PIE Summer Interns Experience Architecture and Design Careers, Inside and Out

Marquette High student Jacob Sander hopes for one thing above all when he presents his latest work at weekly “pinup” sessions with staff members at the NewGround architecture and design firm in Chesterfield.

Imperfection.

“Getting feedback on what I’ve worked on has been a lot of fun, getting a laundry list of a bunch of different things I have to fix but also knowing that every single thing I fix is going to sharpen my model and make it better and better,” Sander said. “I always go in hoping there are things that I can do to make it better.”

Sander and Eureka High student Charlotte Knight are receiving practical experience in the field of architecture and interior design as Rockwood Partners in Education (PIE) summer interns at NewGround, a company that plans, designs and builds commercial facilities.

They’re not the only ones. Lafayette High students Ankita Ramachandran and Yasheeta Rao are also learning the ins and outs of the industry at HERA, a company that specializes in planning, designing and consulting on laboratory environments.

The PIE Summer Internship program places students in a career area of their interest leading into their senior year of high school. The internship provides students with career exploration opportunities while allowing them to gain practical, real-world experience in a field of interest by partnering with business professionals.

This summer, Knight, Ramachandran, Rao and Sander are all enjoying an extended look at how they can potentially transform their interests into careers.

“What I’ve learned is architecture isn’t just one thing: There are so many areas you can go into,” Rao said. “With it being such a diverse major – and with my passion to do a little bit of everything – I really could take this and go and do whatever I want, which feels really special.”

NewGround

One of Knight’s favorite things about working at NewGround has been getting lost in the company’s extensive library. There, she can consult rolling shelf after rolling shelf packed to the brim with paint shades, specialty ceilings, wall finishes, flooring and more.

As someone who has redesigned her own room at home, these shelves are a treasure trove.

“I could be there for hours picking paint, tiles and fabric,” Knight said. “I’ve attended meetings where furniture, fabric and lighting reps come in and sell to NewGround. It was fun to be a part of those. I’m really eager to do all the learning I possibly can.”

Knight and Sander’s main project this summer has been designing a financial building. They were given basic information about an actual facility that NewGround had completed years prior and asked to redesign it themselves. That means exterior, interior, floor plans, furnishings, everything.

And they’re not allowed to see what NewGround’s final product looks like until they’ve completed their own. Each week, the two present their progress to a team of professionals, who ask questions and offer feedback.

“We’ve learned so much,” Sander said. “I’ve designed the floor plan for the building, gotten my own drafting board, designed the masting for the building, learned how to draw these isometric structures. I’m learning Revit, the program the industry uses to create floor plans and masting structures, basically everything. Getting that experience is very, very helpful.”

Sander has wanted to be an architect since elementary school and hopes to major in architectural engineering – with a minor in music – after graduating from Marquette. Knight is looking into majors in the biology and environmental sustainability fields and is using the internship as an opportunity to explore her design interest and creativity.

Their time at NewGround has further opened their eyes to the world around them.

“Every office you go into – hospitals, hotels, everything – has been designed by somebody, which I didn’t really realize,” Knight said. “I understood more about interior design for homes, not retail, so this has very fun to see.”

HERA

Ramachandran and Rao became fast friends after first meeting at Lafayette freshman orientation. They’ve had similar classes and enjoyed similar interests throughout high school and now are co-workers for the summer at HERA.

Even so, they took slightly different routes into the world of architecture: Rao from an interest in the many and varied virtual structures she encounters in role-playing video games and Ramachandran from exploring how the spaces we inhabit affect us.

“I’m drawn to being able to manipulate spaces to make people feel better,” Ramachandran said. “As you go through the design process, you keep getting revisions and critiques, which are so beneficial because the more perspectives you hear from, the better your end result is. Now we’re working from SketchUp and kind of seeing our buildings come to life. That is such a rewarding thing.”

Much like the NewGround interns, Ramachandran and Rao have been tasked with conceiving a facility from the ground up. Their HERA mentors, senior laboratory architect Natalie Szymanski and laboratory planner Rachel Updegrove, created a seven-week project of designing a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) school on a specific, triangular plot of land in Long Beach, California.

The interns have been given information about types and quantities of rooms on the inside of the building, as well as site specifications for the exterior so that they can integrate their design with the surrounding community.

Being in California, they might also want to keep an eye on possible seismic activity in the area.

“We know it’s challenging because we want to give them real-life experience as to what it’s going to be like to be an architect,” Szymanski said. “We’re hoping to give to the students answered questions and good experiences. We talk about what it’s going to be like in college and beyond. They’ve done really well with the program. They’ve hit every milestone along the way with greatness.”

HERA has hosted Rockwood PIE interns since 2017. As architectural professionals who also have experience teaching, Szymanski and Updegrove recognize the importance of cultivating close working relationships with the students.

“I was in a similar program when I was in high school, so I enjoy the opportunity to give back some of what I got from my mentors,” Updegrove said. “We provide a trial experience with a little understanding of this back-and-forth of critique mentality, being able to speak and be confident in your work. The mentorship is something we hope will continue after their internship.”

Both Ramachandran and Rao are thinking about pursuing architecture-related majors after graduation. They now know just how wide that net can be.

“Not one person at HERA has the same educational background or the exact same interests,” Ramachandran said. “That’s giving me some security. It just shows that there are multiple career paths; there is flexibility. It lets me know there are more opportunities than you think.”