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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratification to my tutor, Dr. Sujatavani Gunasagaran for guiding me throughout the entire internship duration of 8 weeks. Her constant guidance through electronic and physical means was really helpful and inspiring. I would also like to extend my thanks to the Career Services department in Taylor’s University for being diligent and always mindful and concerned with our wellbeing before, throughout and after the internship experience. The assistance and guidance was significant in ensuring that my entire internship experience went as smooth as possible.
Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to Ar. Kwan Kim Huah and my colleagues in KKHA for being very helpful, friendly, and accommodating during my tenure there as an intern trainee. Their guidance, in particular Ar. Kwan, allowed me to expand my knowledge in this field greatly and improve myself as a person which I feel is enough to warrant this internship experience as a monumental success.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS SUBJECT
PAGE
Cover Page
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Acknowledgement
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Table of Contents
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
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2.0 REPORT 3.0 CONCLUSION APPENDIX
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
Kwan Kim Huah Architect (KKHA) is an architecture firm with a single solitary branch that is located in SS15, Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan. This firm is helmed by a solitary principal architect named Ar. Kwan Kim Huah. The workforce comprises of 11 full-time employees, excluding the 2 trainees/interns that would take part in this internship training.
Having been operational for more than a decade, the firm currently works on many ranges of projects, which include small scale projects such as residential housing to medium sized projects which include apartment and condominium blocks. KKHA aims to design, develop and create elegant, visually pleasing buildings which would improve not only the immediate building but also the surrounding areas through good architecture practice.
OFFICE DETAILS
No. 28B & C, Jalan SS15/4D, SS15, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
www.kkha.com.my kkha28@yahoo.com +03 5634 8798, +03 5611 4198
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2.0 REPORT As I entered office to begin my internship in Week 1, I was introduced to the office and given a small briefing to the office rules and regulations. Soon after I was thrust into my first project, which was a low-cost housing project, located in Banting. What was required of me was to aid in completing and making changes to the detailing of the homes. More specifically, I was tasked with amending the Waterproofing and Rainwater Down Pipe (RWDP) drawings. Throughout this starting week, I was given constant feedback and guidance by the supervisor as well as the architect, providing advice on improving my drawings. It was an important start and a rude awakening to the weeks ahead.
The second week began with a personal meeting with Ar. Kwan discussing the expectations and upcoming agenda for the internship duration. In this meeting the concerns and questions from both parties were queried and clarified to provide a singular understanding of the expectations moving forward. Once the drawings of the previous week were amended the I was tasked with changing the fencing design and enlarged kitchen details. As this was a low-cost home, there was a lot of emphasis on the efficient and minimal use of materials, with as little wastage as possible. This meant that even the smallest details such as the tiling layout had to be scrutinised.
Week 3 marked the submission of the project, with the completed drawings due to be submitted to the Quantity Surveyors for the procurement of the Billing Quantity. Upon completion, I was given the opportunity to join in to send the drawings to the office of the Quantity Surveyors, which provided me invaluable experience into dealing with other relevant parties in this industry. As soon as this task was completed Ar. Kwan entrusted me with producing and writing architectural magazine ready articles based on the previous completed projects that had been undertaken by the office. The first project that was written about, L-Homes, is a double residential unit that is located in Ipoh. With regards to this, a meeting with Ar. Kwan was held detailing the history and story of the project for me to understand and produce the article. Throughout these meetings, I got to learn and understand more profoundly the concept, procedures and 5
thinking of an architect towards project and the relevant design intentions. For the duration of this work Ar. Kwan was forever helpful and never shied away in giving enough information and provided feedback whenever possible.
As I was in the midst of my task, in Week 4 a colleague sought help with another project that is located in Balakong. This project is a high-rise apartment that is currently in the early stages of construction. My colleague entrusted me to produce the Disabled (OKU) Ramp, which included the enlarged drawings and sections. During this task, I expanded my knowledge exponentially about ramp gradient ratios and the relevant by-laws that are associated, as producing a disabled ramp requires stringent and meticulous guidelines to provide the best and least intrusive experience to the user. After this task was completed I continued with producing articles and began writing for other projects. The week ended with an informal office meeting encompassing the entire working force which detailed the office agenda during the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities.
As the office restarted operations in the middle of Week 5, I continued to produce articles for projects such as H-Residence, a bungalow residential home located in Subang Jaya, and Star Ipoh, the regional bureau of the national newspaper. This week also marked the first time that I participated in a meeting. With permission from Ar. Kwan, we joined the meeting that discussed many aspects of the building including details with the engineers involved in the project. It is during this meeting that I was introduced to this new project by Ar. Kwan, named Alzac Viva and was located in Cheras. Alzac Viva was another middle-scaled apartment project. As soon as the meeting ended the team that was to participate in the project, which included all interns and a few senior members of the office was briefed with handling the building. I was tasked with designing the layouts for the Surau, Changing Rooms and Disabled (OKU) Toilets.
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The arrival of the sixth week of internship marked the completion of the remaining articles and the beginning of full focus on Alzac Viva. Overall, the designing of the Surau and Disabled (OKU) toilets was very tedious and meticulous due to the very specific needs of the users. Nevertheless, this experience allowed me to learn and expanded my knowledge in regards to being culturally sensitive, such as concerns put into the Surau, including the “Kiblat” direction, ablution locations and restriction, as well as door entry placements for privacy. Furthermore, there is also thought placed towards a disabled person and their restraints in regards to mobility that had to be taken into consideration when designing the toilets. This week also marked my first attendance in a full formal office meeting, which was conducted on Thaipusam day. Through this meeting, I learnt the procedures, organisational and administration components that are related to office activity such as the format of the meeting minutes and meeting flow. After the meeting ended the staff was treated to lunch by Ar. Kwan in line with the Chinese New Year celebrations. This was followed by a company trip to the sites of Hap Seng in Balakong. The experience allowed me to bond with my colleagues and get know them much better beyond just being colleagues. The next day, we were brought to the other ongoing projects located in Petaling Jaya, which where “Lot 63”, a high-rise condominium and Trinity Methodist Church, a large church. I was fortunate in that I was able to visit multiple sites with varying degrees of scale and completion stages, and realised that this invaluable exposure was a very rare occurrence when compared to other firms.
Week 7 was a week of fully focusing on the completion of the designs and drawings of Alzac Viva. Many revisions were done in accordance with Ar. Kwan during this period as the architect sought to ensure that his product was to be of the highest quality possible which was a testament to the integrity of an architect. In pursuit of providing the best user experience many changes were made.
In Week 8 I returned to the project in Balakong to conduct amendments to the Disabled (OKU) Ramp. Changes were made based on the architect’s understanding of construction constraints and efficiency. Throughout the experience of participating in this Balakong project I learnt from Ar. Kwan the importance of producing clear and 7
precise drawings to avoid complications and arguments with other involved parties during the construction phase. I also learnt that as an architect we must always be thoughtful in regards to producing drawings that takes into considerations of the construction efficiency as, in real life, every item amounts to cost and time. This is an issue that was never ever taken into consideration in university when doing study based projects.
The final week of my internship began with the completion of the Balakong sited project drawings to be sent for submission to the Quantity Surveyors. I was also given the opportunity by Ar. Kwan to participate in a Site Meeting. During this meeting, I listened to the many perspectives of the different parties and to any potential conflicts that have risen due to miscommunication. Overall the meeting was very telling as it was clear that the coordination and cooperation of all parties in a project is crucial to the completion of the project. The rest of the week comprised of completing the Alzac Viva drawings before my internship experience ended at the end of the week.
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3.0 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, an 8-week duration was definitely very short but enough to obtain a grasp of working in this industry. Throughout this experience, I gained many new skills, improved my knowledge on many aspects especially on technical drawings. I also gained invaluable exposure through the participation of meetings, which were a far cry from the sterile environment in the university. Ultimately, aspiring to be an architect would result in a very busy and punishing life, which requires the upmost dedication and countless years of hard work to be able to succeed in this field.
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APPENDIX
The staff on a site trip to Balakong.
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Members of KKHA during the company lunch.
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Usage of site elevator during site visit.
All participants get involved during the site visit.
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The site visit encompassed a thorough walkthrough of the entire structure.
A site visit of a smaller scale project.
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The current construction site and progress of the smaller scaled project.
The site conditions of the high-rise project, showing groundworks.
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