Internship Spotlight: Reid Sapp

This summer, rising third-year undergraduate architecture student Reid Sapp has been interning with True Homes, a custom home builder based in his hometown of Charlotte, NC. Reid has had the opportunity to experience both the construction side of homebuilding and the in office design work.

“A big part of the internship was a charity build for people who lost their homes in Hurricane Helene across western North Carolina. We’ve helped build 16 homes so far, with 4 left to go. Each one is designed to house 1-2 people and give them a solid place to rebuild. Being on the jobsite, working with different trades, and seeing how it all comes together was super eye-opening. It felt great to be part of something that really impacts the state community I grew up around.

In the office, we spent time on designing townhomes for the Matthews NC area. Being located near the more historic downtown area we took a lot into consideration when designing them to make sure they look and age in a similar fashion to downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.

After finishing drawings for the townhomes, I brought them to life using Unreal Engine. Spending time with it in a professional setting really showed me how powerful it can be and how much of a gamechanger it is for the field.

Overall, working with True Homes has been a great time. It’s been fun to apply what I’ve learned at Virginia Tech and to get a real understanding of residential design and how much work goes into getting something built.”