What have I learnt?

I think that this experience has been much better than formed work experience, due to the spontaneity and the feeling that there was no show being put on- Austin-Smith: Lord really do care about their clients. In the client meetings that I attended, the client-architect relationship was strong, with any problems being sorted out with a smile. I feel that this is the best way to deal with problems, and I must remember this in future- I think although it may be easy to bond in the slight things that have gone wrong, you must always stay optimistic, because sometimes these problems may take years to overcome. When I was speaking to Rob Firman about architecture, he said that the great thing about architecture is you don't have to have a particular personality type- you can be a person who wants to get projects done at a fast pace, or someone who wants to get every detail correct- it just really depends on what projects you take on to ensure yuo are at your best. I think that the architecting world has moved on from pens and pencils; every single person was using a computer in my two weeks, something that you would never have see decades ago in an architect's office. I also was able to see how the recession had affected the practise, with projects being much harder to win due to the high amount of competition for any project at all. Architects do get to travel, and even if some of the sites only stretch as far as Cardiff, it must feel quite rewarding to drive for about 10 minutes and see your own building arising. I also feel I have learnt about client-architect confidentiality, as some of the projects I could not write about, as they were not yet to be released, or were still in the process of being designed.