Arcadia Australia

Student Experiences

Australian Internship Program: Sara Kohs

My name is Sara Kohs and I am a student at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I major in Political Science and minor in Business Legal Studies. I am interning in Sydney at ASPECT Studios. It is a landscape architecture firm that is at the foreground of major projects throughout Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Shanghai. They focus on creating places that people want to live and be. What drew me to this company was how much they care about aspects like the environment when looking into designing places. I am interested in the environment and the vital role it plays in our lives.

The issue I focus on can truly be labeled as a social, ethical or environmentally conscience component because we spend 90% of our time indoors so to be happy we need a workplace that makes us feel happy and comfortable. For our employers to ethically let us spend the majority of our time inside the building there needs to be a standard that is set for good air quality that will not make us sick. And to protect our environment, adding plants and being conscience of every part of working in an office like saving paper and reduced energy – this is just the beginning of very important information.

I have been the sole researcher on this topic. I have collaborated with major companies such as Westpac and Lendlease to discover what creates an office space that is not only workable, but a place that is inspiring and makes you feel happy so in turn it is reflected on your work and your life. Biophilia is a topic that has been around since the beginning of time but has not been properly addressed. This is only the first step of discovering what needs to happen to create happier workplaces when the work is getting harder and the days are getting longer.

I did choose to sit at a desk for my workplace photo because a lot of my project has involved desktop research. The plant is purposeful and there are many biophilic books on my desk.