Week’s Summary:

This is my ninth week at Boulder Associates Architects in Boulder, Colorado. At the beginning of the week I completed the three finish boards for Lydia that were being sent to the client on Tuesday for Yampa Valley Medical Group. It was a wonderful experience because during the past few years at school I have been using the computer a great deal, but this was a hands-on experience, literally. Each board was for a different suite. They varied depending on the suite, but they all had elements that linked them together, and hence were developed based on the same design objective. After those were completed, I did some filing and worked some more on organizing the library. I then worked with Elizabeth the rest of the week on various projects that she has been working on for awhile. I picked up redlines for Community Hospital Grand Junction and Lowry SNF (Skilled Nursing Facility.) In between doing those, I started making a finish book for New Mexico State Veteran’s Home (Alzheimer’s and Skilled Nursing Facility). This project is complete, but the finish book is for our record so that Boulder Associates can go back and look up the schemes of past projects on file. Looking at and collecting these materials, I can say it is quite a different project than what I have been working on while I’m here. Elizabeth said this project was right on the border of New Mexico and Mexico, so they tried to use some traditional Mexican tiles for inspiration without being "over the top."

Week’s Focus:

Boulder Associates is a firm that specializes in healthcare and senior living. Designers at Boulder Associates set new standards for environments that heal in a positive way. Each designer plans and hopes to achieve the best design that fits the needs of the client, and is beneficial to the healing process. Being able to sit in on client meetings, I’ve noticed that as designers we have to remain flexible, and be willing to change to suit the client. We may initially bring something to the table that they do not like, and after hearing and recording the client's impressions, we must then we go back to the drawing board to develop a new approach. It is a continuous learning process. Boulder Associates emphasizes innovations, timelessness, and collaboration. Furthermore, no one is working on a project individually. It is always a group effort. Observing our designers and architects at work, I can tell they are very passionate about their projects and about learning in general. It is obvious that the founders of Boulder Associates wanted to establish themselves as leaders in design for health and aging by being trusted advisers to their clients. I know they have already achieved this objective, and now are reaching for even higher goals.

Getting to Know Someone New:

After working at Boulder Associates for nine weeks, I can say that I’ve gotten to know the majority of the people here. Last week, a new architect named Heather joined the staff, and I got to know her a bit better this week. She has lived in Boulder for the past 17 years, but I found out that she is originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This was a pretty exciting discovery since this means that currently there are three Canadians at the firm, including me. Likewise, she originally thought I was from Tennessee because I am a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, but while we were chatting we found out more about each other, and then we bonded over both of us being from Canada. We also discovered some kindred interests, such as gardening and landscape. Like most of the other people at the firm, Heather also has a garden, and she grows raspberry bushes, one of my favourite fruits! I still have two weeks remaining in my Summer Internship, and am looking forward to getting to know as many other staff members as possible.