Blog – Old – Page 7

Scary Merger Names

We have been seeing a lot of mergers and acquisitions in the last couple years, scary stuff. We were thinking about what would happen if the trend continued and the following merged….even scarier. Happy Halloween. Zehren & Associates+Zmistowski Design Group+Zone 4 Architects = Zzzz Architects B2sj Design Group +Zone 4 Architects+Yow Architects = BS 4 Yow Group Greenfield Architects + Brown David P + Blueline Architects PC + Colorado Architecture Prtnrshp = Rainbow Color Design Hairabedian ARG Architects + klipp = Hair Klipp Conger Fuller Architects + Shike Design = Fuller Shike Architects Craig Melvin Architects + Hobbs Design Firm = Celvin and Hobbs Architects Vaught Frye Architects + Theodore K Guy Associates = Frye Guy Architects Barker Rinker Seacat and OZ Architects = BROZ Way Architects + Unreal Construction LLC = Way Unreal Construction Reynolds + Arapahoe Architects = Reynolds Arap Architects Gunson Architects + Abo Group

The Great Toothpaste Challenge

Recently my wife and I entered into a battle of wits, strength and cunning. The challenge began while brushing our teeth, neither of us wanted to get the new tube of toothpaste out of the basement pantry, we couldn’t possibly walk that far. For days we battled back and forth with using a lot of toothpaste to nearly none, in the hopes that the other would be left holding this hot potato. When the toothpaste tube appeared to run out I would seemingly come up with endless creative solutions to extract everything I could. I would roll the tube, scrape the tube, stick the brushes down in the tube, and then, one time, I couldn’t get another spec out. I waited for her to use it first knowing that it wasn’t possible to extract another drop baring cutting it open, would she? Maybe I should first. As she

Hard Bid and Ice Sculptures

Imagine for a moment you are a maid of honor and are planning an engagement party on behalf of the bride’s parents who graciously offered to pay for the event. The bride has sent you exact details of what she wants from the venue location to the type of wine along with a wish list of a few items, including Cinderella carriage ice sculpture. The bride has asked to have the costs and the final list of vendors prepared for a meeting with her mother and father in four weeks, on a Saturday afternoon. You bravely agree to assist, take the specific instructions and begin planning. The first week you are busy and don’t make any progress other than reviewing the information and generally compiling a list of who might be a good match to be a part of this big day. The second week you proceed to

My Super Model Is Hotter Than Yours

It’s long been debated who is the most beautiful person. Be it Maxim’s Hot 100 or People’s Sexiest Man Alive, there is a lot of room for debate. If you look at my wife you would know that I prefer tall blondes, my brother-in-law short brunettes. We could debate forever on what is better, but in the end there truly is no better, just what we prefer. When making your personal ranking would you create your shortlist by selecting someone who has done the most photo shoots, won the most awards or is the highest paid? No, but sometimes we do. Stop playing the better game, it doesn’t work. You can’t convince anyone that your design is superior any more than you can convince them you should be on the Hot 100 list. When you look at the Hot 100 list you may see the typical definition of

Let’s Collaborate, or Not

So much has been made of collaboration and implementing integrated project delivery systems; the benefits can be exciting, but the process can also be disappointing and a point of contention. Wember continuously advocates for project management technologies, in particular the use of our online Owner’s Representative software. We are also using Bluebeam, Skype, Doodle and many other tools to collaborate and fortunately, other members of the project team do as well, including architects and contractors; unfortunately, they are often different from one another. They work in a variety of industry software including Vela System, Timberline, Submittal Exchange, Plangrid and many more. This makes for many different platforms, which can defeat any time-saving promises made by using an integrated process. We have found when working with larger firms that have an established IT department and standards policy, they mandate to work be done on their systems, no exceptions. When

Interview No-Show

As a small business of eight, I, as the owner, have never had to miss an interview in person; until today. This raised the question of what do you do if you, or one of your team members is a no-show due to a conflict. Let’s start with what we have seen as options: The cardboard cutout. Albeit cute, the cardboard cutout lacks any sense of personal connection. You might as well bring a cutout of a supermodel or sports star, it will be more interesting to look at. The substitute. More personal than the cardboard cutout, but imagine going on a date with the person’s friend as opposed to your future wife, it just doesn’t feel the same. Send in the sales team. Sending in the sales team can be effective as presentation skills and talking points are dialed in but this is risky and can fall

Do you have project stress?

Design and construction projects are filled with constant negotiations, decisions, and deadlines. The combination puts a lot of pressure on the core teams involved, and although usually evenly distributed across the life of the project, there are times when stress is particularly elevated: 1. An estimate is over budget 2. A design goal is not achieved 3. Changes are requested or required late in the project Over the years we have found that project stress brings our predictable behaviors for those with certain personality traits: 1. Someone who is overbearing will dominate the conversation 2. Someone who consistently makes ethical decisions will do so with stronger conviction 3. Someone who avoids confrontation will do whatever they can to make the issue disappear We recommend that during a project, starting at a selection process, you pay attention to people’s personalities. As you develop theses relationships focus on individual’s conflict

Zombies

Working on public projects often entails a phase that private projects don’t…the public process. This process is always unique simply because the people attending public meetings have their own opinions and personalities. When presenting you never know if you will have a happy or hostile crowd; supportive or outwardly against anything you propose, no matter what you do. We have been a part of many public meetings, some more successful than others but none that actually let people vote, until now. This particular client’s communication team came up with the concept that the public should but be able to be part of the project at a higher level, by voting on the design. The design team worked with them and determined we had to narrow down what they would actually vote on that wouldn’t impact the design timeline in a negative way. After some discussion we agreed that

Time Management is a Proposal’s Best Friend

You have been tracking a particular job for a year and the request for proposal is finally out. It’s time to dive in…immediately. Don’t wait, don’t set it aside, assess your game plan. It is common to forget the amount of work it takes to compose a proposal. Waiting to close to the submission deadline to begin creates chaos for all of those involved and results in a dull submission, void of articulation to the project at hand and often, full of canned responses. Creating a response to an RFP may take a total of thirty hours; however, it should be viewed as thirty hours over the course of the time elapsed from the RFP issue date to the due date. Waiting till the week ahead, or even worse, a few days out, is stressful and the proposal has had no time to breathe. Spacing the work out

Tags: Proposal Writing|

Charrette Syndrome

Do you suffer from Charrette Syndrome? You can determine the degree of your ailment simply by counting the number of times you use the word “charrette” in an interview. 1-2 times – Early onset and you should be monitored 3-6 times – You have the syndrome and you should seek therapy 6 or more times – You should be institutionalized and no longer attend interviews After interviewing architects with clients, they often ask, “what is a charrette and why do I need one?” We don’t give them the institutional answer, but for this blog, we will provide some detailed information. The word charrette refers to any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem; it is born out of working up to the last minute of the deadline. According to Wikipedia, the word charrette is French for “cart” or “chariot". In the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 19th century