Keep it Simple

I met with a client this past week at one of his existing buildings. He and his wife are great people and we have done multiple building renovation projects with them over the years. As we stood there trying to figure out the best use of an existing space that they no longer needed, we started down a rabbit hole of ideas that were becoming quite complex and expensive. The plan was to remove a load bearing wall and move it about 3 feet to enlarge a smaller space, which seemed like a costly solution. As we talked further, his wife suggested that the adjacent room was actually large enough to simply split in half and create two new treatment rooms with very minimal disruption to their current space. It was like a light bulb went on and we saw a clear path to their end goal with much less effort, much less cost and much less intrusiveness on their existing day to day business operations.

Here’s the deal with this entire e-bits, sometimes the best solution is the simplest solution. As Architects and designers, we often want to propose the perfect solution, when a much simpler compromise is right there in front of you. Many times getting together with the client, in their space, points you in the right direction. The solution to simply split the adjacent larger room into two treatment rooms will accomplish their goal with very minimal cost involved. All three of us left the meeting feeling great about the outcome.

Here at PDMi, we pride ourselves on being solution providers. The funny part is, we aren’t always the one that comes up with the best solution! In this case the client had the idea and now we will draw up a much simpler set of plans for them to present to their contractor. As my 11 year old daughter tells me all the time “think smarter dad, not harder”. If we can help you think smarter, give us a call.

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Peanut Butter & Jelly – Hammer & Nails – Pen & Paper, these are all things that go together. They fit. One complements the other. It is the same with Design & Build, one completes the other. Much of the time, design and build are regarded as adversaries, as they separately compete for the approval of the owner and/or the success of the project. This should not be! Just like Batman was not complete without Robin, the design of a project is not complete until it is built. 

There are many benefits to the Owner when Design and Build are combined on a project. They include:

• A Team Relationship is established between the Design Professional and the Contractor which is built on trust and confidence.

• The Scope of the project is identified through the contract documents so that Cost and Schedule can be identified/verified/modified early in the process.

• The Design Professional becomes a Valuable Resource to the Builder during the construction process as the Builder was to the Designer during the document phase.

The old days of adversarial relationships which were formed by Architects/Engineers drawing blueprints for the Contractor to competitively bid must be reevaluated. If we, as Professionals and Contractors, desire to bring the best product to our clients then we must learn that Design and Build fit together.

Contact me about how PDMi can be an integral part of the Design Build team on your next project.

Interpreting the Code…

Building codes can be confusing and messy. They are normally open to interpretation, even though there are hundreds of pages of code “language” in the code books. You might ask why there needs to be any interpretation of the code if the code book has so much detail? Well, the answer is that nothing is fully set in stone and sometimes there are multiple ways to design a building to meet the level of code requirement that the State mandates. This can be both frustrating (if you’re a very literal person) and satisfying (if you are one that likes options). I’d like to share a quick story of a project we are working on currently that put us in a situation where there wasn’t necessarily one “perfect” solution.

We are in the process of designing an airport hangar building for a small municipal airport in central Indiana. Per the building code, the overall size of the building required us to either provide a fire sprinkler system or fire separation, which is a series of fire walls that “compartmentalize” the building into smaller spaces. Since the building is located in a rural area where a fire sprinkler system would be difficult to utilize due to water supply, we were forced to go the fire separation route. There were a few different ways we could go about the separation, so we chose the one that would fit best with the size and configuration the building without limiting its overall functionality. Ultimately we were able to get to the same end result, which is a safe building that meets State approval standards.

Codes are somewhat up to interpretation, but the final decision on interpretation is ultimately left in the hands of the State reviewer. As a consulting firm, we do our best to interpret the codes to work within the guidelines of the State as well as the functionality of our client’s needs. If you’re ready to build new, add on to your current building or renovate an existing facility, give us a call and let us help you get the job done.