submittals to present my firm’s work. I have learned how to draft submittals as well as the beast that is the Standard Form 330. Relying on my graphic and creative skills learned in Clemson’s Undergraduate Architecture program I was able to effectively select and compile a concise list of Coast’s best projects for future clients. I have enjoyed this side of the intern experience the most as I am able to use my layout experience in Indesign, my editing abilities in Photoshop, and my graphic capabilities in Illustrator. Leveraging these interests to present past work is both a mutual benefit for my firm and I, as well as one of my favorite aspects of Architecture.

Project: Technical College of the Lowcountry Submittal
Location: Beaufort, SC
Phase: Unawarded
Dates: 11/4/2020

Invoice Meeting. 
In addition to being an integral part of the firm’s marketing initiative, I was also invited to sit in on a monthly invoicing meeting. Perhaps the most abstract or enigmatic facet of architecture is how architects are compensated for the work we do. This meeting was incredibly helpful to see how consultants, contractors, and clients are billed for architecture services most often by breaking down projects into phases (SD, DD, CD, & CA) and billing a monthly completion percentage or hourly fee. We discussed administrative tops like contract negotiation, insurance liabilities and the headache that (can be) construction administration. All of this was information is something either taken on by a firm’s business manager or accountant or in our case by the firm’s principles, but due to the small size of Coast Architects I had the benefit of being able to see first hand where compensation comes from in the practice of Architecture.