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Working as an architect

Working as an architect

Being the last of the group of interns to start work I felt I was more than settled in with the lifestyle of Hong Kong and ready to start work at my architecture internship. Luckily for me, I am only a 10min walk away from the Architecture firm and to make things better, I start at 10am. It doesn’t seem that exciting to most people but I was stoked, as the other interns have a longer commute to get to work.

I’ve heard a lot from the other interns about how they sometimes struggle to talk to the other employees due to the language barrier and how they were just starting their projects. So that made me worry wondering if I’ll enjoy work and if I’d just be given pointless boring tasks throughout the internship….But after my first day of work, I had noting to worry about.

I first met a lady named Rachel, who gave me a tour around the firm. Being only two days after New Years very few were at work. Both of the bosses Paul and John – who are also twin brothers, were still on holidays and I’d met them within the next week. Rachel showed me the firms previous works and current projects. I will be working on a Hotel’s Sales Office in Shanghai. The firm is placed in a small building that is spread out over 4 floors – 6th floor – 9th floor. This is how I’d describe each. The 6th: The materials library, a room with mountains of tile samples. The 7th: A floor that is so painful to walk around due to the awkward silence, I avoid any need to go to the floor. The 8th: A champagne haven where meetings and business is done. And finally the 9th: This is where I’ll be working for the duration of my stay alongside two others – Neil and Kido. Neil is from the UK, I see him as the middleman between Paul and myself. Kido is from Hong Kong and although I have learnt things here and there from everyone Kido has by far taught me the most. As for our floor, the people at work describe it as the place to go to relax. With Neil playing the role of DJ all day I can safely say I’m glad I’m not on the 7th.

The first few days of work were quiet and slow being New Years and all, with employees slowing coming back from holidays throughout the week. Everyone that works here is extremely nice and majority of them are from multiple areas of the world – ranging from Europe, Canada and across China. Having gotten to know the other team members at work they all appear to be well informed with architecture and are very experienced in their fields.

It came to the middle of the second week when I finally met both John and Paul in person. My impression of them both is that they’re extremely nice and laid back. I’ll be working under Paul who I’ve found to be a pretty cool guy. I remember once seeing him at a secret Jazz bar that the other interns and myself find pretty cool.

When it comes to lunch we all sometimes go out as a group to random restaurants. Majority of the time I just agree to whatever they say I’ll “like” but I know they’re just trying to get a laugh out of making me eat weird cuisines. I haven’t worked in an architecture firm before as I am still in the early stages of my study but after my first week I feel that the internship has set the bar pretty high.

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