Retrospectively
Start of the year
My first few days at
Boogertman + Partners were stimulating.
I started the job with a clear mind.
I did not carry any preconception of how architectural practices are
run, so I accepted everything as it came.
In the beginning of
the year there were a few projects which were almost completed so I was
involved with minor alterations of existing plans. In the first month I only did a couple of
simple drawings (my supervisor probably wanted to see how I do things). The only two jobs on site were in the
finishing stages, so work quickly dried up.
It was in this time that I was asked to have a look at Sketchup (which I
had used only once or twice before). The
other employees know about Sketchup but they aren’t adept at it so usually
students are expected to produce the 3D models for presentational
purposes. The first task was a simple
massing model which I imported into Google Earth to show how the building would
fit into its surroundings at the bottom of Loop Street in Cape Town.
It was a simple model but good experience to see how big ideas are
presented simply.
In the first two
months I was eager to please and whenever I had nothing to do I asked for work
and declared myself available to anyone in the office. Invariably I was told wait until someone
needed something or that I would be told if needed to do something, so I
occupied myself with reading some of the books in the office as well as
architecture blogs to try and keep myself inspired. I felt that if there was no work to be done,
it would be fitting if I still spent my time exploring architecture through
media. I settled into this routine to
fill the gaps between small tasks and trips to collect or deliver things to
council and clients.
Presentation Department
The presentation
department consists of one person. Adele Vermeulen is an architect who works half days
(looking after her child for the other half).
Whenever presentation material needs to be put together stylishly, she
is the one to turn to. In her absence
there is a lack of image editing skill which is where I found a niche in the
office. I took over those duties when
she was either too busy or away. This
would involve preparing images in Photoshop for presentation panels,
incorporating Sketchup views into background images to provide a basic kind of
artist’s impression for clients in the early, non-paying stages of a job.
My experience in
Photoshop comes from my hobby of taking photos where I explored digital
editing. I enjoyed Photoshop duty
because it felt like I was the only person who knew how to use it when Adele
was away.
BP Centre
My first major
undertaking was to design a parking garage conversion for Revel Fox’s BP Centre
in Long Street. It is the kind of
opportunity not often given to a student or apprentice. It was a conceptual proposal so the specifics
of construction were not paramount needs.
Even so, I was very afraid of doing something wrong or building an
impossible/improbable/unrealistic model and seeing as I knew barely anything
about the subject, I embarked on a research endeavour. This was the most valuable learning
experience of the year. I improved my
modelling skills tenfold through a whole alphabet of revisions, I started to
see how concept imagery for big projects are very important and above all I now
have an above average understanding of the construction, circulation and
regulations of multi-level car parks.
At the final
presentation of the concept, I accompanied my director to a meeting with the
client, Redefine. It was an eye opening
experience to see a structural engineer, quantity surveyor, developer and
architect speak about percentages and astronomical amounts of money as if it
were a simple discussion about a small investment; to listen to them debate
about how and when it will be presented to council and who to involve to
increase the probability of such a massive project. Simply put, I was exposed to big thinking.
Development
One of the pending
projects in the office is the further development of the Vineyards Office Park
in Bellville. I did bits and pieces of
drawings and made some of the images for presentations as the proposals went
along. Through this I gained exposure to
the workings of the heritage council, impact studies and the feedback needed
from residents in the area.
The development is
poised to take place on a vineyard block, which has provided natural beauty to
the area surrounding Majik Forest in Bellville.
My family go for walks among the vineyards and we enjoy cycling the mountain
bike trails. Public perception is that
development might endanger these privileges.
The truth is however that the whole Protea Valley and Welgemoed areas
were once forest and veld and if it had not been developed those residents
wouldn’t have had such nice places to stay.
To protest against further development would seem a bit
hypocritical.
I have always been
opposed to bulk development. When I see
a large part of land being cleared I get a diminishing feeling. This debate provided me with a new
perspective and it has helped ease my conscience about development. Even so, I believe there are too many people
around and I would much rather everything stay the way it is. But I understand.
My
own project
Up until this stage, I
had only been given bits and pieces of bigger drawings to do. The addition of a first storey to a student
commune in Stellenbosch is of much smaller scale than projects typically
undertaken by Boogertman + Partners, so for the first time I was entrusted with
producing a full set of drawings. The
client is related to one of the staff members and they are looking to build in
2013, so the pressure was low and I could properly investigate everything I
didn’t know.
This was the first
project for which I was required to visit the site. The house is a cellular, single storey,
thatched roof building. The brief was to
add a floor and squeeze as many rooms in it as possible so as to maximize
income from rentals. Each room will have
an en suite bathroom and there will be communal space to cook and eat. Everything I know about anthropometrics and
ergonomics comes in handy when working with the smallest allowable spaces. I learned quite a lot about plumbing and
drainage organization because the setup is much like that of a small apartment
building. Being an old building (more or
less heritage age), part of the challenge was to make it seem like the
additional floor had always been there - proportions and detailing were the key
aspects to carry through into the addition.
This project was the
second biggest learning curve of my year (probably in practice the more
important one because the odds of having to design a multi-level car park one
day will be much smaller). After the
design was 99% finalised, I started doing the council drawings – this is where
I felt that I learned something which was not taught at university. Although the design was never 100% finalised
and the drawings didn’t need to be submitted, I felt that I got the exposure I
desperately needed concerning council drawings.
Revit Course
In October, the office
decided to run a Revit course. Pressure was
mounting against the Cape Town office to advance into the new era, because the
other Boogertman + Partners offices had already made the move from Autocad to
Revit.
For three days we
followed tutorials and could ask all the necessary questions to familiarise
ourselves with the software. It was a
great introduction and Autocad suddenly seemed very archaic in comparison. To me, the cyber age of architecture had arrived
and I was inspired by what was possible with this amazing new tool but when I
realised that it would still not change some of the boring buildings we work
with, my bubble quickly deflated. Even
so, to have seen and heard what it is capable of, totally convinced me that
architecture is switching to an internet communication platform where buildings
are designed and built in the virtual world by teams of people, much like an
online building site. I can go on and on
about how this software will bring architects around the globe closer, erasing
the physical distance between them and freeing them from their offices.
I am privileged to
have been properly introduced to Revit.
I know some of my peers have been begging for the same opportunity. I am currently practicing the tutorials and I
will definitely use it instead of Autocad next year.
Conclusion
Boogertman + Partners
is one of the larger commercial firms on the continent. They design shopping malls and office blocks,
hotels etc. What I find interesting
about such large buildings is that the client is often not the user of the
building. It feels to me like a special
aspect of architecture can easily get lost when the person who pays for a
building is not the occupant.
It is the aspect of
character in smaller buildings; their owners who have decided to create
something unique; the care taken to personalise and tailor a design to a
personality or a certain personal characteristic which I find more
intriguing. Experience will tell in the
future, but I see myself in a smaller, more bespoke setting - working on a
human/personal level rather than an industrial/commercial level.
This realisation was
directly brought on by my experience and time in this office. I am glad for the exposure which has granted
me a new comparison to help shape my outlook on architecture as a career.
