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At Bruner/Cott, co-ops are active contributors to our work. This semester, we welcome Alexis, a fifth-year architecture student supporting our Marketing team, and Xinwei, a third-year architecture student working with our design team.

For Alexis, joining Bruner/Cott was as much about the people and culture as the work itself. As a fifth-year architecture student with a minor in English, she was drawn to the firm’s collaborative environment and commitment to developing young professionals and was excited by the opportunity to explore the many sides of practice.

Working with the Marketing team, Alexis has contributed to proposals, award submissions, conference presentations, website content, graphics, and social media. She especially enjoys working in InDesign, but her experience has also broadened her understanding of what goes on behind the scenes of an architecture practice: the strategy, storytelling, and attention to detail that go into winning work and communicating a firm’s ideas.

That curiosity extends beyond the office. When she’s not working, Alexis often heads to Fenway Park or the Emerald Necklace, where she enjoys packing snacks, bringing a book, and finding a little time to slow down. For someone who spends her days thinking about how to communicate ideas, she appreciates having a place to simply take in her surroundings.

Xinwei came to Bruner/Cott with a different kind of curiosity: a desire to understand how design can respond to environmental challenges while creating meaningful places for people. The firm’s commitment to sustainability across a range of project types was a major draw.

As part of the design team, Xinwei has been conducting Life Cycle Assessments using Tally for projects including Colby College and Harvard Chabad, helping evaluate the embodied environmental impacts of materials and support project sustainability goals. The work has offered a firsthand look at how sustainability considerations can become part of the design process.

Just as valuable has been the opportunity to learn from the people and resources throughout the office. Xinwei has found plenty of room to ask questions, explore new tools, and learn through doing.Outside the studio, Xinwei likes to explore Boston on foot, often taking a walk through Boston Common before grabbing a quick bite in Chinatown.

While their roles differ, Alexis and Xinwei both contribute meaningfully to real projects while learning from colleagues across the firm. Their work reflects the diverse opportunities within architecture practice.

Welcome, Alexis and Xinwei. We’re so happy to have you on the team!