Architectural Internship Report

AR 614 Professional Architectural Internship DEC 2022MARCH 2023

Lecturer: Binti Zulkeply Nurhayati

I would like to give a huge gratitude to all the staff in Veritas Design Group for their hospitality and help throughout my internship period. I had an enjoyable time exploring the projects and attending fun events and activities in the corporate.

Thanks to the project architect, Ivy Tam, Yee Lyn and design core associate, Farah Yusof, whom I have the opportunity to help under many of their projects from small-scaled landscape adoption, high rise commercial buildings to huge master planning projects. They have given lots of patience in educating me about presentation and rendering skills

Next, I would like to thank the architect, Affan and assistant architects, Ro Yee, for supervising my work in the production team I learned a lot about authority submissions and delegation of tasks in a huge team in order to produce high quality drawings within a limited period of time

Last but not least, I highly grateful to my fellow internship colleagues, Jaron Sim, Sabaahat and Phoebe Loh for lending their helpful hands and support me constantly throughout the internship.

INTRODUCTION OF INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT

INTRODUCTION OF INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT

VERITAS DESIGN GROUP

Internships are established as lubricants for the transition from formal education to architectural licencing and practise Internships make guarantee that students have acquired sufficient practical expertise before they enter the workforce as professionals, which contributes to maintaining the public's health and safety

By completing my internship in a legitimate architecture firm, I get to look closer to the reality and examine my career strengths and weaknesses. One may face obstacles and demotivation, but there are always solutions to every problems

Moreover, the biggest challenge working compared to education is commitments, discipline and control of my behavior when dealing with different job scopes and people everyday The responsibilities I hold is much more vital, just like a screw in a complex system, it seems neglectable but never ignored

One of my biggest concerns is to be able to utilize my skills and abilities in order to contribute to the corporate But before that, I have to be able to portray good communication skills and confidence

Unlike academic, the real world does not spoon-feed us everything, we have to take initiative to seek for learning opportunities and be bold to speak out our thoughts. Especially in a big corporate, no one pays attention to us if we only stay within ourselves and be quiet

During my four months of internship, not only I hope to fulfill the mission of the corporate, I also wish spread new and lively energy to the firm and hope that with new blood in, we will spark more innovative and creative ideas. Taking internships leads me the way to fit in and work in a complex and systematic method, with a group of talented and helpful colleagues, we strike to give out our best in the short limited time.

POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITIES POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITIES

S I applied to Veritas Design Group as a Part 1 architecture intern I was not under any specific team/ department. Hence I get to be exposed to a variety of different tasks, from design inception, building digital and physical models, amending CAD drawings, to going on site visits

In Veritas, there are two main departments in architecture, which is the design core team and the production team. The design core team handles most of the projects, such as master planning, mix-used developments, adaptive reuse and competitions

On the other hand, the production team has less design work at the moment as they are focusing on the biggest project in the firm- ECRL train stations They are currently on design development stage with many ongoing authority submissions and amendments of drawings

Submissions

As an intern, my main task in the office is to assist the architects with all aspects of architectural work, including conducting remote research for design inception such as zoning laws and regulations, preparing presentations for clients, attending meetings and translating data and information into artistic diagrams

Moreover, along with my fellow interns, we also helped in rearranging the facilities in the office, which are the sample room and model room.

The sample room holds the samples and brochures that are provided by the suppliers.

The model room keeps all the necessities for model making and also advanced laser cutting and 3D printing machine.

Quarterly Meeting

Key focus areas for the upcoming quarter in addition to new goals, including risk and opportunity analysis of planned goals

Tarik Talk

Invite guests for talks of sustainable town planning after work

Celebrations for special occasions

Games and tea break sessions for Christmas and Chinese new year

Scanning drawings and sending to client's office

After the approval of drawings by the authority, we are asked to send a copy of the drawings to the clients' office

Learned to use laser cutting machine

Teh

Model making

PROJECTS INVOLVED PROJECTS INVOLVED

Above are the projects that I've been actively involved in the past 4 months in Veritas Design Group. They range from adaptive reuse, public transport, community landscape, residential to mix-used development a m p a n g s o h o

The project is located at Jalan Ampang, with the current context of a series of shoplots. The soho utilises the significant ART DECO language of the facade, reminising the historical

This is my first project involved in the corporate, hence the tasks delegated is quite easy, and with detailed supervision and instructions from the supervisor

I got exposed to BP and bomba colouring the plans, nd elevations according paces and materials. learned about different detection and fire er systems, thanks to nior architect, Vignes

Besides, I conducted a small site visit to obtain the accurate dimensions of the existing building. Since we could not acquire the drawings of the existing building, we have to take the measurements as carefully as possible However, some of the windows that are too high to reach, we just assume the dimension based on the photos taken by drones.

As this is my first ever project during the internship, I was pretty excited and ready for the challenge. However, reality gave me a hit Working in the architecture industry does not only come the sweet and fruity side, but also the repetitive, boring work.

Since there are a few members working on this project, it is vital to make sure that the drawings are always tally to each other I learned to use XREF function in AutoCad so that when there are changes on the drawings, we don't have to repeat the amendments on every drawings I found that this method has its ups and downs. It helps to reduce unnecessary mistakes and time, but I have to be more cautious when dealing with XREF drawings as I don't want my mistakes to ruin everyone's hard work

I am grateful to have the opportunity to touch up the drawings related to fire safety. In the process, I have to go around in the office to seek for experienced architects to ensure that the quality of the drawings hits the standard The details of the drawings have to be put attention, for example, the location of 'Keluar' sign means a lot whether it is at which side of the door. Overall, the main job I did for the Ampang SOHO requires design and construction Although the project is small-medium scale. I still have to pay much attention to the drawings This is the longest time I have taken for a project, and it certainly helps me stabilise my foundation in the firm

The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) is a double-track railway link between Port Klang and Kota Bharu, connecting the East Coast Economic Region States of Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan to one another, and to Peninsular Malaysia's West Coast and Central Region

I am exposed to a variety of job in this projects, with different supervisors in the department of design core and production

Firstly, I was handed over with the job to check the drawings for the depot buildings, and make sure that the plans, elevations, sections and the door and window schedule is accurate.

Secondly, I need to calculated the natural ventilation and lighting which is 10% and 5% respectively If they are not sufficient, I have to design a series of openable windows and louvers

Lastly, I am responsible to create a simple presentation slides to show the materials and finishes of the station and also design the interior floor tiles according to the design concept, which is inspired by traditional Kelantanese motifs

amendments of sketchup model

floor tiles inspired by Kelantanese motifs

After completing my 3 years of architecture studies, I've always wanted to try work related to authority submissions, which we have not experienced in our academics.

I learned the liason between architects, assistant architects, drafters and also engineers.

Most of our drawings have problems related to structures, hence when I come across any uncertainties, I would first discuss with the architecture team. If we need consultant from the

engineers, I will have to tabulate all our findings and send to the engineers via email.

I learned a lot in the technical aspects, such as the locations of fire door, use of draft curtains, use of louvers for ventilation in double volume spaces, etc.

I had fun designing and amending drawings for this project. The deadlines are reasonable and I get to take time and explore myself in an aspect I've never touched oninfrastructure

The Veritas landscape adoption project is also known as 'Veritas Fund for Excellence" (VFE). It is a proposal to upgrade the public landscape at Jalan Wangsa Delima, which is just in front of our office building

My job scope is very straightforward for this project. I participated in the design, modelling and also presentation phases. This project was initially done by a previous intern, but the supervisor decided to restart the whole design, hence I am lucky to have done the project from head to toe.

v e r i t a s l a n d s c a p e a d o p t i o n

I am required to use sketchup and enscape to produce a rendered draft so that in the later stage, the renderer can will have a reference when rendering different views

I took a few photos on the site when doing photomontage of the view It is quite a difficult job as the traffic there is always very busy

I am very new to SketchUp and enscape, I don't think I'm even qualified as an amateur Hence, when I was given this task, I am worried and excited at the same time

inspired me to experiment on more software to enhance my rendering skills in the future

I learned a lot of plug ins in SketchUp, such as Soap/Bubble/Skin, PathCopy, TrueBend, JHS Power Bar to model curvy landscape and sculpture. My fellow intern friend, Jaron has offered a big help in teaching and giving comments for my modelling skills.

Furthermore, I enjoy learning from the render in office. He used 3D max to render extremely realistic views, which

My supervisor, Ivy Tam, has taught a lot with this project To make the renderings realistic, one has to always remember that the views are exported in 2-pointperspective, which is the closest to human perspective

e n t r a l s u i t e s

Sentral Suites is a mix-used development project in KL Sentral that celebrates the unique mix of cultural heritage and history in this neighbourhood

This project is expected to be completed in 2023

As this project is reaching completion stage, the main task fells on the category of inspection

Firstly, I am assigned to draft a VA completion checklist that consists of plans and a list of defects. There is a template being used in the office, hence the task is not too difficult despite it being my first time exposing to inspection documents.

Next, interns are grouped to follow the architects to the site for inspection of work quality and compliance standards. We have to jot down the issues and put on remarks on the inspection list Timestamping on the photos taken is vital in this process as an evidence for the contractors I have to include information such as unit number, date and time, space and codes of defects. We have to wear proper attire and PPE to the site as well.

There are approximately 1500 residential units in the project, that need to be inspected within 15 months, hence the schedule is very tight and require high compromisation and discipline from all parties

Everyone in the site inspection team has other projects going on simultaneously However, the team still manage to complete the targeted number of units everyday

Being on site is make me feel refreshed once in a time after sitting in the office for a long time. Although the project is near completion, we still need to wear proper PPE and always be cautious of the environment Since there is a hectic schedule, most of the time, I am required to work alone.

I am grateful to have this fruitful experience during my internship No only I've learned the common defects in a residential unit, but also get to discover the close connection between the contractors and architects

ONGOING CONSIDERATIONS ONGOING CONSIDERATIONS

SKILLS TO BE DEVELOPED

SOFT SKILLS

Being in a corporate firm, one has to be proactive and confident to participate and voice out during projects executions. To fit in in such a big environment, the skill of adaptibility is significant to ensure that I can keep up to the pace Moreover, I have to always remind myself to stay calm and focused even working under stress and in a limited time

As an an intern, I find it hard to portray my ability of leadership Most of the time, I am being assigned with task that I should complete alone. I need to develop critical-thinking skills that allow mee to evaluate situations through reasoning to reach logical decisions. This is sadly lacking during my internship as the job scope is rather straightforward all the time.

HARD SKILLS

I would like to be exposed more to real life construction details to be able to perform accurate technical drawings.

Furthermore, I would like to learn more rendering softwares, such as Enscape and Lumion, to create realistic images