PDMi – How We Can Help You

Earlier this week, I took a trip to southern Indiana to do a jobsite inspection for a project we designed last year. It is a large multi-unit apartment complex and the contractor has recently begun the construction phase of the project. I will be taking monthly trips to the site over the next 12-15 months, as the bank that financed the project requires monthly site visits by the architectural firm to verify and approve progress payments. I’m excited to see the vibrant colors of the fall foliage during my October and November site visits, but I’m a bit less excited about snow covered roads in the winter!  

I tell you the story above to illustrate that PDMi wears a lot of hats. Many people think that Architects simply design buildings. Here at PDMi, we do a lot more than just design buildings for our clients. A few things that we do here on a day to day basis are:

• We perform upfront code research and planning for all types of projects.

• We work with clients on process flow and layouts inside the facility to help maximize the return on investment.

• We help clients during construction by answering technical questions, attending jobsite meetings, doing onsite inspections and helping clients understand what their budget dollars are being spent on.

• We also design buildings, but I think you already knew that!

Here at PDMi, we pride ourselves on being a “one stop shop” for all of your building planning, designing and implementing needs. We can do all or some of the items above and help you get the most out of your new building project or existing renovation. If you need help on your next project, give us a call – we’d love to jump in and help.

Planning is Important

We recently connected with a new client that is looking to move one of his manufacturing businesses from overseas back to the states. He is not local to Fort Wayne, but chose this area due to the positive economic environment of northeast Indiana. They purchased a piece of industrial land and started to experiment with what size building would fit on the site. They started by looking at doing a “campus” setting with multiple buildings that could be owner occupied and also leased out to other tenants. That idea didn’t fit so well on their land, so they dropped back to one larger building that could house their manufacturing business along with future tenants. PDMi entered the conversation around this time to lend expertise on how to get the project off the ground and how to look at the project in multiple phases.

We are now working with the client to help them with the process flow of their manufacturing company, the timing of when they will add the future addition for leased tenant spaces and what the future addition will look like (size, functionality, etc.). This is all called “planning” in the architectural design world. Planning is extremely important in all walks of life and we see it daily here at PDMi. I am glad that this particular client had the foresight to engage us early in his process, so that correct decisions can be made on paper prior to dirt being moved, concrete in the ground and steel in the air.

We have a long list of clients that we have helped in their upfront planning stages. If you are looking to build, renovate or just want to “kick the tires” on a building project; give us a call.

Unique Architecture 2.0

Back in March of 2024, I sent out an e-bits titled “Unique Architecture”. If you don’t recall that specific e-bits, it talked about a unique building in downtown Louisville, KY where they saved the front façade of a building and tore down the inside to create an outdoor park. It caught my eye, as it was different than anything I’d seen in the past.

A few weeks ago we traveled to visit family in Oklahoma and they happen to live about 2 miles from historic Route 66. Along Route 66 is an iconic gas station and convenience store called “Pops 66” where they sell hundreds of different bottles of soda pop. The soda pop was cool, but the architecture of the building was a real show stopper. The picture doesn’t do justice to how impressive the steel canopy in real life. You don’t see that too often, especially not in suburban Oklahoma!

The main point of this e-bits wasn’t just to show you another cool building (I’ll do some more unique architecture e-bits over the coming years), but to remind you that interesting buildings are everywhere, you just have to keep an eye out for them.

If you are looking to build a unique building or maybe a more conventional building, give us a call.