SURAYYN SELVAN

           The internship training has been very insightful and informative towards opening my eyes to the working world by exposing me to various tasks that allowed me to understand and execute the procedures in a project both inside and outside the architecture practice. Veritas Design Group is an international design firm with over 130 staff members in their Kuala Lumpur headquarters. Besides the architecture division, they also have landscape, planning, interior design, environments and contracts as well. My nine weeks at Veritas allowed me to get a gist on how these divisions collaborate on a project as well as their roles and responsibilities.

 

            During my internship at Veritas Architects Sdn. Bhd., I assisted in the Zouk project, which is a commercial development with an estimated cost of RM 22 million and a floor area of about 227132 square feet. Currently it is at 92% of construction with an expected completion in March 2015. For this project, I enhanced the front elevation by referring to the landscaping elements provided by the landscape architect such as the ramps and stairs leading to the building. Besides that, I added a refuse chamber and its access in the floor plan as per the client’s request. Through this project, I was able to understand ramp and staircase calculations as well as understand the proper annotations for floor levels. Besides that, I assisted in updating the structural plans as well as amending the sign of sheets and sales and purchase contracts for W Hotel & The Residences, which is a RM600 million project that includes a hotel and serviced apartments with a total of about 62795 square meters. It is currently at 17% of construction. Through this project, I was able to understand the difference between the sales and purchase contracts and the sign off sheets as well as understand how to properly annotate floor slabs referring to the engineer’s update in a construction drawing. I also created a library for the typical unit layout to be accessed via the company’s server for TRIBECA, which is a service apartment project worth RM 180 million with a floor area of about 459407 square feet. Currently, they have started works on the superstructure.

 

            This internship also helped improved my 3D modeling skills using Google Sketchup. Using Sketchup, I modeled out the building massing for the 38 storey ETIQA Office Tower currently at the substructure stage of construction. I also modeled out the building massing as well as developed several different façade treatments and concepts for the ENGTEX Cheras Perdana project, which is a residential development project currently in the schematic design phase. I had to conduct research and case studies on traditional and modern Chinese Architecture and generate a modern interpretation through sketches and 3D modeling. Through the Cheras Perdana project, I was able to explore the translation of 2D sketches into 3D models and apply it to the real life workability. I also generated a massing model for the show gallery for Oxley Towers, which is a RM 1.3 billion project with 1890406 square feet currently in it’s design development phase, as well as model out different configurations for the unit layout of the serviced apartments. I also assisted in modeling the façade treatment based on the AUTOCAD drawing. This project exposed me to different commands used on Google Sketchup to ease 3D modeling. Using Photoshop, I coloured floor plans for several projects such as the ENGTEX Cheras Perdana project, Oasis Mall, which is a project worth around RM 450 million and is around 1700 square feet currently pending the drawing order approval, as well as the proposed development in Pantai Cenang for Tropicana. Through these projects, I am able to understand the different colour codes to identify and zone spaces in preparation for presentations. I am also able to identify the common spaces used in similar developments such as residential and commercial developments.

 

                During the internship, I was very fortunate to have attended site visits conducted by the architects scuh as the Zouk KL project located in Jalan Tun Razak to observe the architect’s discussion with the contractor. This visit enabled me to understand how to handle discrepancies between the drawings used by the architect and the contractor. Besides that, I was able to understand the importance of beams and columns in transferring loads at and angle. The site visit to W Hotel & The Residences in Jalan Ampang exposed me to screeding inspections by observing the different types of screed and concrete defects. I was also able to observe on site layout changes to a space, due to misinterpretation of the drawings provided by the architect. Finally, I was able to attend a site meeting chaired by the architect for Bangi Sentral which is a mixed development worth RM 300 million around 1.2 million square feet. Through this site meeting, I was exposed to the formalities of a client consultant meeting as well as how issues are resolved during and after the meeting. I assisted several projects in preparing Powerpoint slides for client presentations. Some of these projects include the proposed development in Pantai Cenang and the IJM Headquarters competition. I also updated the Laporan Cadangan Pemajuan for a residential building for Tan Sri Zulhasnan worth RM 30 million and around 60000 square feet. Through this report, I was able to identify the requirements in preparing an LCP and which authority to submit it to. By assisting in preparing these presentations, I was exposed to various different layouts and content to be presented to different clients.

 

                   On the more technical side, I calculated the unit distribution in order to determine the maximum number of floors for De’ Centrum which is a residential development around 1.2 million square feet currently in it’s schematic design phase. Once these distribution numbers were determined, I then calculated the ratio of the different unit types. Besides that, I analyzed the travel distance for some of the levels in the project as well as the car park requirements. Through this project, I was able to grasp some of the different fire escape requirements as well as car parking requirements approved by the authority. Apart from that, I assisted in the KWASA Damansara Township competition in which I designed the placement of the car park bays for the packages in the project. I also assisted in generating diagrams to be used in the presentation slides. Diverting from architectural projects, I assisted the marketing department in producing videos for each Veritas division to be exhibited during the CITYSCAPE Exhibition held in Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. I was very fortunate to have been able to assist in managing the booth during the exhibition as well. Through this project, I was exposed to various developers and competitors in the construction industry. I was able to browse through different projects and acquire information in relation to the property market. By creating these videos, I was aware of the projects undertaken by the different Veritas divisions, as I was able to browse through their project archives.

 

                   In conclusion, during the brief course of my internship here at Veritas Design Group I was able to acquire as much information as I could about the various project stages in an architectural practice. Having hands on experience in working on multi million dollar projects allowed me to feel a sense of responsibility as these projects are a reality and any carelessness could result in a very high risk. The architects and staff have been very helpful in allowing me to grow as an architecture student. Much of the knowledge I’ve gained during my internship, I would be able to put to good use in my architectural studies.