#berlensb

As a first-time extern in a professional firm, I truly enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. I had the opportunity to see how the firm operates, how people collaborate, support one another, learn together, socialize, work on projects, and conduct testing. I am very grateful to Corey and Sean for taking the time to mentor us, and to the entire SGH staff for warmly welcoming us and exposing us to different projects and areas of work.

This experience showed me that, as architects, there are many paths we can take even within an engineering firm. I learned a lot about Building Envelope Technology, which became an area of strong interest for me, especially energy calculations, thermal calculations, and window performance analysis. I also gained valuable insight into the business side of the profession, including how to work with clients and the precautions designers must take.

“Trust and verify” is the quote that stood out to me the most, and it is a principle I plan to apply throughout my life. Overall, SGH is definitely a place where I would like to work in the future.

Gratefully,

Berlens,

I was fortunate to spend this time at SGH alongside a peer who was equally eager to learn, explore new subjects, and grow. This experience motivated me to become more involved in school clubs and activities this year, to network, collaborate, and socialize more because there is always something valuable to learn from others, and those connections can lead to meaningful opportunities.

FIRM CULTURE AND MENTORSHIP

On the fourth day, we received detailed explanations of various projects, including the challenges encountered and the solutions developed from structural and mechanical perspectives. We also worked on creating a diagram for a presentation and participated in a division meeting to observe how teams coordinate and advance assigned projects. At the end of the day, the office hosted a small happy hour with drinks, conversations, and a game of foosball. This gave me valuable insight into how the firm fosters collaboration, community, and a family-like atmosphere while maintaining a professional work environment.

Thank you to Corey and Sean for mentoring us and for taking the time to show us real worldconditions through videos, laboratory testing, and detailed explanations of ongoing projects.

SITE OBSERVATION and a THOUGHTFUL CLIENT

Most of the third day was spent on a site visit, where we conducted water testing on PTAC units in an apartment building. Water was leaking through the corners of the air-conditioning unit installations, damaging the interior wall finishes. Adhesives had been applied as a corrective measure, and we were there to observe whether the leakage would occur again. This experience demonstrated how a seemingly simple problem can become catastrophic, requiring a high level of detail and expertise to diagnose and resolve effectively. Later in the evening we went to a lecture at the Center of Architecture in NY.

This project especially stood out to me because of the client patience and trust to SGH on renovating the facade of this building which is their Jewelry shop (Harry Winston) and has plan to use the facade for marketing purposes but still reuse the same windows. The facade’s stone tiles weren’t resisting the wind loads properly and didn’t meet the Wind code requirements, it wasn’t insulated properly, also according to the NY City code, and when later removed, more structural and small details installations needed to be done, like mortar filling, steel plate s in the wall and water proofing starting from the wall to the sidewalks, because of continuous leaking in the basement which they want to turn into an office for the store. With all those problem, the client is patiently waiting for a beautiful finish project to better advertise their brand.

INVESTIGATION

IMMERSION INTO THE REAL WORLD.

Hi everyone,

My name is Berlens, I am a transfer student currently pursuing Bachelor of Architecture, and entering my fourth semester at BAC. I am very excited for this externship opportunity in a professional Architectural and Engineering firm, where I can learn from multiple disciplines and gain real world experience.

My goal is to become an engineer. I chose architecture as my starting point because it provides a strong foundation in design thinking. I believe that merging both fields pushes creative and technical boundaries, empowering designers to go beyond conventional limits in order to create spaces that are safe, sustainable, Aesthetic and welcoming to society. That is the kind of professional I aspire to become.