This past week at SGA – NW Design I worked 4 half days; from 8am-12noon, Monday-Thursday. It has been a great learning experience.  I was tasked with two different activities for the week.  Early in the week I updated some old floor plans in AutoCAD.  My supervisor is aware of my proficiency in the software and requested that I begin to trace over an eleven story building’s plans.  Since floors three through ten were identical, I needed to trace only four floors of plans. The project was for a high-rise building in North Charleston.  Upon completion of the AutoCAD assignment, I will go out to the site with the office’s draftsman (Lyles) and conduct field measurements of the structure to make sure the documents I traced are still accurate. The project is still in the beginning phases but we will be running estimates on cost for an interior design on the walls and floors based on the total sq. footage of the building.

     Along with running the printers from AutoCAD I learned how SGA uses their layers system in AutoCAD, based on how and what they are exporting, but this practice is varied and unique in all offices. I’ve also become more familiar with the system’s “blocks” and icons used for professional architectural documentation.  As of now my PM for the job is my supervisor, Mike Nixon, who may end up passing the project down to the in-house interior designer, Stephanie.  On the other days this week I assisted our office’s Architectural Designer, Becca, a recent Clemson grad.  She has been working on conceptual elevations for the new portion of a shopping mall in Savannah, GA.

     An old Sears retail outlet is currently on the site.  A developer bought the land intends to build a multi-family housing complex to replace the Sears.  This project is conceptually finished in house at SGA under the landscape architecture department.  With the razing of Sear’s there will need to be a new elevation on that side of the mall. It’s important to the developer for the mall to look appealing so potential residents don’t think badly of the surrounding area.  It also seems likely that at some point a new mall façade may be considered. This project isn’t officially in the scope of our project, but our PM (Mike) trusts us to come up with an elegant concept for the mall to show the client in their next meeting. If our elevation is sufficiently attractive, they may become interested in such a project.

     I earned 14 AXP hours this week. Mostly in Project development but I also earned some in project planning and design.