PENSON's Annual Student Internship in association with London Met Uni

Rebecca and Elisabeth joined us this month on our annual Student Internship in association with London Met University.

Every year PENSON enlist the best Design and Architecture Students to help develop and nurture their talent and skills. Our long-running affiliation with London Met University has proved to be great for both us and London Met, and gives a unique hands-on experience to students, helping to drive their interest in a career in Design and Architecture while developing their skill set.

Every year they become one of the team and we’re sad when they go, but we know we’ll see them again. We learn a thing or two too.

We spoke to Rebecca and Elisabeth to find out more about their internship with us and what inspires them…

FIRST OF ALL, WHAT'S THE COURSE YOU'RE CURRENTLY STUDYING?

I (Rebecca) am currently studying interior design at London Met and am in my second year. Ellie is studying interior architecture in Germany at RheinMain University of applied Sciences, Wiesbaden, but is currently doing a semester abroad at London Met.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WORKING ON AT PENSON?

We started off the first week learning about concepts and creating visualisations by looking over the studio’s past work. Halfway through the first week we were given a brief for a live project, and we joined the project team helping design meeting rooms through plans, elevations, mood boards and team meetings. We were also lucky enough to be included in presentations from suppliers and have mini lessons with the rest of the team about things such as tender packs, technical drawings, and reverse ceiling plans. This was very interesting for us as they are experiences we don’t get to have when studying at university.

WHAT HAVE YOU ENJOYED MOST ABOUT YOUR INTERNSHIP?

The team at PENSON made our two-week internship really special. There was such a happy, creative atmosphere in the studio every day and we learned so much. One particularly special part of our internship was having the opportunity to work on a live project in such a high level of detail. We workshopped ideas and had a lot of collaboration on the different scenarios and possibilities. It was extremely generous of everyone to give us so much time and support us so much through this. It was an invaluable experience for us both.

WHAT SURPRISED YOU THE MOST?

The thing that surprised us the most was that interior designers go into so much detail in their designs. The PENSON team work so well together and they think of every little thing from the ceiling void down the floor slab and everything in between. It was surprising to us how much their team managed to do and how technically accurate their projects are as well as being conceptually inspiring.

WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER AMBITIONS?

Our time at PENSON encouraged us to stick with our dreams of becoming interior designers and gave us an insight into what that will be like. We are really looking forward to finishing our degrees and getting out into the industry as professionals now we have had the chance to see what it will be like.