Meet our most recent graduate of the CPP40115 Certificate IV in Building Design Drafting – Ashton Louat.

Built Form Design Academy congratulates Ashton for successfully completing his qualification.

Ashton was one of BFDA’s first enrolments coming into the course with no prior experience in the building design and construction industry and has consistently presented high quality work.

An avid rock climber, at the beginning of his studies Ashton was working as a Rope Access Technician, spending his days hanging off the side of multi-storey buildings in Sydney.

After about six months of study he was offered an opportunity to work for a home builder, providing design and construction services. For this company he has started out as a labourer to learn the intricacies of residential construction with the ultimate aim of moving into the drafting office to apply his understanding of the construction process to documenting new homes.

Q. What did you like the most about studying online?

I liked the flexibility and how I had control over how fast or slow I worked on my studies.

Q. What did you find the most challenging about online study?

Being a chronic procrastinator, I found that very early on I had to establish a routine to ensure that I just got into the habit of spending a regular amount of time on completing my studies.

I would get home from work grab a bite to each and then spend a couple of hours each week day on working through the course.

I deliberately tried to avoid doing study on the weekends as I wanted time to go rock climbing and take some time out to decompress.

Q. Did you have any favourite topics?

Learning about construction and construction detailing was probably the thing I enjoyed most about the course.

I found the textbook BFDA sent me really useful for getting my head around standard house construction. I also bought the books recommended to me by the educators and think these were great for developing my understanding further.

Q. What advice can you offer to other students studying online?

Be proactive – particularly with CAD. Sometimes, just waiting for an educator to answer your questions means that you don’t really internalise how to solve the problem.

Don’t be afraid to have a play. The only way to get good is to do it.

Spend time experimenting – change a setting then look at what happens to your CAD model.

Don’t be afraid of epic fails! Sometimes having to redo something is the best way to find a more effective solution. Plus you are always faster the second time you do it!

Back up your work. While I was studying I lost my hard drive on my computer! Luckily I was able to retrieve most of my work – despite the experts telling me that it was lost for good. This experience really brought it home to me how important it is to keep up to date copies of every study session.

All the staff at BFDA would like to wish Ashton every success in his new career.

• Article: Vanessa Couzens
• Image 1: Recent graduate of the Certificate IV in Building Design Drafting, Ashton Louat proudly holds up his certificate (Photographer: Teresa Serrao)
• Image 2: Visualisations of Ashton’s final major project