INTERNSHIP REPORT

16.6.2015
BENEDICTE AIMEE JOHANSEN
PER BUCHARDT ARKITEKTER
COPENHAGEN SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
SPRING SEMESTER 2015
PREFACE

This report is documentation on my internship at Per Buchardt Arkitekter during the spring
semester of 2015, from the 2nd of February till 29th of June.

The internship takes place during the 6th semester, and is a mandatory part of the Bachelor of
Architectural Technology and Construction Management (BATCM) at Copenhagen School of
Design and Technology.

In this report you will read about my internship goals, my role and tasks at an architectural design
studio and an analysis of how they go together with my education and future career.

Lastly, I would like to thank my colleagues at the internship office for their patience and
willingness to sharing their knowledge with me.

16.06.2015 Copenhagen, Denmark

________________________
Benedicte Aimee Johansen

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
INTERNSHIP REPORT ............................................................................... 1
PREFACE ................................................................................................ 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ 3
1.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 4
2.1 ACCOUNT OF THE INTERNSHIP ................................................................ 5
2.1.1 THE COMPANY ............................................................................... 5
2.1.2 THE ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGIST ................................................ 5
2.1.3 PERSONAL LEARNING GOALS ............................................................ 6
2.1.4 RESULT ......................................................................................... 7
3.1 GRØNDAL CENTER ............................................................................... 9
3.1.1 THE CASE ...................................................................................... 9
*Pics changed according to Per Buchardts wishes. .................................................11
3.1.2 THE SUGGESTION ...........................................................................11
3.1.3 THE WORKS ..................................................................................13
3.2 Examples of work done during the internship. (*added according to Per Buchardts suggestion)
...........................................................................................................14
3.2.1 MAT1, Matthæusgade 1. ......................................................................14
3.2.2 TS, Merchandise and food stand for Tingbjerg stadion ......................................14
3.2.3 Various interior fittings ........................................................................15
3.2.4 CG UB, Youth housing for Grøndal center ...................................................15
4.1 CONCLUSION .....................................................................................18
APPENDIXES: ..........................................................................................20

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1.1 INTRODUCTION
On February 2nd I started my internship at Per Buchardt Arkitekter. During the internship I
would get to participate as a fully-fledged member of the team here, with being responsible for
my own projects and dealing with clients, designing, drawing, joining meetings with public and
private clients, with sub-contractors, and visiting sites before, during and after construction was
completed.

Some of the projects I got to be responsible for has been for the commune, and has involved
design, registering/surveying, contracts and budgets, and countless meetings. Some of the
projects I started are now waiting to go into bid, and others are still awaiting final approval on
budget. Some of the other projects the office has, that I got to help with included sitting in on
meetings with contractors, handing over projects after building completion (this also included
creating the “as build” folder for the client), writing bid proposals, writing contracts for the
contractors, and budgets. Everything has been done under guidance of the employees at the
company.

The purpose if this internship is to give me, the student, an insight and working knowledge
about what goes on in the field. How the construction site works, how to deal with clients, how
to deal with contractors, how to formulate contracts and bids, how to formulate budgets, and last
but not least, how to structure the work one does. What to do first, what to do second, and on
wards. How to decide what is important and what is not. These are skills that are maybe hard to
get a grip on unless one has experience in the field.

In the following chapters of this report I will explain further what I have done during my
internship, and what my reflections on what I got to do and the role of the architectural
technologist in the working process are.

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2.1 ACCOUNT OF THE INTERNSHIP

2.1.1 THE COMPANY

Located right behind Statens Museum for Kunst is Per Buchardt Arkitekter; one of Copenhagens
many small drawing offices. The office consists of the owner, Per Buchardt, one full time
employee, Mia, and up to two interns. The offices are shared with a graphic designer and
photographer that mostly work out of the house. Both Per and Mia graduated from Kea
(Konstruktørskolen) as constructing architects and building managers before becoming
architects. This gives them both an advantage in dealing with the smaller, as well as the
bigger projects they are commissioned. The company does not focus on architectural
competition, but on word of mouth and competing with quality in execution and pricing.
The office takes on tasks of every size: from small private design tasks to renovations of greater
Copenhagen communes’ institutions and offices. Their biggest current projects include the
renovation of Dansk Energi’s main offices on Frederiksberg, the renovation of Copenhagens
biggest sports- and activities centre, Grøndal Center, and also the new offices for
Borgerservice +65.

2.1.2 THE ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGIST

The Role:
The architectural technologist’s role in a drawing office is to be the specialist on not only
architecture, building design or construction, but on all of them. Working closely with the
architects and designers, and the engineers the architectural technologist ensures that the
architect’s vision gets put into reality.
The technical side of design is the architectural technologist’s main concern, and it is her
responsibility to ensure that the building not only performs successfully, but also that it is
attractive. She makes sure that the materials that are “right for the job” are used, and that the
building is up to code.
The technologist also helps lead the project from beginning to end by monitoring quality assurance,
costs, and deadlines.

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The Responsibilities:
 meeting with other professionals and clients at an early stage to agree on the project brief;
 understanding how the design aspects of a construction project influence and relate to
performance and functional issues so that practical questions can be addressed at the outset;
 contributing to planning applications and other regulatory application procedures;
 assessing what surveys (e.g. land surveys) are required before work can commence and
ensuring such surveys are undertaken and their results fed into the project;
 developing project briefs and working on these as the project progresses;
 preparing and presenting design proposals using computer-aided design (CAD) and
traditional drawing methods;
 leading the detailed design process and coordinating design information;
 advising clients on procuring the best and most appropriate contracts for the work they are
undertaking;
 collaborating with appropriate authorities (e.g. planning enquiries and building inspectors)
when producing documentation for legal approval;
 producing, analysing and advising on detailed specifications for suitable materials or
processes to be used;
 administering contracts and project certifications;
 obtaining feedback from clients and people using the building and reporting on the
performance of the contractors once the construction project is completed;
 evaluating and advising on refurbishment, re-use, recycling and deconstruction.

2.1.3 PERSONAL LEARNING GOALS

Before starting the internship some goals and learning objectives were agreed upon by the intern
and the company. Here is a short description of those together with some examples on how
they were dealt with throughout the internship.

The early phases:

 Research, sketching, design, choice of materials.
 Depending on the project, thorough research on the client’s current needs, the
client’s future needs, and also on what will be the best solution to meet the client’s
wants was done. Materials were chosen after researching what qualities the material
had, design wise as well as construction wise, but price was also a necessary part of
the equation.

 Placement and usage of lighting, acoustics, calculating budgets, etc.

 Research and calculations were done on lighting and on acoustic control. Preliminary
budgets were calculated after templates provided and explained by the office.

The design phase:

 Execution of the main project with design- and tender-drawings on the main project level,
knowledge of the documents in the written part of the main project, including contract
specification, bid lists and legal documents.
 Drawings for design and technical stage were produced for the tender stage.
Documents such as legal documents, contracts, contract specifications, and bid lists
were written under supervision.

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Execution phase:
 Participation in supervision, meetings, site visits, site meetings, managing schedules and
follow-up in building the execution phase.
 Participated in meetings before, during, and after project completion.

2.1.4 RESULT

During the internship the goals set up was achieved.

The preliminary phases and the execution phase was the phases that got the most attention during
this internship; meeting with clients, surveying, drawing, designing, researching, and
creating budgets were the main tasks. Yes, some document work was done, to the extent
where it was made clear what the role of the document was, how and when it was to be
implemented, and how it was to be written. But the main focus was on the architectural parts
of the work.

The design phase with the tender drawings and bidding works, even though not dwelled upon that
long a period of time, was thoroughly explained and the knowledge of the contract
specifications, how to perform bids, and how to pen the legal documents necessary in
Danish drawing offices has been learned.

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2.1.5 REFLECTIONS

In countries outside of Denmark that also has the architectural technologist degree as a field of work
the internship is usually done after completing the degree. The model of having the
internship as a necessary part of the degree must be seen as an advantage. The student gets
the chance to see how things that they are thought in school functions in real life; what is to
be weighted, what is to be taken into consideration and what that is actually not that
important.
At KEA one learns the RIBA-stage system when it comes to project phases, and even though this is
a very common system in the English speaking/international world, Denmark uses its own
phase system. In the beginning of working in a Danish drawing office one might be
confused to the new expressions and names for stages and phases, but when it’s broken
down and explained, one can easily see that the Danish system and the RIBA-stages overlap
when it comes to what is actually done during them.
As an architectural technologist with specialisation in architecture, there were some differences in
what gets done at school, and what gets done in real life. Working one get’s to put the most
attention to research, designing, redesigning, meeting with clients, more research, and more
redesigning and drawing. One gets to see that some of the stages that at KEA are “rushed”
through, the preliminary phases, are the stages that are the most critical to starting the
project, and can take anything from a couple of days/weeks to months before they are ready
to be moved on from. The better one is at recognising and understanding the clients wants
and needs, the faster one can move on from these stages.
One also gets to experience that it is important to recognise and respect what skills and what
knowledge the craftsmen that are involved in the different projects have. Not everything
needs to be controlled and drawn down to the smallest detail, simply because one knows that
these things are things that the craftsmen know best themselves. Some examples of this
might be with demolition work; in written specifications one mention what is the different
contractors and sub-contractors responsibilities, and in the drawings one just mark what
needs to be demolished. One trusts the contractor/sub-contractor knowing how to demolish
the element that is marked, and that it isn’t necessary to create detail drawings for them.
This is also true for smaller details in smaller/simpler construction works.
The way drawings and papers are named and numbered one gets to experience differs from
company to company, and from project to project. In smaller companies/drawing offices
they usually have their own numbering system that for them make sense in the projects, with
the numbering, drawing levels and element numbers. It’s not a given that all studios and
projects use the bips and/or the SfB system, but all systems used, even the in house systems
should be transferable to the industry standard.

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3.1 GRØNDAL CENTER

3.1.1 THE CASE

The Center

Grøndal multicenter is a sports center under Kultur- og Fritidsforvaltningen in Copenhagen

Kommune, and with its approximately 33.000m2 it is the municipality - and the country’s -
largest. The center is a versatile sports, activity and cultural center, and houses facilities
for more than 40 different sports. It also houses a fitness center, meeting rooms, a café, a
playground, outdoor fitness equipment and a large astroturf outside.
The center rent out space and facilities to Folketeatret, Team Bade, Idrætsskolen for
udviklingshæmmede, CSA.dk, SimGolf, ProAlign Idrætsfysioterapi, Børne- og
Ungdomsforvaltningen, Arbejdernes Kunstforening, Københavns Firmasport,
Tonegenerator og S & V Tekstilkurser. In addition, there is a bowling alley and a cafe
which is leased.
The center is used daily by about 3,000 users, and has about 40 employees incl. the fitness
center. Additionally, there are a lot of permanent staff from the various tenants. With an
average of 16.8 hours on weekdays, and an average over the weekend of 10 hours, the
Center has open more than 5,000 hours spread over 362 operating days.
Historically, the plant is known as 'the old' Bella Center, which was built back in 1965. At that
time it served as the exhibition center until 1975, when the new Bella Center was
established in Amager. Then took over the City of Copenhagen facility, and got it restored
together with the then "Young people in work" project. In November 1978 could open the
doors to Grøndalscentret, which later changed its name to Grøndal multicenter - Sports &
Recreation.

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 Current conditions
Hallway, main area

The Centre's ground floor contains mainly eight sports halls for various activities. In addition to
them, it has a large median area, which among other things includes access to the different
facilities.
The central area is designed with two main double-height corridors with skylights, which acts as
the centers main walkways. The passageways are very characteristic with its green tropical
vegetation along the sides.

The main walkways appear with the original surface tiles. Clay coating is uneven and offers
tripping hazards. The coating is very inconvenient for transport and for cleanliness.

The information booth is placed with its back against the arrival
area in a niche next to the main entrance. The information
handles all customer relations with information, ticket
sales and rental of equipment, sale of different type of
merchandise, and monitoring and control of the entire
Center.

The centre of the Centers ground floor is filled with various

activities and rentals, which separates the two corridors
visually and functionally. In the middle area there is a cafe,
which is leased, a separate banquet room, a small lease
with a physiotherapist, a dance room, and various sports fields and tennis tables for hourly
rental.

On the 1st floor there is one additional dance room, a canteen room, a conference hall, offices
and one area that is at the moment not in use.

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 The central area was painted and renovated in the early 80s, and has been converted ad hoc to fit
the different changing purposes. It is today worn and marked by the extensive daily use, as
well as alterations and changes that are made locally without regard to the whole.

*Pics changed according to Per Buchardts wishes.

3.1.2 THE SUGGESTION

The proposed design renovation that Per Buchardt Arkitekter came up with was divided into
several different execution phases that were as follows.

PHASE X:
CONCEPT AND COORDINATION
Transforming the two long hallways separated by massive volumes to an opens space of 3600m2
with inviting functions divided into 4 groups: the entrance/information, a new café,
Grøndal sports lounge, and physiotherapy.
The phase is to ensure the overall goal for the design, construction, colour, lighting and quality,
as implemented in the 5 execution phases.

In this phase: Lighting concept, acoustic concept design concept: materials, elements, plants,
colours, furniture, space and zones will be coordinated. Overall plans for floors, walls, and
ceilings will be made here.

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 PHASE 1:
NEW INFORMATION AND LIBRARY LOUNGE
In phase 1 the entrance with new information "box" is fitted.
The new digital library lounge with ipads and PC facilities will be made in cooperation with
Kultur Nord and Borgerservice.
The area will with its new design help to welcome the visitors, and serve as a venue.

PHASE 2:
Floors, glass doors and WCs
In phase 2 new glass panels at both ends of the two through-passageways will be put up. These
glass panels will provide daylight and create a visual connection with the surroundings.
The brick flooring will be removed and establishes new floors in the same design as the
entrance: Polyurethane with a field sharing of aluminium mouldings. The edges to flower
beds will be replaced.
Toilet-core at the back of the building will be renovated.

PHASE 3:
Café and ballroom
The stage includes two main activities:
- Moving the cafe area into the main entrance and open it visually, functionally and with light.
The café's serving area will be a natural and unifying part of the new compact area on the
ground floor. With new counters and buffet, and more facilities for the café it will be
improved and upgraded.
- Gathering the dance rooms and dance clubs activities on the first floor with two dance halls
connected by a walkway.

PHASE 4:
Sports Lounge and physiotherapy clinic
Establish a central area under the skylight to the Center's rental courts to 2V2 soccer, table
tennis and mini golf. The centre of this area is designed as a sports lounge where you can
meet and compete - or take have a go at the climbing wall.
New rooms to rent to for physiotherapy and other tenants that have relevance to the activities of
the Center will be built.

PHASE 5:
Hallway area
In this phase the hallway area will have its walls, walkways etc. renovated. New signs and
“way-finding” will be placed. New energy efficient lighting concept will be implemented.
New technical installations, including new heating system in the ceiling also goes under
this phase.

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3.1.3 THE WORKS
Before starting
After the design was approved, the budget was approved, and all the preliminary works was
finished, the project got sent out to bid. The project is done as a Hovedentreprise with Per
Buchardt employed as the main contractor, designer, and the Kommunes consultant. All
legal paperwork, all meetings, all contracts, all project management is done by Per
Buchardt Arkitekter. Before work could start, building permit needed to be attained, and
sub-contractors needed to be selected, they needed to have their bids approved, and all the
contracts needed to be signed.
Before the construction started mock-ups of the info-box, the floor, the ceiling finish, and the
type of lighting fixtures were done to ensure that the client got what they wanted, and that
the architect was content with the colour choices and the expression it created fitted his
vision. The mock-ups were done by the carpenter that won the bid for the info-box and the
interior/furniture together with the electricity/lighting contractor.
The construction was scheduled to start after some external work (changing of windows) was to
be completed, but things ended up being delayed due to delays in deliverance and delayed
responses from the municipality/borgerservice that was to consult Per Buchardt Arkitekter
on how the info-lounge would need to be furnished and what was needed of equipment
and supplies. After construction on phase 1 started, minor delays has occurred in the
construction due to the fitting of sound reduction ceiling plates has been more difficult
than anticipated, and also some problems have occurred in sub-contractors not working
together and sharing information, which led to delays that again led to contractors not
being able to work on the scheduled days. But even though the project as of today is two
weeks behind schedule, phase 1 should be able to be finished, ready, and taken into use
before the official opening of the new info-lounge after the summer-holidays.

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3.2 Examples of work done during the internship. (*added according to Per Buchardts
suggestion)

3.2.1 MAT1, Matthæusgade 1.

Refurbishment of offices for København Kommune.

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3.2.2 TS, Merchandise and food stand for Tingbjerg stadion

3.2.3 Various interior fittings

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3.2.4 CG UB, Youth housing for Grøndal center

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Benedicte Aimee Johansen Side 18 01-07-2015
4.1 CONCLUSION
During the past 4 months of internship, several different tasks have been gone through, have been
completed, and have been understood and will be taken into use in the future work situations. The
experience together with the knowledge that has been gathered these 4 months has truly made me
more knowledgeable and more ready to go into the workforce after the soon to be graduation. I have
learned a lot about project development, interaction between co-workers, clients, and contractors.
Lastly I hope that my time spent at Per Buchardts office was valuable for them too.

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APPENDIXES:

APPENDIX A: STAMP AND SIGNATURE FROM EMPLOYEER

APPENDIX B: EVALUATION FORM

APPENDIX C: THE LOG BOOK

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