WIAW: What I Love About Architecture

I'm keeping today's post short and sweet. 

Our study group starts again after a month hiatus on Saturday and I'm actually looking forward to it.  I know I will handle things better than I did for the Construction Documents exam.

In the meantime, School M is finally complete!  Even though the school had minor HVAC and Electrical renovations, it felt pretty awesome getting experience in Project Management.  Hopefully, the same experience I'm getting for Project C will help me when I retake CDS for the Architect Registration Exam.

Last week, my boss, our client and I toured School M to see the final updates and our next scope for the School.  The tour lasted for an hour and I forgot how big the school was.  My feet were killing me!  On the way out, I found this little one on the canopy:

Other than seeing my finished product, I love knowing that the end user loves it too :-).

WIAW: Last week in my Architectural world

I am thankful for last week's Hiatus! 

When I came back in town last Monday afternoon, I got an email from an Architect I have been in contact with that has been assisting me with conducting the Architect Registration Exam study group.  She forwarded me information on a scholarship given by AIA that would cover the costs of the 7 ARE exams and provide a complete collection of Kaplan's study guides for the exam!  This sounded amazing.  When I read a little further, I found out I only had one week to apply!!!  My vision of possibly ending my Hiatus early went down the drain.  Even writing a post for this past Monday was out of the question.  I spent all week in my spare time revamping my resume, portfolio and biography and gathering all the recommendations I could for this scholarship.  With the help of my awesome husband, he checked for errors and I was able to submit it on Monday before catching a 24hr bug.  Now I'm crossing my fingers that I get the scholarship and get rid of the bug.

In the meantime, I still had to work.  Below are little snippets of my adventures in Architecture:

Tuesday:
Project C had a site visit.  I thought the site visit was for the civil engineer only and the Architects would visit the existing spaces.  With that said, I wore a new pencil skirt and a button down blouse my sister gave to me with heels to match.  Apparently I was wrong and the Architects had to go.  I was glad that I drove my car, because my construction boots were in there.  (The client's office is on the same street as my townhouse, so I didn't have to stop at work first, yay!)  We got a lot done, and my boss and I went to Zaxby's before we headed back to work.

Thursday:
My bosses and I had a meeting with the end users for Project F.  We laid of the new spaces in the existing building and wanted the end users to review it.  The meeting went well, and we made more changes that accommodated the end users.  After the meeting, we saw an event for the Urban Design Commission going on in the main lobby and they were giving out popcorn.  My bosses and I decided to check out the event and view the historical districts that were up for awards.  The popcorn was soooo yummy that I accidently dropped a popcorn down my blouse.  I couldn't do anything about it because we bumped into past colleagues, UDC employees and a guy named DM.  DM worked with our firm on a historical project out of the city and we even received an award for it.  This was my first time meeting DM, and he said this to me:

"What's your field of study? Architecture? I just wanted to tell you that you have a face for historical Architecture. I just know these things and you will be a historical Architect. Soak every bit of information you can from your firm. {Insert websites here} are great websites to look for historical information. I know you will do great."

The weirdest thing is that he didn't know my Thesis was on historical Architecture and that I wanted to specialize in it.  It was pretty awesome hearing that from someone who is a "big wig" in Georgia.  Afterwards, I had a big smile on my face.  Oh and I was able to get the popcorn when I went outside:

I found out I had another popcorn down my blouse when I changed clothes, lol.  And yes I saved it for this post that I wrote on Sunday!

Saturday:
Saturday was our first meet up for the ARE study group.  Myself and the co-founder had issues finding the Starbucks and parking but we made it.  We had a total of 4 members that attended the meeting and all of us are planning to take the Construction Documents and Services of the ARE.  Everyone shared their experience with the exam and how they are approaching to study.  This was the BIGGEST motivation I needed.  I know I'm been slacking but I'm going to sign up for my exam on June 22.  I'm going to check my calendar and see if that is possible.  It's no far being a leader to others and not taking my own advice.  I got to stay motivated!

Our next meeting is next Saturday and I can't wait!

Thrown into the Lion's Den (An Introvert's Prospective)



Lion = Clients and Contractors
Source: Google Images

 Last week, Architecture forced me to step outside my comfort zone.  Project C and School M once again caused me to used my phrase: Be Assertive.  It has been working in my favor, and I have shown my bosses that I have grown in the past 5 years.  I know the more I speak in front of people and practice ahead of time, the more I will forget that I'm an introvert and soft spoken.  This doesn't work in my favor when I have to spontaneously speak at an event.  For three days, I was thrown into the Lion's Den (but in a good way).

Chela's Nervous Scale:
1 (lowest level) - Fully prepared.
5 (mid level) - Presenting to people I know.  I'm nervous because I'm presenting, but I can be myself since I know everyone.  
10 (highest level) - Life changing presentation that can make or break my career.  At this point I look like I just took a swim in my suit.

Day 1: Project C
Nervous Scale: 5
Friday April 26, I took Mr. Tibbs to the vet.  Everyone left a little early, so I didn't get a chance to talk with Boss J about Monday's meeting for Project C.  He had a slight cough, but he said we would talk about it before the meet.  I put my presentation information on a thumb drive and left for the day.

Last Monday, he didn't show up for work.   His cough had gotten worse, so he asked Boss S to take his place.  Worried that I would be forced to speak, I reviewed the PowerPoint with Boss S and we headed to our client's office.  I remembered we went through the same situation during our last meeting with the client and Boss S finished the presentation for Boss J, so I remained calm during the 30 minute ride.  The conference room was small and only 3 out of the 4 clients showed up.  After I set up the computer, I asked Boss S if he was going to present.  Then he said something I wasn't expecting: "No, I'm going to throw you in the Lion's Den."

Peter Griffin saw what I did there.
Click here to see the Family Guy reference.

The presentation went well and if I didn't know a piece of information, Boss S covered me.  I was the one that put all the research information together and I knew the audience, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I got a pat on the back from Boss S and we went to lunch before we headed back to the office.

Women in Architecture: Custom Details

On April 5th, Project F's measured drawings were submitted.  It feels freaking awesome to have that load off my shoulders.  Since this building is historical, I had to custom make each detail.  It was a lot of work! 

For Wordless Wednesday, check out my images that I created below:

ARE Update: Study Sessions

Source

On Saturday, I attended my first Architecture Registration Exam study session hosted by AIA.  I've been looking forward to it for a while, especially since I missed the sessions last year.  I didn't know the area that well, so I arrived 30 minutes early and waited outside the meeting room in the library as the hosts set up the room.  There were a variety of ages and we all were at different stages of our life: interns, business owners, and registered Architects.  My co-worker couldn't make the study session, so there were no familiar faces out of the 13 people in the room.  After I found my seat, a guy asked if he could sit beside me and I said "sure."  This guy looked EXACTLY like my classmate from college.  Even though I didn't know him, it made me feel like I knew someone.

Then the meeting began.  Some of the information was very familiar and they went over the sections that we requested, but here was a couple of things that stood out for me:

• Having problems starting an exam? "Start and don't look back.  Schedule your exam now.  This will pressure you into studying."  I guess I have to take the plunge and do that!
• Try taking the Construction Document exam first because it is the easiest and Structures and Building Systems last.  Greatest plan ever!
• Don't know which study material to use?  Try these:
• Kaplan - Great for practice tests.
• Ballast - Goes into detail.  Buy the ARE Review Manual
• Nalsa - Great for vignettes, AREvaluation and flashcards (Archiflash)
• Review books from college.
• ARE Forums

They passed out the study material from the local AIA office and the guy beside me (known as "T") showed me the exam he had already taken and told me how he though he did.  The more he spoke, the more he reminded me of my classmate.  At the end, the hosts told us about more AIA hosted study groups, causing "T" and I to go into a discussion:  There were no study groups in the Atlanta area!  Yes there are paid study sessions through AIA, but those only happen a couple times a year.  While we continued to discuss this dilemma, the host overheard us and said that they could help us organize it.  That's when our gears turned.  A minor discussion turned into a business plan.  We left the library and continued our discussion at a local McDonalds.  We properly introduced ourselves and I found out I was networking with a business owner and a board member of another Architecture organization.  Within an hour, we figured out how to host a bi-weekly 2 hour event.  Our next goal is to get sponsors for the group.  Because of his business know how, this will help our little group grow.

Our first study session starts later this month on 5/18.  I can't believe I'm finally taking action on my future and possibly helping others do the same!  Wish us luck!

PSA: If you are studying for the ARE and live in the Atlanta area, you can join us!  Contact me and I will send you the link to our Meetup group :-).

Women In Architecture: Burnt out

Since last week, I've been working on the measured drawings for Project F.  Project F is bigger than I thought. 

First, the weather thinks that we are still in the Winter season.  The building has no electricity; so when it is 50 degrees outside, it feels like 30 degrees in the building.  In order to stay warm, I had to make sure I was moving at all times. Measuring an existing building = frozen toes with a runny nose, lol. 

Source: Facebook.com

Secondly, it has a tight schedule; so instead of taking a couple of weeks to measure and document this historical building, we are rushing to get the first part out next week.  Despite the time crunch, I was able to get the plans out to the engineers on Tuesday.  It was rough but I feel like a load was taken off my shoulders.  Even though I finished the first task, I'm far from finished.  The thing that separates Project F from the rest of my projects is that it is historical.  That means I have to custom make every piece in my Building Information Modeling program - Revit.  I can't use the generic windows or other pieces that are in the program.  Later in the post, I will show you photos of the details.

Even though everything burning me out, School M came to the rescue.  While I was in the middle of the deadline yesterday, my boss went to the bid opening for School M.

Businessdictionary.com describes a bid opening as:

"Stage in a bidding process where the received bid-envelopes are opened and examined by the advertiser (called buyer, client, customer, or owner) of an invitation-to-bid (ITB). In an open or public bid opening, the bidders (and other parties) are allowed to witness the process and inspect the bids, in a closed opening only the owner's staff is present."

There were five contractors that bid on School M and all the bids were close together.  Success!  That meant my drawings were sound.  The second part was that the lowest bid was $1,000 more than my estimated budget for the project.  Double success!  The bid was $15,000 more than the owner's original projected budget.  Good thing we showed the owner our budget before the bids.  This made my day and week so much better!  Hopefully, the lowest bidder does a great job on the renovations for School M.

To continue with Wednesday's theme but with just photos, I am linking up with Alex @ Good Girl Gone Wife for Wordless Wednesday to show you each custom detail I will have to make for Project F:



Women in Architecture: Measured Drawing

For the past couple of days, Project C, School M and School K have been moving very slowly.  They are either waiting for the client's approval on a design or waiting on the contractors to bid them at a later date.  In the meantime, I have started a new project, Project F.  For Project F, we are documenting the existing building/site and creating measured drawings.  What are measured drawings?

According to AIA.org:

"Measured drawings are prepared in the process of measuring a building for future renovation or as historic documentation. They are created from on-site measurements."

These type of drawings are usually created when the original drawings are unavailable.  Project F is a three story building that has been abandoned for five years.  You can imagine what type of conditions it is in now, but as a future Architect, I make it work.  This is my fifth project that I had to measure, and the second worst condition.  My first one had cats inside and outside the building, asbestos and people living inside the building.  After that project, I think I can tackle anything, lol.

On Friday, my boss and I prepared for our 4 hour journey inside this building.  Because we were told people like to sneak inside the building, we started on the exterior.  My boss invested in a laser to measure everything and it was AWESOME!  Everything went by so fast and the numbers that the laser gave us was accurate and prevented mishaps (like the measuring tape falling on my head trying to measure a 10' door). 

After we got back to the office, I put the information into our 3D Modeling Software - Revit.  So far the exterior is complete, but we have to go back to the site tomorrow to finish the rest of the interior.

To continue with Wednesday's theme but with just photos, I am linking up with Alex @ Good Girl Gone Wife for Wordless Wednesday...on a Tuesday to show you my favorite details:

Hail Storm and Tornado warning on Monday, so no site visit for us.  I had to drive home in the middle of this.  Thank God I'm safe!

Dentils and Pilasters:

 

Trying to sketch out the details before I modeled it.