My time at HKR Architects begins

For the next four weeks I will be interning at HKR Architects in London.

Wednesday 1st September: I got an email from the office asking whether I was available to come in at short notice and help them out on a project that is near completion (being prepared for planning permission). Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity and was excited to hear him ask if I could come in tomorrow for an induction. I needed to get my act together. Shirts would need to be bought (I remembered from my interview that most people, at least the directors, wore suits). So I rushed over to M&S on Oxford Street and picked up an emergency supply. Who am I kidding, I have no style!


Thursday 2nd September: I have a 09:00 start so I make sure I leave myself enough time to get ready. I still leave the house late and I am forced to take the Tube there, not pleasant on a warm Autumn morning in a suit. When I arrive at Waterloo Station it’s a familiar walk to the office as I remember the way from my interview. I had met Simon and Hin, both directors at HKR, at the Studio and we seemed to get along, so at least I would know some familiar faces.

When I arrive at the office it’s pretty empty, Karren, the office manager, has just arrived and I introduce myself. She’s nice and chatty and she shows me around on a little tour. The office is housed in a converted railway arch near Waterloo. There are two floors with a mezzanine propped up on columns. They have all the usual stuff, meeting rooms, break off rooms and printing facilities. Karren is also keen to introduce me to the office recycling bins. This is something I realise early on, a lot of the employees cycle in to work or use public transport.

After the tour finishes she takes me to my desk. Yes that’s right! I don’t know what I was expecting but this is my first time working in an office and I’m well excited about having my own desk!! I get a computer too, obviously. The desk is right next to Simon’s. So If I need any help I can bug him. Simon took me off and introduced me to the project I would be working on, feeling it important that I knew a bit about its context and history. It’s a girls' school in Lewisham that wants to expand; HKR are providing some new buildings and planning the surrounding context.
My first task is a simple one but one I found a challenge. I had to scale up nine plans from 1:100 to 1:50 and set them out on a page in the ‘HKR’ way. I won’t bore you with the details, but trust me this was hard for some reason and took me the best part of two days!!

I work with a small team of crack architects dragged together to save the project as we are close to completion. Richard, John , Simon and Niall all have other projects they are working on also but they are covering this one too, with Seamus (not the tutor!) popping in now and then, as the project used to be run by him. The task is fun and I feel like I’m really contributing something to this project, which is nice.

I worked from 09:00 to 19:00 staying as late as the other architects.


Friday 3rd September: Ok so I’m still working on those plans and they are hard as I have to change a load of shit on them to make them work at the new scale. Simon tells me he needs the files uploaded onto the ‘system’ by tonight so there is the added pressure, but one I embrace as the whole experience is still exciting. I can’t believe I’m actually doing it man!

I find out at one point that due to a lack of communication between the people working on the project, a guy I haven't met from upstairs has been slowly (and wrongly I might add) undoing my work. This causes all sorts of mayhem and I’m set back a little. Despite all this we actually get the files up and running by the time I leave. And yes it has been another long day, with me arriving at 09:00 having walked there, and leaving at 19:00 again with a long walk home. I worked it out that I’m walking 5.6miles a day, which is good going!


Saturday 4th September: What is this? Work on a Saturday.....Nay! Well yes, it seems this is the case as its coming up to the deadline. I actually like the sort of camaraderie of being in a team and working over time. I’m sure it will wear off but for now it makes the whole experience even more authentic. I get in at 11:00 today as I think we all needed a lie in. Simon is pleased to hear the files were uploaded successfully and I start on the section. This one is harder as it’s a file I have to draw. The office uses mostly Microstation for plans which is lucky as it’s what I’m trained in. So I will be drawing a section through the school building using referenced plans as my guide. This is harder that I thought! The surveys carried out on the existing building are all wrong, which makes my life difficult, but I plough on. At 18:00 we're all tired and I leave for home. Only seven hours today but I’m well tired.


Sunday 5th September: Ok so it’s today and my first day off after my hardcore three day week. It has been one hell of an induction and man I’ve loved it! It’s bound to get more stressful as the closing date draws near, but I say bring it on man! I shall try and keep this blog updated every day, the past few days I’ve been too tired in the evenings to look at another computer screen but I’ll make the effort! So I hope that explains why there are three days worth of posts on here today. Wish me luck.