Quiet Office Buzz

So, amongst other projects that I have been working on, there has been one in particular that I've mentioned before that I (up to now) have been working on non-stop throughout this year and it included a full set of plans for this office building of 148 squared metres that will be built from ground up in 2013. I have just plotted the entire set of plans for council submission and tendering. I know it sounds crazy that it took so long but this process was gruelling and consisted of a back-and-forth approach from the client especially...also mainly influenced by the budget.

The design was changed numerous times and that ofcourse led to me having to change EVERYTHING in accordance several times. Alot of the construction had to be changed as it could no longer work and we also added a safe and cash register rooms which was something I learnt a great deal about as the proper safety measures had to be constructed. I luckilly then explored different construction methods from this process so even though my projects in my portfolio arent as many as some, I have been working throughout on this project working with alternative methods, things that work and dont work and seeing how the budget influences a design and ways of going around that.

So, now that that's done, I dont really have anything to do but Lisa has said that she's going to be starting me on another project as she avoids me sitting without work. The only crap part is that I wont have it in my portfolio that is due friday but Im sure what I have is enough.

This is our last submission and Im feeking like a 3rd year student already. Bring it on!!

MIP project diary

Here is my inserts to the Diary that we used throughout the MIP Project on St. Michaels Multi-grade school:
MIP PROJECT DIARY

The end is near...hahaha

So our MIP project is complete...I think. What a year it has been, I recall how anxious I was before it started about the working environment and just hoping that it would be beneficial for my studies...to gain adequate experiences and knowledge to prepare myself for third year.

My contract with City of Cape Town ends the end of December and since most of our work for Tech is completed I can truly say that this year has been great, was a nice breath of fresh air to gain experiences in the industry and it actually made me miss being a student 24/7!

Our MIP was awesome!!! and it will probably be the best one to come. While I could spend time with all my friends that Ive missed while wortking on the sun screen, it also gave us so much opportunity to grow closer to one another as a class as we worked together.
It was amazing to be so hands-on, doing things that Ive never done before and for a good cause.

By the time I came back to work I wasnt too eager, just wanted to remain doing what we were doing, but I have work here to and it was waiting for me. Still stuck on this project making changes all the time, so when I came back to work, my plans were marked up and waiting for me...more changes!! I cant wait to submit and move on to the next project now, this one has been dragging all year.

Anyways, will keep you updated on the next project to follow hopefully, until then
ciao :)

The month of spring :)

When the 24th came around and our PSS portfolios were due, I was ready and happy with the work I submitted. I generally do my work as I go along to avoid last minute rush so I had all my printing done prior to the 24th and update my online portfolio as I go along here at work.

That same night I celebrated my 21st birthday with a few friends and by the end of the weekend had caught a terrible case of the flu which set me back a week from work. Luckily I had printed my necessary drawings for Lisa to take a look at and other than that, didnt have anything else at the time that needed my attention.

This week Im back at work and ready to work and now Lisa is sick haha so Im just waiting for her to get back to give me my next assignment,

Ill update you as to what comes up
see ya!

The never-ending Project

So, since the handover of the vi=ehicle taxi impoundement that I blogged about earlier last month, phase 2 had to be completed which consisted of an office and cashiers building on site.
I was given this project to do from the start of my time here and believe it or not, it has yet to be submitted to council!!
The client has been confused about it's design from the beginning as the budget never fitted and has going back and forth with ideas all the time. Ideas of which I was drawing plans for...constantly having to change. Welcome to the real world, I guess.

So this past few weeks we have made a sketch proposal and hoping with our fingers crossed that this is the final time that the design will change. Yes, I have been changing all the previous submission plans set to the new design, what a task! From construction technicalities to schedules!
I am however pleased to say that I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge concerning construction details as Ive had to do some research on methods that is appropriate.
As a technician upon qualifying, we arwe expected to make things work and make suitable suggestions, that I have started to do.

Lisa has set up a sort-of lecture for us on friday by one of the quantity surveyors in the office who will be taking us through the building processes and the legal side, documentation and processes thereof so Im definately looking forward to it since Ive been quite interested in the business side of the industry and I myself am interested in doing a Project management course after my BTech.
Anyways, let me get back to work and Ill update you soon on how things are going

Tataa

PSS Portfolio

Heres the link once again to my online portfolio if anyone wants to take a look at how it's coming along:

PSS Online Portfolio

Block week :)

Yeahhhh, the time has come again for our next block and I am definately excited to see my friends and be in that student environment again.
I know that I've skipped a week or two of blogging so let me fill you in on whats been happening...

Since Maitland handover, Lisa has been keeping me and collegue Kyle Williams busy with a project in Bo Kaap. It's quite interesting as we once again are touching on Heritage and that in itself comes with its own constraints.
Whats been happening is that the City will finally be handing the houses over to the residents who have been residing and looking after these houses out of their own pockets for so many years. We will be fixing what needs fixing and then price the houses at very low costs for the residents to buy and own.

A total of 14 houses has to go through this process so we started with the initial measuring up of two houses so that base plans can be established. I have since completed the existing plans of two houses together with my collegue. Heritage Western Cape has sent their requirements as far as what we need to include in the plans that has relevance to the time period that the houses were built and we then ammended them accordingly.
I made a mental note of the state that these houses were in and was quite shocked at the current lack of toilet and bath facilities as well as the apalling state that the houses are in....very sad!!
On our site visits we also became familiar with the families that occupied these houses so Im glad that we are able to fix their current living affairs.
I continue to go to site meetings on my other project every second week that follows up with plans that need to be ammended or extra things that need specifying now that we are going through the building process.

Anyways, looking forward to class and yes, even that test we'll be writing, ciao till next week!