DUANDUAN DING

My architectural studies in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Europe have equipped me with essential knowledge and a global perspective on design. Having immersed myself in diverse cultures, I have learned how to adapt designs to cater to specific contexts effectively. 

Throughout my academic journey, I have actively engaged in various projects, including primary schools, university campuses, gardens, commercial buildings and residential towers, honing my skills across different design aspects such as concept design, schematic design, form design, facade design, furniture design, landscape design,and interior design.

My creative and detail-oriented nature, combined with a friendly and approachable demeanor, enables me to work collaboratively and effectively with diverse teams. I approach challenges with resilience and efficiency, consistently striving for optimal outcomes.

With a passion for innovative design and an open-minded approach, I am eager to contribute my expertise and dedication to creating inspiring architectural solutions that resonate with diverse communities and environments.

In the projects I worked on, I was responsible for the programme design as well as the main building design, facade design, landscape design and interior design, and was involved in the control of the whole process. In the high-intensity and high-pressure environment of multiple projects at the same time, I have honed my adaptability and resilience.

The specific work content is as follows:

Docking with Guilin Shiru Yida Textile Industry Tourism Eco-Park (total construction area: 500,000 square metres) for post construction coordination. Docking with the construction drawing unit for façade material selection and guiding the construction. Conducted the overall ecological landscape design for the new ecological botanical garden on the plot. Through this project, I gained hands-on experience and broadened the scope of the design field.

Full-process design and control of the planning and design of the Zhaoqing Campus of the Open University of Hong Kong, a teaching and research university (GFA: 42,300 square metres). Developed the planning scheme after site research and analysis. Communicated and coordinated with different professional teams and organised the completion of the project reporting documents.

Assisted in the design of the integrated food court (GFA: 15,600 sqm) on Lot A4 of the Zhengzhou "Only Henan - Land of Drama" Cultural Industry Theatre Park, for Henan Jianye Group. I was mainly responsible for the parametric ceiling design, supporting exhibition hall design and VIP lounge and foyer design of the A4 food court. Subsequently, I was responsible for the interior hard and soft decoration design and furniture design of the Visitor Service Centre (GFA: 4,000 sqm), which was completed in June 2021.

Full process responsible for the standardised façade design of the exterior facade of CR Land. I independently designed and completed the 3D model of the façade, supervised the production of the physical model, and detailed different full sets of façade materials for the exhibition panels according to the positioning of different target groups. This project provided the implementation of standardised façade for different types of residential buildings in China Resources Land.

Work Experience:
In the internship I held, I was responsible for the whole process of architectural design for school projects, and communicated with the government as the direct A party for programme reporting and adjustment. Through these internship experiences, I gained communication experience and project implementation experience.

The specific work is as follows:

Docking the project of Tianxin Primary School (GFA: 27,600 square metres) in Yantian District, Shenzhen, China, to carry out the design of the extension. This included dealing with structural modelling, upgrading façade details, guide design and material selection. At the same time, I interfaced with the construction drawing team to ensure that the project could be implemented smoothly.

Mainly responsible for designing the expansion of Shatoujiao Middle School in Yantian District, Shenzhen (GFA: 11,000 square metres). On the restricted site area, I started from the specification and designed the complete primary section of the nine-year school. As the project leader, I not only participated in the scheme design, but also arranged the work progress and reported directly to the Yantian District Preliminary Office and Yantian District Education Bureau.

Through these internship experiences, I gained experience in actual projects and improved my communication and project management skills. I was able to co-operate effectively with government departments, as well as consider the specifications and constraints in the project design, contributing to the smooth implementation of the project.

1. Head of the Association's Facebook account: acted as the main person in charge of the Association's Facebook account, responsible for publicity and promotion. Synergised with other social platforms to successfully reach 8,000 users.

2. 3rd Manchester Business Week (06/03/2017-10/03/2017) planning and delivery: as the person in charge, planned and organised the business week event. The event was noticed and promoted by Prof Diane Coyle, former vice-chairman of BBC Trust and Sir Richard Heygate, inventor of the first online ATM machine. We had 8 high profile speakers including MR Gary Millar, Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Ms Philomena Chen, Head of North West Asia Pacific, DFAT, Mr Rhys Whalley, Executive Director of Manchester China Forum, and a number of startup CEOs as key speakers. The event lasted for a week and had a cumulative attendance of over 500 people.

3.The First Manchester Sino-British Business Forum (17/03/2018) Sponsorship Raising: as the main person in charge, responsible for contacting companies and raising sponsorship, discussing the programme with each company and signing the contract. During the process, guiding and helping team members to complete the sponsorship contract, and finally succeeded in obtaining sponsorship from 16 companies such as Fidelity Logistics, UKEC, SIUK, Big Foodie, etc., which totalled £6,000.

4. Celebrating Chinese New Year Dinner with Hilton Hotel (Manchester) (15/01/2019): planned and organised a Chinese New Year dinner with Hilton Hotel. During the preparation of the event, the event programme and budget were drawn up, and there were many discussions and communications with the partner. The event was eventually successfully organised with £800 event sponsorship and 120 participants.

Experience:
In which I demonstrated excellent organisational skills, interpersonal and co-ordination skills and the ability to implement large scale events. I gained valuable experience and skills in these roles. I improved my event planning skills, my verbal skills as well as my social and negotiation skills. Through working and communicating with partners, I have learnt to work with different types of people, to co-ordinate and co-operate in different teams, and to gain experience in problem solving and consensus building. I have learnt how to effectively convey information and arouse the interest of others, as well as how to negotiate and co-operate with different backgrounds and stakeholders.

I am confident that these experiences will have a positive impact on my future career development. I will continue to develop my organisational and interpersonal communication skills and strive for excellence throughout my career.