... Secondary School Renovation and stage Design

FINAL DESIGN

...Secondary School Renovation and stage Design.

I was challenged by my superiors (Senior Architect, Director and my Supervisor) to come up with a stage Design that would suite the... School situated in James town, Stellenbosch and they also came with their own ideas as well. We then had a meeting with the Head-Master , project manager and other staff members of the school to present to them the ideas we had of how the stage will look and function.

The school staff seemed to like my idea, which was like the design above (final design) but with access approaching from the sides as well. Since the staff also had a say they decide that we remove the access on the sides since it was going to cause untidy lines yet they wanted single and tidy straight lines when the school pupils are entering the stage for performances, presentations etc .

This a simply not so fancy stage design, yet at the same time it does have aesthetic appeal and proper function. I hope the final product becomes so exciting to the school children's eye that they would want to spend the whole day on Assembly.

As part of the Design process and renovation we had to design a new wall as to fill that space covered with translucent sheeting as shown on the two first images. And the final product will look something like the last image. The walls in between the columns positioned both sides where the stage ends will be painted white or any bright colour, to allow for a projector presentation and the brickwork on the sides will be exposed having those narrow windows in each side.

DEVELOPMENT HOUSES

Development houses. The Biggest low cost development house project yet happening in the Western Cape Province.
I have been working on the project for a while since I came to DMP assisting with some AutoCad drawings and sketchUp modelling. The images above are just to give an idea of the little I have contributed in. The Engineers on site have been having problems with understanding some of the drawings that had been drawn way before I even came, so I had to recheck the Unit type drawings to ensure that every information was correct and redesigned that Huge, welcoming and aesthetically appealing Entrance wall .

BUSIEST WEEK EVER!!!

I have came to a stage where I have realized that working in the architectural profession isn't so easy.#Not complaining though, rather appreciating the challenge# (Having an attitude of gratitude and putting away the pride because it will slide me to a position where I will feel less satisfied)
My supervisor is gone for a 3 week holiday, so most of the projects he was dealing with have been handed to my student colleague and I. 2 Directors and one Senior Architect have been relying on me most  this whole week. (I have been their Cad Monkey). What ever they wanted drawn on Cad was handed to me.
There is this Blue Downs project that is currently under construction, The contractor and Engineers have been having some problems with the understanding of some drawings and I had to fix them in addition my Director and I redesigned the Huge North Entrance wall which had to be drawn on AutoCad and Sketchup  and had to prepare detail layout including the 3D views of which I submitted today.
However, there is more than just that I also did a stage design for the Stellenzicht Sec. School which I am currently working on and also have to do the documents for the school renovation which are due sometime next week and will have to be ready for tendering.
It has been quite a busy one, but nothing can be better than experience at this stage and that is exactly what I am getting. There more the pressure, the more I grow in knowledge and the more I don't go for lunch is the more I starve...

Good day, thanks for Reading... #loving this life to bits.

Learning curve

I have to admit , I was a bit lazy this week reason being the weather. I arrived late at work for a couple of times (just 2 days) but luckily my superiors were also late so I did have any trouble with them.
On Monday we went to a school in Kayamandi Makupula High School for measuring existing toilets for staff and students and I had to draw the plans of the toilet layouts from scratch. At least I could get something done because I finished the work within a day, and my supervisor was a bit impressed. We then had a meeting with a guy from Cobra, giving us guides and advice on which sanitary products will suite this project. We then had to prepare a finishing schedule on Excel and then had to be done on the plans I had done on AutoCad. This project is not so big, so our superiors decided to hand it to us to deal with most of it so that we can learn more and be able to deal with bigger projects next time.Its has been quite a bit of a tough learning curve because some of the stuff we are dealing with are new to us as students but we getting assistance from our colleagues so far.
From yesterday till today, I have been busy with paint colour combinations of the Blue Downs Nuwe Begin project. I have been given a task to decide on which colours to use to paint the houses of the Blue Downs project. According to my supervisor I am doing well so far, there are certain rules that I have to follow though and the whole thing will come to place.
Despite the weather its was it was a great week with a huge learning curve.

Will upload images of my work soon.

To my fellow classmates. interesting article for own benefit

Surviving Architecture School without burning out! 3 things that you should know
August 29, 2009

Going through architecture school can be both a stressful and
rewarding experience.  Here are three things every architecture
student should know before embarking on that very first project!

1. Understanding Time Management.

Many people going through architecture school may be lead to believe
that pulling all-nighters on a daily basis is the price you pay for
enrolling into such a rigorous program.  This couldn't be further from
the truth.  It's actually good practice while in school to understand
that when you practice architecture in the "real world" clients won't
have exorbitant budgets for you to spend endless hours working on a
single project.  So, when you're given an assignment instead of
immediately sketching ideas and coming up with concepts, get into
Project Management mode!

First, know your deadline; plan on finishing your work before that
date, this leaves time for contingencies.  Second, to avoid becoming
overwhelmed take time to fully understand what needs to be
accomplished for that deadline.  Lastly, write a simple 'to do' list
to help organize your thoughts, then begin to prioritize, and estimate
how much time you think it will take to complete each task.  This is a
sure-fire way not to show up burnt out in your pajamas come
presentation day!

 2. Start Conceptualizing!

Now comes the fun part.  Designing!  Once you have gotten an idea of
deadlines and timelines, start sketching!  Always be original -
remember this is architecture school so no idea is too zany!  If
you're having trouble getting started the best thing to do is start
pulling together precedents to help give you ideas and inspiration.

 3. sell, Sell, SELL!

I've witnessed first hand how students can become so enthralled in
their ideas, the architecture, and the design that they never set
enough time away for presentation, marketing, and selling their idea
to the jurors.  This last piece of information is of the utmost
importance because even if you have a strong solid concept and design
if jurors can't see that in the presentation - it won't matter.  Take
graphic design courses and become extremely proficient in graphic
programs such as Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign (Having
knowledge of these programs also comes in handy when seeking design
internships because for most firms knowing these programs is a
necessity!).  Make sure you set aside an appropriate amount of time to
pull together your presentation.  Think about it!  Everything in your
presentation from images, to fonts, to the color palette should
support your concept.  This will make your idea easier to sell if you
don't have the gift of gab!

Did I leave anything out?  If so please let me know - write a comment
and contribute to this piece!

Written by Dominique Wilmore

Cad Monkey

Great week it was, and a lot of experience has been gained within a short period of these 5 days. We went to site for measuring some existing structures to be renovated in Boschendal for some fancy Client. However we currently making AutoCad drawings of stables and Arenas of the same client as part of a different phase of the project.
The guy says he is ready to spend hundreds of millions of rands to make the project a success... Good news for the company (;... He has came to the right place, we are going to make his dream a reality.
I feel that our superiors have seen potential ,gain of enough experience to trust us enough to deal with serious projects such as this one. All the designs are done by the Architects though, we are just given the technical stuff and be Cad monkeys all day.

...

Last week was a bit relaxed. I took a break from the office work a bit and had to go back to being a student again... fortunately I didnt write any test or exam (I hate the most),which makes architecture my favourite because most of the time it is just practicals. But we visited a school that we are  going to be doing our MIP reality project as the class of CPUT 2nd year over the mountains of Strand a couple of Ks from George. I was the first to get to the site which which gave me an oppotunity to take clear pictures of the school(site) without my fellow classmate's funny faces all over the show, All I did was take pics of the little  disadvantaged kids rather (:
However, the presentation of my hub didnt go so bad. I just have to include some ideas from my lecturers for my portfolio submission and then all will be up to point.
Home is where my mind is right now, and the good part is I got atleast a two days leave to attend some important ceremony back home... 'there aint no place like home' ...
This week at the office has been good, I learnt a lot and got my supervisor to sign my logsheet for the first time in 3 months...'great'... I'm glad he could still write good comments about me though ,yet I have not been so much of an impact at the firm as yet but soon to be. I leant how to use a Tripod today (feeling like aprofessional already). My colleagues are the best. Big Up to Allen Darren, Ian Gordan and Asiphe Ntanjana... You guys are the Best...

Cheers.