Co-Op Experience: What I learned While at PAYETTE

I began my internship at PAYETTE in January working with the design team on Hengqin Hospital. As an ambitious architecture student, I wholeheartedly welcomed the challenge of working on the scale of 1.5 million SF and hoped to further the development of the design before my internship ended and I return to academia. During my stint on the team, some of the challenges I faced were working in metric system, limited software experience and minimal experience using a laser cutter or 3D printers. However, to my advantage, the people at PAYETTE were more than willing to help. After several weeks working on models for Hengqin Hospital, I successfully created two study models which gave the team insight into the scale, materiality and construction of facade details, and other aspects of the design.

Mid-way through my experience here, I shifted gears and joined the Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) Master Planning team. While on the YNHH team, I prepared materials needed for client meetings in New London, CT, which I had the opportunity to attend.. For the meetings, I developed master plan presentations, worked on 3D modeling, rendering, diagraming, as well as model-making. My contributions to the master plan left me feeling like an integral part of the team rather than an intern. It was surreal to be in a conference room sitting across the table from healthcare professionals discussing work I produced with the architects on our team. I was able to gain a lot of exposure to how architecture impacts healthcare and hope to implement what I’ve learned into my own designs as I return to Wentworth Institute of Technology next year.

As I leave PAYETTE this spring, I am walking away with a new set of skills and connections that I will utilize to aim higher in my own academic and professional development as well as continue to foster my passion for architecture. The opportunities presented to me and the ones I advocated for while being at PAYETTE will help me achieve my goals as I continue my education and into my own professional practice in the future.