The entire process of applying the first architectural job could sound daunting and need a lot of determination. This post is written for architectural students who are applying for RIBA Part I placement and for people who want to know the architectural industry more. I thought it would be very useful to share my working experience in details including projects I involved, what the office environment like and my challenges. Hope it helps some of you what to expect and plan ahead.
Through my summer experiences and undergraduates, I worked at a few architectural disciplines related every summer as an intern which has prepared me to recognize and responds to a host of factor that is necessary to face the growing demands of the profession. I understand architecture is a wide field. So I have reviewed my strength and my interest down to a list that I feel the firms would work best for me and I could contribute my skills. I then applied online, went for a few interviews and I got accepted at OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture). I have really enjoyed working there. Let’s have a look together with the projects I involved.
Competition: Hong Kong- Boundary Crossing Facilities ( link)
This was the first bid competition I worked on and the competition organized by Hong Kong Highways Department to draw new ideas of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge links up Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Macao in the Pearl River Delta, China and to engage the general public in this important new development. The works of HZMB related projects within Hong Kong include the Hong Kong Link Road and the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities. The southern landfall of Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link will about the HKBCF. The HKBCF, accommodating the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine facilities of the HKSAR, will be located on a reclamation site of about 130 hectares at the waters off the northeast of the Hong Kong International Airport. The HKBCF will serve as a strategic multi-modal transportation hub for international and domestic traffic due to its proximity and connection to the Hong Kong International Airport and strategic highway networks in the area.
Our team had intense discussions, sketching and making massing models, we came up an idea using a grid of 18×18 units, an open-plan mat building made up of, platforms, canopies, and roofs that shelter and enclose the program.
My role was to draw one of the building floor plans in a diagrammatic way and draw up the potential programmes for master led by the Project Architect. Also, worked on the collages and massing models. I had a huge difficulties building the 3D massing in Rhino. There were loads of information I had to include and later I got pointed out some tips. Also, I was relatively slow comparing to other team members, for example, I spent 4 hours on one collage which is a double amount of time of the others. Then I found out there was a material library and learned I should plan out the work and use the office resources more to make things more efficient.
