London Part Two

Hello there,

Following on from my last post about the Rigby and Peller Store in St. John's Wood, London, I then visited a store that was too in its final stages and waiting for stock and furniture. This is for a handbag designer called Kwanpen from Singapore. They craft luxurious goods of exoctic skins mostly from Crocodiles, but they also use Python, Ostrich and Monitor Lizard skins.

The site is Burlington Arcade which is in the heart of London and is famous for running from Piccadilly to Saville Row, as well as its many luxurious boutiques stores. The arcade was thriving with Christmas shoppers and I couldn't wait see the boutique. The grand height of Burlington arcade conveys the impression of luxury and wealth. Architectural details boast that it has a unique quality space, which is reflected in  the unique boutiques and products sold throughout the arcade. The red carpet that runs through the whole arcade aids the extravagant shopping experience.

 I reached the store and everything appeared quite secretive; there's no logos or product photos, nothing. This was probably unintentional method to tease the shoppers of a new store and to encourage them to visit again soon and ask questions about who/what is opening.

These three images are some of the details that caught my attention. The aid the sense of opulence to the store; I tend tot find its the little details in building thats overall make them great. (Above, left and right)

The boutique is 8.7m long and 2.4m wide; this is one tight space. There are 4 floors that include the 'shop floor', staff room,  storage and w/c facilities. There is  a sweeping staircase in the centre of the space causing a divide between the left and right hand side of the boutique.

Close up of hand made leather furniture.

Personally I'm not quite keen on the brown carpet and yellow/cream walls combined. However I do like the unique staircase as well as the spotlights that will highlight the products Kwanpen have to offer. From seeing some of that hand sticthed furniture this boutique will be screaming luxury goods at its customers and I would like to visit the store when its up and running to see the final product.

Views from the 3rd floor.

The smallest w/c I've ever seen!

Staff Office.

Staircase detail.

Beautiful sweeping staircase.

Looking up to the 2nd & 3rd floors from the arcade walkway.

Have you seen this store? What do you think? I would love to know.

Part three of my London trip will be coming shortly!

Today the CEO of Exeid gave me some very Important advice: smart goals.

Ive been working on a project at my internship but I wasn't set a deadline as they wanted to see how I would get along with eh tasks they set. Now my boss would like me to choose my own deadlines for upcoming tasks and this is when he taught me about creating smart goals.

So what is a smart goal?

Smart stands for:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time frame.

These are all components that are needed in order for me to achieve a goal!

                                  

                                          Thanks for reading,

                                                Hannah

P.s Wishing you a very merry Christmas!

London trip part 1

Hello there,

On the 10th December, last wednesday, I went to London to record the progress of some sites that Exeid are working on. I met two of Exeid's Project managers, Darren Stainer and Neal Smith. The sites were in St Johns Wood, Burlington Arcade and Knightsbridge (next door to Harrods!) The Clients are a lingerie designer for two of the sites and a handbag designer for the other.

My day didn't start out too smoothly as my train was delayed, however nearby intellectual conversations made the journey more interesting than normal. After a few minutes in an over crowded tube train and a short walk I reached my first site in St Johns Wood.

Rigby & Peller is a lingerie stylist thats offers luxurious under garments and fitting services in  9 boutiques across the UK, as well as online. They are also well known for fitting the Queen. The new boutique is located at 23 St Johns Wood High Street, London.

When I visited this site, it was very close to completion and final tweaks to electrics and fittings were being fulfilled. The store fittings and signage were all ready and waiting to be placed. The space appeared quite small due to all the furniture gathered in the central. Below are a few photographs of the site.

The store has cupboards (see above clip) which will store garments as well as shelves and tables to show customers products. Towards the back of the store this is large desk in the similar style as the furniture which will have a TV behind it. to the right of the sales desk will be a heritage wall and an area for sitting and having hot drinks. Carrying on through what I presume will be a luxurious curtain are four changing rooms including a larger VIP room. The staff area consists of a kitchen, store room, office and w/c facilities.

I would like the visit the store again when its up and running. No doubt its comforting, luxurious and glamorous and will succeed like its other boutiques.



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I've got to pop out to grab some lunch and have some other work to fulfil today. I will post about the other sites asap.

The only way is up!

Thanks for reading,

Hannah

Time flies when you're having fun!

Hello there,

I can't believe It's the last week of first term already! It only felt like yesterday that I picked up the keys for my student house. Time is flying and so much has happened in a matter of weeks. The highlight being that I started my Internship at Exeid and I'm overjoyed with the skills I am learning and are progressing.

The amount of work this term compared to first year is certainly a lot more and with a part time job as well as my internship and studies AND swim training/committee duties has had its toll on me. I've decided for my new years resolution (but I'm putting it into practice from now, why not?) is to sort my priorities out and put my Univeristy studies first.

So, back to my development at Exeid, my work is coming along nicely. Sometimes I wish I'd graduated already as now I've had a taste of the real world, I can't wait to get into practice. But I've got a lot to learn by the time I do!
My CAD skills are improving as I am getting a lot more efficient and more confident than I had prior to starting my internship. Here are some sneak peaks of what I've been up to!

These images show the surveyed site brought into a 3D form via Google Sketch-up. I've currently rendered them with the generic options available. At University, we used a plug-in called kerkythea to edit our CAD files. I'm struggling to download it on my personal Mac. Do you know of any free/good rendering Plug-ins for Google Sketch-up please? Any comments or advice will be warmly welcomed. Many Thanks

Be back soon,

Hannah

Ps Nottingham has its annual Christmas market on and its adorable snow topped tudor huts are back in full force along the helter-skelter ride/pub (win-win!) Moreover there are always are few amusing ice skaters for the on lookers, as well as a bar area that even serves mulled cider. Winter and the festive season is in full force and I can't wait for Christmas! I would definitely recommend a visit.

Note to self

Hello there!

The beautiful building where I Intern!

First Day!

So I've been at my internship for 5 weeks now. (sorry for not posting sooner). How times flies when you're having fun. I'm there for a day and a half a week in my spare time and I cannot believe how much I've learnt already! University barely taught me the bare bone skills of software programs like AutoCAD and Google SketchUp. Luckily I have previous experience with SketchUp but I didn't realise how much of a 'dummie' I was at AutoCAD. This was realised on my first project!

Tools of the trade

I'm in the process of surveying a site that is presently a car park that is going to be proposed for change of use. University is great, don't get me wrong but I felt that they wrapped up projects in cotton wool; When I did surveys in my Technical studies module, the rooms where square and easy. I was smacked in the face when it came to surveying a space for a live project! From taking the measurements of the survey to AutoCAD, I naively expected the space to be square, which it clearly wasn't!

Site

 From surveying the site to drawings plans and elevations on AutoCAD, I then produced a 3D visual on SketchUp. Today I was let loose into the basement which I've started recording. It's very eerie down there by myself but there are some amusing graphics and London Grammar kept my company too.


 I will admit that I've made a fair few clumsy mistakes but I have defiantly learnt from them.

Note to self:

• Save my computer work regularly, especially AutoCAD. 
• Take photos of spaces I'm surveying.
• Have a strong coffee if I'm tired.
• Lasers are the BEST! (Surveys)
• Update my blog more, way more.

Thanks for reading, 

Hannah

I'm officially an Intern

16/10/14

This is my first ever blog which is all new and exciting. Even more so that today I have been offered an internship for Exeid, a commercial property consultancy business that it expanding and blossoming a great concept. My role will be to aid projects by surveying sites, creating accurate plans, sections and elevations to scale, as well as incorporating my design skills and creativity into projects.  I'm more than excited and eager to get involved with the projects and tasks ahead. Time management skills at the ready!

Some people may think, why am I making such a big deal about being an Intern? I don't just see this as work experience, I see this as a great opportunity to get a glimpse of the real world and a work place I could see my self working for when I'm (hopefully) a graduate.

I will use this blog to post my experience as an interior architecture intern and show you the work I produce. I'm more than ready to climb this mountain.

Be back soon

Hannah