Final Reflection

I have come so far and learned so much from this experience that I am sad to see its end nearing. When I first started working at Cox James Architects, I was so nervous and scared that I was going to mess up. Luckily my mentor is an excellent designer as well as an excellent communicator. He has been in the business for over thirty years and chose to teach me skills that they do not teach in design classes and give me experience in dealing with different types of clients, representatives from companies, balancing life, school, and work, finding inspiration, setting goals and deadlines and maintaining them, and gave me insider information that takes years of experience for a business owner to obtain and master. I feel extremely lucky to have had the chance to work with Brian and his associates. Everyone I met through him spoke very highly of him to me when he was out of the room and I have begun to look up to him as a role model. I too wish to own my own firm one day and I have witnessed the stressors and the benefits of one. I am more familiar with a sample material library and specific fabrics and their ideal applications. I know how to get locate representatives and schedule appointments for them to come out and update the sample libraries and can have a conversation about what makes their new products different from the others. I have agreed to return to the site once a week to keep up maintenance of the library and schedule the reps to come in after the internship hours are complete. I enjoy working in that environment and I consider it one of my hobbies now- I’m a designing librarian. I was able to work on a few high profile jobs and I assisted in fabric selection for furniture pieces, tile and wood selection, paint options and furniture styles. I helped with a nightclub/restaurant hybrid’s interior design, the executive offices of APS’s interiors, and a law firm in Phoenix’s interiors design schemes. These projects are about to go into construction and I cannot wait to watch their progress, see the problems they run into and how they solve them fast and cost effectively, and end result! Although this is just a starting point for me, I am excited and eager to learn more! 

Site Improvement

The past seven weeks have been filled with new experiences and learning opportunities. Since my mentor has been in the business for over thirty years, he has had time to smooth out bumps and implement strategies for solving common design and business problems that occur. The loss of his business partner of thirty years and current economic situation has forced the firm to downsize and my mentor has had to take on tasks that would normally be outsourced for time’s sake. Little things that would make the business run smoother have been neglected. Organization is what I see, as an outsider, as being a problem in the workplace and a stress factor especially before a big presentation. I have taken the liberty of re-organizing the library of materials and filing cabinets of plans for projects. By having a more organized workplace, my mentor and his staff member have mentioned several times how convenient it is to know where things are and have updated materials as options for projects without the worries of it not being in stock or discontinued which causes the design process to start over. They are good designers and know what they are looking for. Having updated options available makes for faster design processes and eliminates doubt. I also suggested a log that representatives from different suppliers must fill out when they come to update/re-stock materials in the library. The sheet asks for simple information such as representative’s names, phone number, what they did when they were there, and company name. This eliminates the need to remember by heart all of the people who have recently come, what they did, and who the current representative is in case of the need for immediate inquiry and/or information. Deadlines are crucial in this business and can determine whether or not the client wishes to continue their services with you or can depend on you in the future. My mentor has stated that it is hard to find time to do small tasks such as updating and remembering where things are and I feel that organization is key to allow a project to flow. After a project has been presented and executed, all the materials used in the presentation sit in a pile in their offices for months at a time and cannot be easily located for other projects. By implementing what I call the “go back bin” these materials are returned to their proper spots immediately after usage and eliminate unnecessary clutter from the office. After my internship hours have been completed, I have agreed to return to the office once a week to bring the “go back bins” to the library and put the plans into the proper piles to help them stay organized and on track with updates. 

Interview

 

Interview with Brian Cox, Architect and owner of Cox James Architects

 

 

1. Why did you decide to become an architect?
2. What types of challenges did you face in obtaining your degree?
3. What types of challenges did you come across in starting your own business?
4. How do you deal with the stress of meeting deadlines?
5. What type of clients are the most difficult to deal with?
6. Are there any internal politics that you encounter on projects? If so, what are they?
7. How well do you work with others? (Clients or co-workers)
8. How do you separate your personal life from your work life?
9. Do you enjoy working on group projects, or do you prefer to work on a project by yourself?
10. Can you describe your ideal work environment?
11. Do you think your personality helps or hinders your ability to communicate conflict resolutions with others?
12. How has your education and experience prepare you for your current job?
13. Whom do you model your work behavior after, or who do you respect the most?
14. Have you had a mentor? If so, did it work for you?
15. Is there advice you could share with me if I plan to open my own business in the future?

shadow

The day starts early at Cox James Architects. After arriving at 8:00am, I joined my mentor in his office and assisted him in preparing for a presentation to a client. The meeting was scheduled at 10:00am and we had been preparing for the past few weeks for it. There are always little kinks that need to be worked out no matter how much preparation you do and I learned that was true and stressful first hand. We rolled up blueprints and gathered textile samples, furniture choices, lighting options, flooring samples, and a model of the building and loaded them into the car. We met the owner of RnR in Scottsdale at his location and Brian, my mentor, preceded to propose his design for a new nightclub located on Camelback road called The Mint. After weeks of preparation and tough decision-making, I found it interesting that the meeting only lasted thirty minutes. Brian explained everything to the clients in a professional and cohesive manner with interjection from the client and the end result was a success. The client liked everything proposed and scheduled a time for his other business partners to meet with Brian to hear the proposal and receive approval. Once we returned back to the office we organized paperwork and blueprints to be sent to Phoenix to receive their approval of all the safety features and permits for the nightclub in order to start construction in September of this year. There is a lot of running around and approvals and rejections/revisions of plans. This is a several year process and I am lucky enough to have been involved in the exciting finalizations of the plans. We then made calls to companies to see how soon we could get some materials that are needed for initial construction such as lighting and flooring and talked to engineers about possibilities of proposed plans. There is a lot of back and forth decision making because it is hard to have one idea and have it be approved/well-received by over six different parties involved in the job. At lunch we discussed possible solutions to some of the minor problems we ran into throughout the day in regards to the design and once we returned we immediately started researching and requesting specks from companies to include in the budget. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that clients do not see, and in this case, we were dealing with a husband and wife with conflicting visions and tastes in style. This does not make our job any easier, but it is the nature of the business and having good people skills and being innovative and able to think on your toes is what gets you ahead. I am extremely thankful that I am learning from such an experienced and professional architect and he is teaching me a lot about how to deal with clients and close deals while keeping the job and schedule and creating an end product that people will enjoy and want to return to.