August 2 and 3 - going, going, gone, and glaciers.

Friday morning brought a brief but heavy rain. Then the skies cleared, temperatures rose, and the students were off enjoying the last few hours of London or Oxford or where ever they wanted to go.

Except for the few students staying on to meet with family or friends, class 393 began leaving the Thistle Barbican throughout the morning. The flight from Heathrow was filled with the normal adventures and security protocols. The view for some on the way home was amazing...

August 1 - We did it and did it very well

Presenters had to be at our client at 9 am to make sure the audio/visual worked. The rest of the class at 9:30. It was hot again. Some walked to avoid the heat and human crush on the tube. Others rode bikes. Some took cabs. All arrived warmer than they wanted. The presentation was at 10 AM with 5 members of the Buro Happold team in attendace. The presentation went very well. The client was very pleased. Class ended officially at approximately 12:30 sharing celebratory beverages at a local pub with our client. The exhibition we designed is slated to go up this Autumn. Pictures are promised to come when the exhibition is up. Mr. Andrew Cromer, our primary contact at Buro put in writing what we heard from all parties after the presentation: "Eric, it has been a pleasure to host the CU team for the past three weeks - as always. Thanks to you and Ron for making the exercise so professional, useful and fun. And thanks to the students who, as ever, have been bright, creative and so polite (please quote me in commending them personally and to their parents!)."

Everyone then headed their separate ways for our remaining 36 hours to soak up as much London and surrounding areas as possible before we fly for home.

There will be one or two more posts after this... Stay tuned.

July 31 - tired to the point of silliness

We had hoped to be done at around lunch time on Wednesday. As it so often happens things went a bit longer than hoped. The exhibition portables had to be refined and unified. The presentation had to be refined and unified. The final files and construction drawings had to be finished. Many students worked long and hard. There were moments of intense busyness and then waiting for others do finish their bit, and then intense busyness.

Finally, it was time to break for the night and get some food and rest for the BIG presentation tomorrow.