Week 1: Day 2

Lecture No. 2: Construction Drawings

Our second day at the office started with a very interesting introduction to construction drawings given by Mr Mazen Hallak, a project manager working with DCC for the past 14 years. We learned the types and stages of construction drawings, the layout and information it includes. After a one hour workshop we were all able to read construction drawings, and understand what each element meant. We became familiar with many different terms, these included:  elevations, sections, levels, clouding and revisions. Mr. Yabroudi also made a special appearance with Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud. Mr. Yabroudi also assisted us in reading the many aspects of the construction drawings. 

Special visit from Chancellor Kent Syverud 

Today was a very special day for us.  Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud and his wife Dr. Ruth Chen followed us around for the day.  At 9 am we attended a lecture taught by Mr. Hazen Hallak, a project manager with DCC.  In the lecture, we were taught how to read architectural drawings.  We looked at drawings from a DCC past project which was a villa constructed for the son of the ruler of Dubai.  After this lecture the interns, Chancellor Syverud, Dr. Chen, Mr. Abdallah, Dr. Clemence and some other DCC employees were brought into the DCC conference room where we were all introduced to the chancellor and had some open discussions with him.  

Site Visit No. 1: Private Villa in the Palm

At 2:15, the buses left for Palm Jumeriah, taking us on our first site visit. The project is a private villa for the son of Sheikh Mohammad. The scope of the project consists of a main villa, a gymnasium, a staff block, some exterior work and a security post. 

The main villa includes a basement with a private night club, a ground floor, a first and second floors all connected by a panoramic glass lift; the ground floor has access to a living/dining/ bar room with a show kitchen, an TV room and a home theater. The first floor mainly consist of one master suites, two suites and a number of guest rooms. Each room has a breathtaking view over the coast. The last floor is mainly an entertainment and play room, with an outside secured area.

We toured the site with the project manager, Mr. Mazen Hallak, who explained to us the different stages of construction. During our tour, we were introduced to the different types of finishing works, labor forces, material used along with some construction tips and guidelines that a responsible manager should be aware of. 

Our tour ended at 5:00pm, where we accompanied Mr. Hallak to the meeting room and saw the perspective pictures, which showed how the villa will look once it is complete. We were very engaged and asked as many questions as we could, because the project captured our entire attention with all its details, plans and accuracy in work.