Week in the life of a 30-year old Architect, Tutor and creator in Cambridge, England

5 Nov

Written by Aliya Pinnock, Edited by Aliya @archistudentnotes

This ArchiWeek we have a week in the life submission from me (Aliya Pinnock). I am an Architect and I recently moved to Cambridge, England. I also create content, write blogs and work on this website :)

Introduction from the Writer:

I try to write an ArchiWeek at least once a year to share with readers of archistudentnotes and to reflect on my day to day architecture life every year. It is really interesting to look back and see what I was doing and how I was feeling in 2024, 2023, and 2022.

I am always looking for submissions so if you are interested click here and get writing!

If you would like to read my previous submissions or find me on social media, click below :)

About Me

Monday

Up early as per. Decided to jump on my desktop because for whatever reason, I felt the archistudentnotes.com website needed a bit of a refresh before I left for work.

I’ve been working into it for awhile, trying to make it more blog focused, clean but not corporate, professional not boring. I made good progress, made lunch, got ready and was out of the house on time.

On my bus journey I started to read a students Part 3 case study that I offered to make notes on. Whilst driving would make my commute a lot quicker, I do appreciate the time to work on reviewing student documents like today or read one of my library books, plan or write content!

I get into the office at 9am, lunch in the fridge and … revit is not working.

This turns out to be a global outage which conincides with a Microsft update in our office which meant for a good hour or so, I could not even get into the computer.

Our Director could so printed off a few drawings for us to check and tidy up, I prepped some stuff to do when the computer booted back up and then other than chatting a bit with some colleagues, I did some birthday thinking and continued reading the student case study from this morning.

Up and running about 11 and I started with revising some elevations which included a very tedious job of changing individual panels on a curtain wall cladding system to show up as rough and smooth. I had already done this but I deleted one by accident at some ppint when I was editing something else (should always look at at least 2 views - plan and 3D for example).

Now lunch, I eat at my desk usually.

Pros: it’s quiet, I can watch stuff.

Con: I basically spend the whole day at my desk, colleagues still working can ask for things.

Another pro is that I can do some work like today I spent 30mins eating and scandal and then 30 mins reading the Architecture student Part 3 Case study.

I found it a little hard to focus in afternoon but grabbed some water, tea and listening to a bit of Channel AKA on spotify, I got through the rest of the day which went fine.

Though, I definitely felt rushed towards the end of the day as to get the bus that is quicker, never full and most convenient, I have to leave basically bang on 5.

Just as I was syncing and doing my last things before leaving, I realised I might have done work on the backup file, rather than the main file aaaah.

Anyway, I did what I needed to do, the Director was able to send the email to the contractor and I left at about 6mins past which meant I was basically running down the road to get my bus.

Tuesday

So I woke up at 5am. This morning however, because I knew it was going to be a late night on account of the Eggheads quiz in Norwich, I went back to sleep! So it can be done!

Got a good 7.5 hours, got myself ready and packed a bag, and then I was out the door.

Did get attacked by a wasp at the bus stop but got in unharmed and made a list for the day. I then was in a meeting about pool hall which focused on balancing acoustics, lighting and ventilation plus issues regarding a lobby. We dicussed one of the items on my list in the meeting which crossed it off my list which was very helpful.

Today, like most Tuesdays we had a Lunchtime CPD organised by the CPD coordinator. Todays CPD was interesting and had a lot of good information but not as engaging as it could have been which is definitely something, we as presenters, need to be aware of.

After the CPD I did a bit more work and then it was time to get on the road. We left work at about 4.30, the drive went well and I was able to chat more informally with a couple of colleagues which was nice. We arrived at the hotel to drop our bags off and took an uber then to the venue.

The venue wasn’t initially that obvious but we found the entrance, travelled to the second floor and were met with a bunch of people, a balloon arch, a bar, string lights all within a stunning building.

We got a drink, spotted two other colleagues who were networking/mingling and then we found our seats.

We were seated on the table with people from the project we’re working on which was interesting. I recognised them but as I don’t have a camera, they didn’t recognise me, One of the colleagues I was with kindly suggested I borrow her camera when she’s not using it.

The quiz was 8 rounds, and we started with 4 followed by which was a selection of food, and then a talk about the charities the event was raising money for which was really nice to hear. There was then more quiz questions, raffle winner announcements and then the quiz winner bottom place and then top 3. We were none of the above!

We stayed around and talked for a bit, and then went out for another drink afterwards with some of the guys from our table as one of my colleagues had a really good working relationship with them from a previous job.

Got back to the hotel about 12.45, in bed by 1 am! And I guess it’s now Wednesday!

Wednesday

Woke up at about 6.30 after 5ish hours of sleep, slight struggle but got up, got dressed and found I had about an hour before I was due to meet my colleagues for breakfast.

I used my time wisely and finished reading and commenting on the part 3 student case study. It was really interesting to read, of course I can’t share anything about as it’s confidential but you’ll just have to trust me.

8am rolled around, I went down to meet my colleagues, tucked into for the buffet breakfast which was pretty good, and then we were on our way back to Cambridge. Arrived about 10am and got stuck in.

On todays agenda was external door elevations and schedules but I spent a small portion of the day editing the 3D model as a collègue was working on some renders.

I won’t lie, I’m writing this last paragraph as I wait for the bus home and the rest day was a bit of a blur. I was constantly working but I barely remember what I did. I did get out for a lunchtime walk though which was very needed.

This evening I’ll get home, maybe make dinner if I can be bothered and depending on the date on the chicken and then I’ll have the most chilled evening I can.

Mid Week Plug

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Thursday

Woke up very late this morning so no time to do anything other than get dressed and get to work. No issue though because I didn’t have anything pressing to do in the morning. This does show that the four hour sleep the night before really did its number on me.

Bus was on time which I was very thankful for as it was chucking it down and very windy. I got into work, spent some time addressing queries, read some emails and chased a couple of people. All that before the design team meeting which was in the calendar for 10 till 12 but actually ended up finishing out about 12:20.

The design team meetings are held fortnightly and it is an opportunity for the whole design team to dicuss progress and any issues. In my previous practice design team meetings for the project I was working on were held once a month, in person and with just us as the architecture team, the contractor team and the client. These design team meetings at my new office are on teams and include the architectural team, the contractor team, structural engineers, M&E, lighting and acoustics.

In this meeting just looking at landscaping, we dicussed layout options, cycle parking requirements, dog spending areas, louvred areas, plant room access, existing and new substation locations, bin storage, drainage. We also dicussed various other topics such as the steel structure, glazing, acoustics, the soft play, sizes of different rooms and compliance with various regulations and lot more!

The rest of the day was spent working on an external door schedule, which I am still yet to finish, revising elevations and making layout changes based on what was dicussed in the meeting. Left on time and headed home!

Friday

Up at 6.30am this morning and worked on trying to make all the different types of content more cohesive as the various fonts and colours I have and still use, bother me. Check it out here!

I currently have the blog for architecture students providing tips, help and advice, Architect In Colour which is more personal, based on my experience throughout my Architecture education and then ArchiWeek which is where Architecture Students, Architectural Assistants and Architects can share there week! I am also working on another fun thing in the background! They all have a slightly different style so I played around with making them work together whilst still having their own identity.

I made some progress on that (which I will still, no doubt, continue to work into), got dressed, out the door and into work. I got straight to it, picking up piles of mark ups that the Director left as they are away on annual leave next week and there is a package of drawings that needs to go out at the end of the next week. It is thankfully not just me working on the project, there is also a Part 1 Architectural Assistant and an Architectural Technologist who has worked at the firm for years which is very helpful!

Some mark ups were quick and easy, others not so much either because I am still learning how to use some Revit tools, or because they required a bit of extra thought.

Did that until lunch where I got outside for a bit of a walk and sat in the park to eat, and do some chess on duolingo. I really am appreciating my time outside during the day more and more, as it will soon be too cold to enjoy. I powered through after lunch as I knew what I needed to do and also why, which felt good! Left work in progress on my desk ready for Monday and left at 5pm. A good week all round!

NOTE FROM THE WRITER

If you’ve got this far, thank you for reading. I really enjoy spending a few minutes each day whilst waiting for the bus or the end of my lunch break just typing out what I’ve been up to. I always find I have a better week when I do as well.

Even if you don’t share, I would 100% recommend you write your own ArchiWeek and use it as a way to reflect on your day. It’s also fun to read your week from different times in your life as well. If you do want to share though, make notes each day and then fill out this form.