Learn about Bergmeyer's approach to the Architecture/Design High School Internship program.
Each year, the Architecture/Design High School Internship invites firms to host high school interns for a 6-week architecture experience. High school interns, Boston Public School (BPS) students (Grades 10-12), are immersed into the fundamentals of architecture, the design process, and their first professional experience. For the program’s duration each July-August, firms host the interns in the office 3-4 days per week with all interns gathering on Fridays with the BSA. All firms are supported by program partners, the Boston Society for Architecture (BSA) and the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), who aim to provide early career pathways for local youth. This year's program is supported by the AIA College of Fellows.
During this summer’s internship, the BSA stopped by each firm to hear from interns about their experience and connect with design professionals involved in the internship. We’ll be chronicling lessons from the visits through our Firm Profile series and encourage you to follow along.
Bergmeyer began participating in 2021 as a supporter of the program, hosting 2+ interns each summer since. As a B.Corp, Bergmeyer continually supports educational opportunities locally and nationally, including this high school internship program and Hip Hop Architecture Camp.
This summer, they hosted three interns: rising BPS senior, Nico Grady, and rising college freshmen, Vivian Liang and Shiloh Mcleod-Dunkelly. For all three, the internship provided their first professional experience and deep interaction with architecture.
For Bergmeyer, each internship allows the team to streamline their content, customize to intern interests, and gradually scale their intern placements. With 3 interns this summer and aiming for more in the future, Bergmeyer continues to test new ways to deliver content, develop structure in the interns’ weeks, and ways the interns can learn better together.
Each year, they adjust their 6-week structure based on staff capacity and firm projects available to be highlighted in the internship. This year, interns were tasked with 5 weekly design challenges, all utilizing a set of repeating steps. By focusing the interns’ design work and deliverables to 5 weeks, it also allows for flexibility in the first week to onboard and orient interns to the firm.
At the top of each week, interns receive a new design challenge and begin to work through a 3-day design process. This summer’s design challenges asked interns to redesign nearby spaces to the firm’s office. Although the scale and focus varied, each challenge encouraged interns to think through the user experience and how their redesign ties back to the local community. Selecting nearby sites also allows interns and facilitators to visit each location and observe how they’re currently used.
Interns then work through a set of steps to prepare their designs: gathering key concept words/images, sketching, and testing out programming. Rounding out each design challenge, interns refine their Miro boards, expand design concepts, and share their presentation. The Bergmeyer team has found that building repetition through the challenges helps interns grow more comfortable within a consistent structure and exercise new design skills. The challenges also provide real-world examples to teach the fundamentals of architecture/design to this age group and encourage them to see the world around them through a design lens.
Supplementary to the main program, interns also have the option to select 1 design to bring to a higher level; this may include 3D modeling or working with the graphics team to develop it into a portfolio piece. Interns with more experience or interest in pursuing design then takeaway completed work for school applications to complement their new toolbelt of design skills.
In recent years, Bergmeyer has also streamlined interns’ time, pairing down to 3-days in office per week (Tuesdays-Thursdays). The team uses Monday to prepare for the interns’ days ahead and to keep up with project work beyond the internship. Interns spend Tuesdays-Thursdays with the team before attending BSA’s Summer Fridays series each Friday
To plan and coordinate the internship, Bergmeyer’s core internship team includes an Internship Coordinator, Internship Supervisor, and HR/Admin. They also involve others on staff, including project teams and individuals as weekly facilitators.
Bergmeyer rotates staff throughout the summers based on capacity and encourages emerging professionals to get involved. Sydnee Sachtleben, designer at Bergmeyer and this year’s Internship Supervisor, had seen previous high school internships from the periphery, but it was the interns themselves that encouraged her to get more involved. She shared how even in small interactions with previous high school interns, she found how much she was learning from their perspectives, the questions they asked, and ways they were thinking about spaces.
Syndee also reflected on her own path to architecture and how helpful a program like this would have been to guide her early career interests. The staff involved not only share their perspectives on architecture, but draw from their career experiences to build a more approachable atmosphere for interns. For emerging professionals like Syndee and beyond, this is a vital outlet for designers to share their skills, interests, and advice to help guide the next generation.
As Bill Spaulding, Director of Education, shared, “How can you not share what you love with people who are thinking about [this] path? Our students may or may not see a path towards architecture, design, or engineering [before this program]. We want to give them an experience that provides them with tools to understand the spaces around them and the design choices that make up that space."
Bergmeyer shared that having 3 interns, Nico, Shiloh, and Vivian, not only made for a more fulfilling internship, but built a cohort along the way.
For Nico, now a BPS senior, the internship was his first professional experience and a new opportunity for personal growth. An analytical thinker interested in math, science, and engineering, he selected architecture to go beyond his comfort zone. He aimed to use the internship to tap into his creative side, gain confidence in public speaking, and explore his interests from a new angle. At the BSA’s Summer Share Out, Nico confidently shared his designs in front of other host firms and interests, showcasing the skills he’d gained from his time at Bergmeyer. Nico plans to continue exploring his interests during senior year and apply to college.
For Shiloh, now a freshman at UMass Amherst, the internship was a way to blend her interests in design and business. Shiloh came to the internship with interests in many types of design and became interested in architecture through her school’s Career Specialist. She began exploring architecture during the BSA’s Boston High School Design Challenge and continued to hone her interests during the internship. Bergmeyer’s creative atmosphere allowed Shiloh to be immersed in many of the disciplines she was interested in and find what interested her most before college. For students like Shiloh, the exploratory nature of the program allows them to hone their interests and make a more informed decision early in their career path.
For Vivian, heading to Boston University, the internship was a key step in exploring her interests before beginning a dual architectural studies/economics degree. Vivian had initially found architecture by visiting construction sites with a neighbor and was interested in the process behind each design. Her time at Bergmeyer provided an outlet for her analytical thinking and allowed her to take ideas from concept through completion each week. The internship experience has provided a foundation of design thinking and understanding that she’ll take into her next endeavor.
Through each architecture internship, interns are encouraged to try new modes of thinking, gain a set of transferable skills, and further their interests. This allows all interns, including Nico, Shiloh, and Vivian, to have the tools needed to set off on their own unique paths.
This program is made possible by a network of collaborators at each firm, working to plan and facilitate the high school intern’s experience. Thank you to the Bergmeyer team, with special thanks to: Internship Coordinator, Bill Spaulding; Internship Supervisor/Mentor, Sydnee Sachtleben; Hiring/Onboarding, Rachael Hoyland; Interviewer/Mentor, Peter Nobile; and Photographer/PR, Lilly Ball. Thank you also to the AIA College of Fellows for their support of the 2025 Architecture/Design High School Internship program.
With a significant gap between interested applicants (400+ across AEC) and current architecture placements (15), we are seeking additional firms to get involved for the 2026 high school internship. Not only will new participating firms have the support of the BSA and PIC, but a network of current host firms who are available to share insights, tools/resources, and more.
We are currently seeking firms to sign on to host for the 2026 season. To learn more and to get involved, please email Taylor Johnson (BSA), [email protected].
What are you looking for?