American Builders Quarterly #78

Melanie Glenn is a

The engineering director’s spark earned her a lead position in a male-dominated industry. Now she presents that opportunity to other aspiring women in the field. P80

As a full-service architecture, engineering, interior design firm, O’Connell Robertson is better prepared to offer a single-source solution. We know the strength of our endeavor is in the purpose it serves. And we strive each day to design environments that positively impact all who experience and interact with our work.

Best in Class

From recycling rain for plant water to embodying school spirit through massive build-outs of new facilities, campus architects and directors are staying as current as the students in maintaining an environment that’s both striking and systematic.

Four executives invite you into their grounds to reveal how they make their institutions first-choice. P8

Talk Your Way In

It was the intrigue of Gusto’s new space at a converted shipyard that caused Ian Young to add himself into the conversation— literally, landing him a job at the company P39

Emails After Dark

In Mailchimp’s offices, “Count Freddie” keeps a watchful eye on—and serves as a tribute to—the company’s overnight support workers P62

The View from the Tower Crane Shaabini Alford’s to-do list includes building museums, stadiums, and the coliseum set to host the the 2028 Summer Olympics P74

Brian Gassel (Mai lchimp), Jenna Carando (Gusto), Marta Martin (Murray Company)

that opportunity to other women in STEM fields P80

Made in the Shade Peter Dourlein fashioned a courtyard inspired by local slot canyons that naturally cools inhabitants, even in the dry heat P10

Be Her Guest From housekeeper to engineering director for the luxurious W Hotels, Melanie Glenn seeks to forward

Cass Davis (W Hotels), Marion Brenner (University of Arizona)

The Littlest Things, The Biggest Things

I picked my alma mater because of a teal fire escape.

In 2016, I graduated from Columbia College Chicago, an art school in the South Loop neighborhood near the old Printer’s Row. There was a large building that housed the film department, one side slathered in a giant mural that burst off the brick with bright colors, and the aforementioned teal fire escape connecting the top floor to a short drop onto Wabash Avenue.

It’s not that I envisioned some emergency sending me out of class and down an escape route that looked more like an art installation than a safety feature. I liked the idea of having it as a landmark. “My school is the one with the teal fire escape.”

I tried researching its backstory, but the archives only offer information about the original owners of the building, what year they sold it to Columbia, and the square footage. No evidence as to who would’ve thought to paint the fire escape such a daring blend of blue and green.

But this thoughtful detail meant something to whoever did it. It’s a breath of uniqueness that colors Columbia, that represents the art students who walk its halls and paint its walls. I thought again of that fire escape, one I haven’t seen in years, while editing this issue of American Builders Quarterly. I thought of those little touches that the architects, directors, designers, and facilities managers give to their campuses to make them special, to reflect the school’s culture, and to shape the space meaningfully to its students.

This issue was incredibly fun to put together, as we learned firsthand what it takes to build an environment that defines so many people’s lives and careers. We spend so much time poring over pamphlets about classes and clubs, but so little is told about the collaboration and planning that goes into the actual blueprints of the campus. The stories in here change that (p.8).

While our feature section focuses on higher education, this issue’s theme isn’t limited to learning at just a collegiate level. W Hotels’ Melanie Glenn graces our cover as the impressive leader who worked her way from housekeeper to director in an engineering industry that is sorely lacking in women leaders. Now that she’s earned a spot at the top, she’s not done. As a chairperson of a women’s advisory council, she’s mentoring other women to help them succeed (p.80).

As you turn the pages of this issue, think back on the pivotal scenes that defined where you are now: maybe a quiet courtyard with warm wind or a stadium that vibrated with spirit and chanting. As for me, maybe I’ll make my way downtown to see my teal fire escape.

Melaina K. de la Cruz Managing Editor

Designing For the Dean’s List

Four leaders out west give close-ups of their campuses and what it means to create a space that unites culture, sustainability, and efficiency

Buildings Inspire Behavior

Peter Dourlein is devoted to creating a campus for the University of Arizona that infuses local flavor, sustainable practices, and a people-first design to encourage productivity

By Melaina K. de la Cruz

Marion Brenner

It’s a myth that Tucson, Arizona, has only one season.

While its dry climate may remain relatively consistent, the year brings forth a variety of weather to contend with. Scorching summers famous for their dry heat and triple-digit temperatures. Warm autumns with a few rusty red leaves and rolled-down car windows. Chilled winter nights that call for folks to don sweaters and desert plants to be draped in blankets. Monsoon season, which can result in single-day downpours and flash floods.

But the weather is unmistakably Tucson, which teems with natural beauty from the Sonoran Desert at a lofty altitude to give remarkable views of jagged mountain ranges.

It’s all of these environmental factors that Peter Dourlein, the campus architect and assistant vice president of planning, design, and construction for the University of Arizona, factors in when he and his team plan, design, and renovate the landscape of the school.

“We want the buildings built on the University of Arizona campus to reflect the University of Arizona,” he explains, rather than something you’d expect to find in Chicago or Los Angeles. He adds that they should feel like part of the fabric of the school and not a cluster of one-off structures. “We want them to be of this time and place. We want architecture that speaks to the local region.”

A slot canyon design creates a shaded climate for students to spend time outside, even in the desert heat.

Beyond the southwestern aesthetic itself, Dourlein continues that the buildings themselves aren’t just objects—they’re going to be inhabited by people and must function accordingly. “We definitely say ‘people first.’ We want strong bones to a building since we’re going to own them for a long time, and we need them to be flexible but still durable and high quality.”

Dourlein and his team have a strong awareness that whatever they build will influence the people who move through them for years to come and this creates an opportunity for increased productivity. “The design inspires behavior,” Dourlein notes. “I think it was Winston Churchill who said, ‘We shape our buildings and thereafter they shape us,’ and I think that’s so true.”

For instance, he says, if you enter a building and all you see are elevators, even if you only need to reach the second floor and are able to use the stairs, you likely won’t bother looking for them. But if the stairs are immediately in view, you’re more likely to use them. “That’s just a little example of how a building can shape your behavior; it makes you a little healthier, and you use less electricity.”

The university’s Environment and Natural Resources Building II is a prime, real-life example of a structure that inspires behavior. Completed five years ago, it was

Marion Brenner

Peter Dourlein

Campus Architect and Assistant VP of Planning, Design & Construction University of Arizona

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

created to embody the university’s core values of energy efficiency and responsible design by employing experimental concepts.

Dourlein describes the building as a rectangle on the outside with a courtyard carved on the inside fashioned after a slot canyon, which is a geological formation in the southwest that contains a deep shaded space. The building is five stories high with balconies that form the side walls adorned with rusty metal ribs and natural plants on every level all the way to the top. Each balcony serves as the circulation space for its respective level.

Since Tucson is a relatively overheated environment, he explains, using this kind of natural design is crucial for providing relief in a sustainable way. “The greenest building is, of course, the one you don’t build,” Dourlein points out. “You’re obviously going to create some carbon otherwise, so if you’re going to build one, the smaller footprint you can make, the better.”

Therefore, the Environment and Natural Resources Building II uses one-third less energy than its neighbors do and it’s a third smaller than the original program called for. Dourlein’s team took the outdoor space and tempered it so it can be used year-round by 600 students at a time, thereby reducing the need for interior space. The plants on each level provide a cooling effect from

The University of Arizona Student Success District

This distinctive project brings together the UA’s commitment to academic excellence, student support, health and wellness, and the preparation students need to become leaders in the modern workplace.

Inspired by the design of technology company campuses, the District encourages students to move seamlessly between spaces, providing a full range of services and expertise allowing them to reach their academic and career goals.

The Student Success District is the place that will drive students’ 24/7 development through an array of services and spaces based on collaborative, hands-on learning with deep technological engagement.

the moisture evaporating out of them. While fresh air must be brought into a building, some of the already cooled air must be released to make room for the fresh air. This released air is filtered into the courtyard at strategic locations to help temper the spaces. All of this is accompanied by fans to help move the air around.

The thermal mass of concrete provides not only a beautiful sculpture but also an effective way to control the heat because the thermal mass cools off at night and retains that cold to absorb the heat in the daytime. All of this, Dourlein says, is an extraordinarily great use of very ordinary materials.

One of the most surprising resources the building takes advantage of is something equally unexpected to such a dry, desert climate: rain. “The roof and courtyard of the building can capture the rain, which is usually about 13 to 14 inches per year,” he says. “We collect it in this huge underground cistern which is the size of two semi-trucks.”

In Tucson, when it rains, it pours. Monsoon season is typically the prime time for this water reclamation,

and since it doesn’t rain very often, this is the time to pay attention. “The rainwater on the roof is channeled to drains strategically located in the balconies of the courtyard that become multistory thunderous columns of water being collected at the bottom by catch basins,” Dourlein notes. “This is an exciting celebration of rain. People come from surrounding buildings to see it happen. We capture that rainwater then use it to irrigate all those plants on the balconies and in the courtyard.” At times when there is not enough collected rain, Dourlein’s team supplements it with reclaimed water.

These exciting endeavors are made possible by Dourlein’s impressive team, which is a unique blend of architects, engineers, construction professionals, project managers, and real estate acquisitionists all under a single umbrella. “Because there are less barriers, the way that we operate is highly collaborative,” he explains. “We have roundtable meetings where folks come to discuss potential solutions for the needs being talked about. We find it helps tremendously rather than just having a bunch of siloed individuals providing

Randy Mathews/PD&C

Terra-cotta panel ‘ribs’ mimic the way local Saguaro cacti ribs selfshade from the desert sun.

separate comments to a project. It gives them this understanding that they’re doing something that impacts the campus.”

The people, Dourlein says, make the University of Arizona a great place to work. “Together we work to get stuff built and develop the campus in the most responsive and responsible way. And maybe as architects, builders, and engineers we like to think our job has to do with bricks and mortar and construction materials.

“But our job is really about people. We’ve just come to accept that. ‘What’s your job?’ I work with people.”

Sundt Construction is a proud supporter of Peter Dourlein and the University of Arizona Planning Design and Construction.

Our relationship with the University of Arizona dates back to 1936 with the construction of the ROTC Stables. Since then Sundt has proudly built over 60 projects on their campuses in Tucson and Phoenix.

Arthur Johnson leads the collaboration between the athletic department, project management, construction, and capital planning teams at the University of Texas to bring an incredible number of concurrent projects to fruition

By Billy Yost

Groundbreaking Longhorn Spirit

The University of Texas unveiled the Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame on August 31, 2019. The $17.1 million project, located in the Red McCombs Red Zone in the north end zone of Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, celebrates some 400 individuals and teams who have racked up 55 team national championships and can claim 200 Olympians. Somehow even more impressive than what’s showcased inside the hall of fame is the fact that ground on the project was broken just eight months before the grand opening.

Arthur Johnson, the executive athletic director of facilities, events, and operations (AD), says that the speed and efficiency of the project is in large part due to the teamwork between several different departments at the university: athletics, project management and construction services (PMCS), capital planning and construction services (CPC), utilities and energy management (UEM), public safety, IT, and landscape services.

“We give the PMCS and CPC teams a lot of difficult and trying requests over the years and have to move fast to get things done,” Johnson says. “These partners have played a key role in helping us get those things accomplished a lot faster than many would expect is possible.”

The workload has indeed been a massive undertaking. The Texas athletics director, Chris Del Conte, has been on what the Austin American-Statesman calls “a whirlwind tear” of fundraising and project initializing since taking on the challenge to lead the organization back in 2017.

“Our workload has grown 75 percent and I can tell you our staffing has not grown anywhere near that size,” says Director of Project Management and Construction

Visitors enter the Texas Tennis Center through a two-story foyer that displays historical photos and signage of the stadium. Courtesy of University of Texas Athletics

Service Mike Carmagnola, laughing. “I have pushed people to the limit and beyond. They have responded magnificently. I think that has to do with the trust and support we have for each other.”

“Working with Arthur is always about team,” agrees Kim Cochran, principal of O’Connell Robertson. “Players, fans, architects, and engineers—every interaction with him regarding facilities is about finding the solution that will have the most positive impact on the daily student/athlete and UT game day experience.”

Carmagnola adds that few university departments exist in the country with the size and scope of complexity as the PMCS and CPC. “As hard as it can be, we hold each other accountable and always try to focus on our mission to serve our students, student athletes, fans, and the public.”

The director of facilities capital planning and project management for the athletic department, Joe Beerens, says that the amount of work is the best kind of prob -

lem to have, and it’s one the university has in spades. “Since coming here, the biggest challenge is just the sheer volume of projects we have going on right now. The individual project managers are incredibly helpful because if I was going to try to manage all of these from a portfolio perspective, there’s no way we’d get these projects delivered as accurately and as functional as they are.”

Jim Shackelford, director of CPC, agrees. “At capital planning and construction, we value our longstanding working relationship with athletics that spans over a dozen projects. We are delighted to be a part of the great things being done to promote, improve, and expand the Texas Longhorn brand, and we are passionate about doing our very best work in support of our key customers in athletics. It is always a pleasure to work with Arthur and the rest of the athletics staff and leadership.”

Project Manager Dorothy Fojtik says that working to be a facilitator means having to be a neutral but active

Courtesy of University of Texas Athletics

ARTHUR JOHNSON’S TEAM:

Front row: Christopher Marks, Michael Uyeda, Jason Nellis, Nina Hammoudeh, Christina Costa, Dorothy Fojtik, Michael Rodriguez, Michael Byer

Back row: David Kruse, Karel Kozuh, Sean Conway, Arthur Johnson, Joe Beerens, David Allison, Jim Shackelford

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Freshening up the Indoor Field

The J. Dan Brown Family Player Development Center totaled 21,500 square feet of indoor baseball practice space, housing a pitching lab with three mounds, indoor practice area with custom retractable netting, four batting cages, a weight room, coaches’ office, locker room, open turf lab second floor, and outdoor patio area. The Burt Group began by demolishing the existing storage facility and removing the first base line field light to prepare for construction of the building that connected to the existing Disch-Falk Field baseball complex. All construction was done through coordination with The University of Texas system along with the architect, O’Connell Robertson.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Step Inside the Stadium

The J. Dan Brown Family Player Development Center located at the University of Texas at Austin’s Disch-Falk Field adds an exciting new chapter to UT baseball. This 21,500-square-foot indoor practice facility allows yearround training with numerous sport-specific amenities including moveable batting cages, video management facilities, support spaces, a pitching lab, weight room, and a dedicated nutrition bar. The facility is designed and situated to complement the existing stadium and provide convenient access to players via their existing locker room. O’Connell Robertson provided architecture, MEP engineering, and construction administration for this new facility, in association with sports design consultant DLR.

[Our] partners have played a key role in helping us get those [projects] accomplished a lot faster than many would expect is possible.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

voice in keeping things moving. “You have to be Switzerland while still having to say things that may not be popular,” Fojtik says. “You have to help your clients see the entire picture in a process that can get very, very caught up in minutiae.” Fojtik says maintaining a strong relationship with Johnson and Beerens has helped build trust, especially in inspiring faith that she will deliver on time and with the input of the dozens of key stakeholders, donors, and interested parties.

Nina Hammoudeh, a fellow project manager, says that especially in collaborating with the athletic department, there is often much more at risk than brick and mortar. “Athletics deals with the internal and the external, everything from the fan to the student to the athlete experience. It’s the spirit of this university, so there is so much more at stake.”

Come Together

Teamwork is the key to success in construction as it is in sports. Whether it’s 9 men on a diamond, 11 women on a soccer field, or 5 men on the court, it is teamwork rather than individual accomplishment that defines success. Turner Construction Company appreciates the countless men and women at the University of Texas along with the designers and trade partners that enabled Turner to play a role in the new Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame.

Serving that spirit has to take into account the opinion and visions of multiple donors while still being able to keep the “big picture” approach. “Where we’re sitting, we’re looking at the entire picture and like the conductor, making sure all the music is playing to the harmony of that vision. It might not look that way at times—I will say that from the beginning and end, everything in the middle looks messy,” Hammoudeh says.

“It takes a great team, and I’m so impressed with the way we’re able to work together.

Sometimes, the “messy middle” can mean coming down the wire. Hammoudeh got a call from Del Conte the day of a VIP event at the new hall of fame that required potted flowers to be on the premises— immediately. “Looking back, I just have to chuckle because it wasn’t part of any plan, but it was something that needed to get done, and we got it done.”

Chris Marks, team lead at the PMCS, says that project managers are routinely required to go above and beyond because so much of their work is unprecedented. “Most of these requests aren’t things you can pull from a comparable means and methods; they’re entirely unique.”

The mid-construction Texas Swim Center outdoor pool project comes to mind. Located at the corner of

Martin Luther King and Trinity Street in Austin, the project includes the transportation of a Myrtha pool coming from Genoa, Italy. “This is a type of pool that’s typically used in Olympic events,” Fojtik says. “This project has taken a year to get into construction because we had so many different types of stakeholders to engage.”

Johnson says that regardless of the novelty or seemingly impossible timing of the litany of projects occurring at UT, every team member understands that they’re required to be stewards of Longhorn spirit. “I see us [athletics] as a client of PMCS but I also see us as supporters and conductors for them to help balance what they need to get done and what our coaches and athletes need. It takes a great team, and I’m so impressed with the way we’re able to work together.”

Facilitating Higher Education in North Texas

Through communication, organization, and staff development, David Reynolds meets the complex demands of a large university campus

By Kathryn Kruse

David Reynolds is the master facilitator. The associate vice president of facilities at University of North Texas looks to his engineering training to manage the complexities of his duties and staff, applying what he calls “engineering-ish” principles in order to build a strong campus and care for its 174 buildings and 900 acres of grounds.

Reynolds also brings a military background to the role. It is not uncommon, he says, for veterans to work in higher education, and Air Force civil engineering runs deep for him. Aside from his own 30 years in the service, his father served as a military engineer, giving Reynolds a “brat” upbringing.

After retiring as a colonel, Reynolds wanted to continue working and the move to UNT in 2013 was a clear path. He shifted from one large organization where a sense of service compelled him to another. In terms of facilities management, he says, “The only difference between the university and an Air Force installation is the runway—no runway at UNT!”

To succeed, Reynolds maintains the same core focus: communication, planning, organization, and staff development. While the Air Force provided more formal organizational training, he prioritizes and integrates training and engagement into the structure at UNT. He and his staff have a heavy workload with an impressive volume. At any given time, he has 100 projects going—with price tags ranging up to millions of dollars—that need varied skill sets for completion. “If people are not trained and prepared, they can’t do the work,” he affirms.

“We have pushed hard for training opportunities,” the AVP continues. Besides customer service and management, he has also brought in trainings on personal resilience and change management. His team even started a fitness project. Reynolds sees all this as critical, both in work and personal life spaces, for his staff.

Reynolds schedules many of his projects around two construction seasons, which fall in line with when students are off campus: summer and winter break. Over the short winter break, around 40 projects get touched, everything from piping work to replacing furniture in classrooms to major mechanical and electrical improvements. “There is a real need for speed,” he explains. Construction must be complete when students and faculty return.

“Because of my military background I love planning and contingency planning,” Reynolds says, knowing that it is important to have a plan and more important to be flexible and ready for the plan to fail. “You must understand the job and process,” he adds. “Sometimes there is an exam happening next door. You have to stop work because people can’t take exams with a table saw going!” He also cautions against super tight schedules because, he says, “Things come up.”

DAVID REYNOLDS

Associate VP of Facilities University of North Texas

Sarah Stevens/UNT Photo

Aside from the larger projects, Reynolds and his maintenance team respond to around 3,600 work order requests every month. Anytime something breaks, his team deploys, not to mention the preventive maintenance they must accomplish. The constant deluge often leads to prioritization struggles. In 2018 Reynolds implemented a system to identify work order urgency. Using metrics and better customer communications, the new system takes some of the burden of decision-making, and sense of constant panic, off the staff. “It helps us keep a better eye on jobs and creates a better workflow,” he says. This means that there is space for other types of organizational development.

His team, composed of maintenance technicians, designers, custodial workers, groundskeepers, architects, engineers, and project managers, works on tight budgets and short timelines. Reynolds conducts a constant search for better and more strategic business partners. Along with the 350 on-site staff, he manages contracts and

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Renovating from the Core

CORE started renovating Sage Hall’s second floor in May after previously completing the renovations of floors one and three. The second floor now houses offices for Veterans Affairs, Emerald Eagle Scholar’s Program, Mentoring Programs, Career Connect, High School Career Connect, and Career Center. The renovations consisted of the complete demolition of interior walls, ceilings, and finishes. The project also features new construction of metal stud and drywall partitions plus upgraded electrical and data systems. Due to CORE’s commitment to UNT, this project was completed in just over six months in time for the 2020 spring semester.

The Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater is a configurable theater with 270-degree wraparound video projection screens.

BRW Architects, Inc.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Conquering Unforeseen Challenges

The University of North Texas began remodeling an old building for its Child Development Lab and uncovered foot-thick cinderblock walls, mid-century windows, and rusting cast-iron pipes beneath the drywall. The building turned out to be several small stables combined by a previous owner to look like one facility. With a swelling scope of work and just eight months to complete the project, UNT employed Gordian’s Job Order Contracting (JOC) to streamline the construction process. Through JOC, cost overruns were minimized while navigating the myriad changes to the original plans, and the Child Development Lab was successfully completed on schedule. Visit Gordian.com/UNT to see how the project unfolded.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

oversight for outside support. He notes that it is critical to build solid business partners who understand the unique needs of working with higher education.

“It is my duty to take care of students,” Reynolds says. With almost 40,000 students and thousands of faculty and staff, he and his team have plenty to look after. Along with hundreds of other projects, since 2015 the VP of facilities has been turning an old business school building into an academic success center that houses career support, tutoring, and veteran affairs offices, among other services. “We are helping people graduate in a reasonable amount of time,” Reynolds adds, exemplifying the deep connection he has to the student-focused functions of the buildings and grounds.

In his six years with UNT, Reynolds has seen a lot of improvements, including major mechanical system upgrades, architectural renovations, and dramatic grounds improvement. He also talks with pride about the work the 100 custodians, each responsible for 40,000 square feet, can get done in a single night.

or Shine

Weatherproofing Services recently completed a roofing and exterior metal-paneling project for the University of North Texas at the Coliseum. Ample coordination was necessary to complete the work around the frequent events held at the Coliseum, leading to the project finishing successfully and ahead of schedule.

While he acknowledges that academics and faculty are the heart and soul of the institution, he also admits, “Students make decisions about attending a school based on appearance; they look at the environment. We want to be a first-choice institution.” Reynolds adds that to do so UNT must have excellent facilities. To continue building a campus and educations that last, he remains nimble, flexible, and always in pursuit of the next plan.

Rain

If people are not trained and prepared, they can’t do the work.

Build Once, Invest Twice.

An Institution Evolution

Jim Carroll employs his lifetime of design experience to lead the massive student housing expansion for the University of California, Davis

By Billy Yost

Jim Feliciano/Shutterstock.com

The campus at the University of California, Davis is expanding like never before. Over the past two years, the university has undertaken significant and aggressive growth plans toward serving its enhanced student population and world-renowned research facilities in what the 2018 UC Davis Long Range Development plans call “a multiyear effort to understand these needs, identify strategic improvements and projects, and enable the campus of tomorrow.”

For Associate Vice Chancellor and University Architect Jim Carroll, the 150-plus construction projects, the $1.5 billion operating budget, and the necessary collaboration between university, builders, federal, state and local entities, and all other relevant stakeholders to such a large undertaking is simply the job. Carroll arrived at UC Davis in 2018 just in time to help facilitate the university’s self-imposed evolution.

The associate vice chancellor is bringing more than 30 years of collective design, construction management, and project leadership to his role (including 17 years at the Baltimore-based Design Collective and the university architect position at Auburn), but it’s difficult to get the university architect to attribute any of the building progress at UC Davis to himself.

“I am part of a huge team that includes campus planning and environmental stewardship, with strong support from our facilities management and safety services teams, and the very talented real estate services group within design and construction management,” Carroll says. “These are very complex projects that have many people on board, and we wouldn’t get anywhere without the partnership and cooperation of everyone involved.”

More Beds for the Growing Campus

The largest of these projects, The Green at West Village, has included significant coordination with UC Davis’s student housing and dining services to build out the student housing bed inventory. At $575 million, the multibuilding project boasts not only 3,300 beds but is also the largest single-financed housing project ever undertaken in the US. Nine of the eleven buildings will be dedicated to student housing and will be delivered in two concurrent phases.

“The university has increased our student body significantly,” Carroll says. “We have almost 40,000 students.” To help incoming attendees get acclimated to life at UC, he adds, “it’s important that we house most of our new students on campus rather than in the city of Davis.”

Not to mention, the student population equates to more than half of the population of the entire city. Although housing within the city limits may offer more choices to the student body, Carroll affirms that

Jim carroll

Associate Vice Chancellor and University Architect of Design & Construction Management University of California, Davis

the outside community cannot solely carry the weight of the student housing needs.

What’s immediately understandable in talking with Carroll is that ensuring the highest quality both within budget and time frame is on the top of the associate vice chancellor’s list. But the size of the project comes with inherent challenges.

“When I was in private practice, the largest project we ever did was at Rutgers University and that was 2,200 beds and was a very large project with a very aggressive schedule—this is 50 percent bigger.” But Carroll’s pursuit of a wide breadth of projects both large and small in his private practice days seem tailor fit for the variety of demands on a university campus.

“I look at everything we do with a stewardship role in mind,” Carroll explains. “We’re an institutional owner and our eye is most importantly on the quality of the structure. That includes the adaptivity and the flexibility of use over the years. If I’ve brought anything to these particular projects, it’s making sure that we’re getting what we expect.”

Offsite fabrication and timely panel delivery allows for reduced onsite costs, minimizing the number of cranes required to erect the buildings.

Quality Control and the Future of Off-site Building

Improved quality assurance is a major contributor to the recently opened 400-bed Yosemite Hall and the currently-under-construction 800-bed Shasta Hall’s use of off-site panel fabrication. Cold-formed metal panelized walls are constructed off-site in Arizona then trucked to UC Davis to be installed.

“It removed a lot of the efforts from the actual worksite for coordination,” Carroll says. “It’s also led to a much more sustainable project with a better level of quality control.”

The larger Green at West Village project utilizes construction engineering company Prescient’s digital design-build system with a repetitive, steel design that is far more fire resistant than wood, allowing for larger builds and far fewer fire suppression challenges. As the process continues, Carroll says lessons learned from each building can be reapplied to the next.

The final (of the current projects) is the reconstruction of the Orchard Park graduate and family units that will grow exponentially from 400 to 1,500 beds. Prescient’s platform may be employed again, but Carroll says volumetric modular design is also on the table.

Proud Design-Builder of higher education projects in Northern California.

UC Davis Student Athlete Performance Center

“The modular units are fabricated off-site, trucked to the project site with only minimal construction effort remaining in the public corridors, and swung into place by crane,” Carroll explains. “The challenge is that we need 1,000 modular units to be built and very few manufacturers can handle that kind of a schedule.”

But Carroll sees these types of build-outs led by wellknown hotels with modular units that go so far as to include furniture in their off-site builds. “These can be put in place and opened in what seems like months instead of years,” Carroll adds.

The associate vice chancellor and university architect says that after an extensive career of projects of all sizes, the large-scale projects are what he still gets most excited about. Luckily for him, the pace of large builds won’t be slowing down at UC Davis any time soon.

Reintroducing Orchard Park

Michaels Student Living’s partnership with UC Davis announces the launch of a second project: the redevelopment of 18-plus acres at Orchard Park. Currently in the early stages of design, the new development is scheduled to deliver 585 units totaling 1,500 beds of quality student housing, within an affordable rent range, for graduate students and students with families. Located close to the main campus, the sustainable community will feature several four-story buildings nestled among existing heritage oak trees, with open space for leisure and social gathering. Living arrangements will feature studio, twobedroom, and four-bedroom units along with two amenity community centers and ample onsite parking for students.

SUCCESS STARTS WITH THE RIGHT PARTNER

Lindsey Arteche

Section 02: Framework

Setting the stage and implementing the building blocks for what will soon be state-of-the-art facilities and designs from difference makers in the building industry

“Less Media, More Social”

Punch Bowl Social’s Jennifer Thompson is helping keep the company’s restaurants on the cutting edge to create a wider social experience

By Will Grant

The fun has landed: Punch Bowl Social (PBS) has emerged as one of the premier “food and beverage meets entertainment” experience establishments since its 2012 founding in Denver. The ground may have been laid by a company like Dave & Buster’s, but Punch Bowl Social’s focus on higher-tier food and beverage offerings is just one of the many differentiations that has landed the company as Nation’s Restaurant News’ “Hottest Concepts of 2018” and Fast Company’s “World’s Most Innovative Companies.”

Pool, darts, mini golf, bowling, and VR experiences are just some of the amenities implemented to promote social engagement, and the company’s multicity expansion in 2019 has proven that while the focus may be on millennials, the model seems to be working for just about everyone.

Visitors to PBS are met by a sensory rush once they step inside. The space’s “dirty modern” design pairs

vintage furniture, hip chandeliers, and hardwood tops with classic gaming cabinets and neon signage. Where PBS has truly set itself apart lies in its “food for foodies” approach to both its restaurant and craft cocktail offerings. “What we do is eclectic,” PBS founder and CEO Robert Thompson said in a statement. “It’s a little old school, and we really put an emphasis on the quality of the food that’s made in our scratch kitchens.”

Keeping these spaces appealing for its millennial and Gen Z target markets is an essential part of Director of Facilities and Procurement Jennifer Thompson. While the design element isn’t under her purview, maintaining a strong sense of what it means to be at Punch Bowl Social is. “I view my role as upholding brand standards as our restaurants age, as well as ensuring all the building and mechanical systems are in good working order for the smooth operations of our restaurant and the enjoyment of our guests,” Thompson explains.

◀ Punch Bowl Social was imagined as a millennial mecca that provides an escape from the workday.

Thompson has been with PBS for the last year, previously in a facilities support role for Chipotle overseeing 130 staff members and tasked with maintaining over 2,400 restaurants. At PBS, Thompson manages refreshes and remodels that keep the young brand on the cutting edge of experience and engagement.

Establishing a strong food offering was aided with a menu created by James Beard award winner Hugh Acheson. Sheamus Feely, founding chef of the Farmstead Restaurant in Napa Valley and former senior vice president of culinary and kitchen Innovation for BJ’s Restaurants, was also brought on board to help maintain high consistency at every PBS location.

CEO Robert Thompson says that the aim for all PBS spaces is to accomplish the seemingly impossible: getting customers to step away from their digital lives. “This is really about blending a high-quality culinary experience with entertainment,” he noted in a statement. “One of our taglines is ‘less media, more social.’ And that means put down your synthetic digital friends and come into our real structure with your real friends and have a real experience.”

“I view my role as upholding brand standards as our restaurants age, as well as ensuring all the building and mechanical systems are in good working order for the smooth operations of our restaurant and the enjoyment of our guests.”

—Jennifer Thompson

The Right Side of the Fence

Ian Young was so taken with photos of Gusto’s future San Francisco home base that he talked his way onto the design team and, ultimately, a job with Gusto

By Billy Yost

Ian Young has only been at San Francisco-based Gusto for a year, but he’s impacted each and every employee at their 50,000 squarefoot company headquarters. The massive space answers the question: how can a former Union Iron Works machine shop where massive ships had been repaired since the Spanish-American War of 1898 feel like home to a people-forward human resource management software company?

Young was part of the Gensler design team responsible for the space’s brilliant mash-up of worlds, and now he’s come across the aisle as Gusto’s head of buildouts. Perhaps the most amazing part isn’t that Young has transitioned from nearly 20 years of architecture to a fundamentally different career. It’s that his new job can be traced back to overhearing a meeting he wasn’t initially part of.

Gensler had been included as one of a few firms vying for the chance to build Gusto’s new headquar-

ters. Young had been kept busy building out Instagram’s new offices, among others. “Nobody thought to throw me on that team, probably because I seemed a little preoccupied with other projects,” Young says.

But one day Young was walking by a meeting and was overtaken by photos of a former shipyard building located at Pier 70 in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. “They really arrested me,” Young recalls. “I sort of imposed on their meeting, asking them to tell me all about it.”

Young had spent considerable portions of his architecture career doing adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and his expertise would lend perfectly with the project. He was added to the team.

The resulting design and build-out is essentially a new interior inside a brilliantly preserved historic exterior, executed by the landlord’s core and shell architect. Relics of the iron works hang freely from the ceiling and cohabitate with furniture that might otherwise be found in a home. A giant “living room” serves as a utilitarian meeting space for employees and

▼ Guests are greeted at Gusto’s Denver location where they leave their shoes and “show off those cool socks!”

▲ Gusto’s Pier 70 industrial design uses exposed brick, large glass panels, and a metal truss roof that maintains the original feel of the warehouse atmosphere.

Designing a Better Future

Ian Young has 20 years of building to reflect on, and that includes a sizable amount of work for nonprofits. While at Gensler, Young was part of a team that helped design and coordinate the building of 826 Valencia Tenderloin outpost, a creative reading and writing nonprofit launched by writer Dave Eggers. Young and his family also volunteered for Project Open Hand, and Young’s wife Maren participated in—and won—the 10K Giant Race sponsored by the San Francisco Giants and Project Open Hand.

a coming-together point that serves as a cultural hearth for the massive area.

What’s more, the cozy culture of Gusto is aided by a shoes-off policy at the door; large cubbies act as shoe receptacles until employees and guests head out for the day. The offices are truly underserved by description.

Through the successful build-out of Gusto’s San Francisco offices to further designs of the company’s Denver location, Young was eventually summoned to Gusto to take on the new role. “Once you’ve become the owner, everything changes,” Young says. “It’s like a postoccupancy evaluation every single day.” He is also tasked with collaborating with architects, sort of like a conversation with a former version of himself.

“I have different relationships with the builders now as well as with the architects,” Young explains. “I remember that part of the architect’s job is to challenge the client and make sure I’m open to that innovative thinking, while still finding ways to align our needs, our budget, and our schedule.”

A lesson from a former instructor has stayed with the designer-turned-facilities head all of these years. “An architect needs to realize that they don’t pay for, build, or live in the spaces they create,” Young remembers. “Now I’m on that side of the fence where I’m doing all three.”

▲Gusto involved its employees in every stage of the office build-out and even offered a VR preview tour.

Jenna Carando

Young’s move to Gusto after years of designing both public and private spaces may have seemed more dramatic if it didn’t fit in so well with his history of stepping outside of his comfort zone. Early on his journey, Young worked as a carpenter and an ink and paint specialist in an animation studio while he found his footing. As an architect, Young’s first full-time job was with a firm that did both architecture and structural engineering. The need to learn and to stretch was essential, but just felt natural for Young.

The architect would also spend extensive time designing public spaces, including the mammoth gutting and rebuild of the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, California. Each step has provided a new challenge, a new perspective, and an evolving set of clients, forcing Young to grow and operate outside a widening circle of expertise.

Now at Gusto, Young says he’s motivated by the company’s simple and meaningful mission—to relieve the stress of growing a small business so that entrepreneurs and those with big ideas can tend to the mission that inspired them in the first place.

“I’m now serving employees whose job it is to make life easier for small businesses,” Young says. “That feels like a noble mission to be part of.”

“I remember that part of the architect’s job is to challenge the client and make sure I’m open to that innovative thinking, while still finding ways to align our needs, our budget, and our schedule.”

Ian Young Head of Build-Outs Gusto

Sallie Sangiorgio

Often referred to as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports,” the Kentucky Derby is the longest continually held sporting event in America.

A New Finish Line

One

of the oldest public universities in the nation, the University of Louisville looks toward the future as it equips students to take a place at the forefront of the equine industry

By Zayvelle Williamson

The University of Louisville may be more than 200 years old, but it is by no means stuck in the past. In fact, the university is gaining increasing national attention for its forward-thinking branding of one of the most time-honored traditions in the state of Kentucky: equestrianism.

Founded in 1798, the University of Louisville has an incredible history. Its three campuses are full of legacy buildings, buildings that the university’s operations teams take great care in renovating and restoring. But over the years, the university has instituted a number of new programs and many accompanying new facilities to increase the learning opportunities available to its students.

And as both students and the general public have seen, one of the most impactful new programs has been the equine industry program (EIP).

Established in 1986, the EIP was designed to help students transform their passion for horses into profitable careers. Whereas other equine-centered programs often focus on animal science and husbandry, the EIP allows students to cultivate an understanding of equine economics and marketing, equine financial management, equine law and taxation, and other topics related to the equine industry.

But as many have pointed out, that businesscentric education model is only possible because the EIP is housed—physically and programmatically—within the University of Louisville’s College of Business.

In 2010, the university began construction on the Equine Center, a two-story, $3.38 million addition to the existing College of Business building. The project directors at architectural design firm Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp, Chovan Inc. aimed to fully integrate the new Equine Center with the existing College of Business facilities, connecting each level of the Center to the College of Business and ensuring unrestricted access to shared facilities such as the green roof and sky garden.

The physical integration of the Equine Center and the College of Business also reflects the nature of the curriculum. The EIP encourages students to engage with the College of Business on a regular basis—in fact, all EIP students are required to take the core business administration classes required by the College of Busi-

ness, in addition to the 30 hours that they must spend in specialized, equine industry courses.

“We believe that AACSB [Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business] accreditation in business and accounting gives our students the assurance of a high-quality degree in business,” Rich Wilcke, the then director of the EIP, remarked in a 2009 interview with Horse Racing Business. “If they work in the equine industry, their business skills and education will allow them to be very competitive. If they choose not to work in the equine industry, they still have a very valuable degree.”

Indeed, students in the EIP have leveraged the value of their degree to secure internships at the Kentucky Fair as well as at Churchill Downs (located a little more than a mile from the Equine Center). They have gone on to obtain positions in farm and stable management,

become prominent horse racing trainers, and earn names for themselves as writers for equine publications. As Wilcke emphasized, “the future of our industry and our program” is truly wide open.

Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp, Chovan Inc. and Staggs & Fisher have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the University of Louisville for over 50 years.

We put the client at the center of everything we do. This approach incorporates the client’s vision with our own and allows us to offer the highest quality services to meet the needs of every project. The success of this approach is evident in the repeat business we have enjoyed over many years.

We look forward to providing professional services to assist the university in its vision for the future.

Arrasmith, a Schmidt Associates Company, has designed across the country and the world for more than 90 years. With a focus on healthcare, workplace, and community-centered projects, we keep our clients’ needs front and center.

Where Efficiency Meets Creativity

Jared Morgan of Four Springs Capital Trust discusses maintaining a diversified portfolio with a lean, mean real estate team and the importance of keeping your word

By Brianna Wright

Courtesy of Four Springs Capital Trust

As a self-described “product guy,” Head of Acquisitions Jared Morgan has been acquiring and disposing of single tenant net lease assets at Four Springs Capital Trust for three of his fifteen years of experience in the sector. “What’s great is that 50 years experience in net lease is like 50 years in other sectors because it’s relatively new and has grown so fast,” says Morgan. He has been employing his experience in the sector by securing deals in the industrial, retail, and medical space.

Morgan didn’t start out in net lease real estate when he was fresh out of undergrad from Colby College. After graduation, Morgan cut his teeth as a real estate

▲ As of 2019, Four Springs Capital Trust had 90 properties in its portfolio, including University of Iowa Health Care.

consultant at Arthur Anderson, one of the “big five” tax accounting firms in the late ’90s. “I was on the lowest end of the org chart as an analyst trying to figure out how to underwrite and place a value on the massive real estate transactions that were being executed by REITs and Wall Street,” Morgan jokes, “but all that travel and late nights proved to be a tremendous training experience.”

After working on Wall Street for Banker Trust, Morgan found himself building an estate technology company for sponsor Apollo Real Estate Advisors. After feeling the impact of the first downturn of the 21st century tech boom, Morgan found that this

professional experience set up his professional character for the years to come. “It created an immediate level of maturity for me, and I learned a lot of valuable lessons,” Morgan recounts. “I really came out of that experience with a goal to not sacrifice my values and to always keep my word.”

Today, Morgan builds his diversified portfolio with a lean but mean team at Four Springs. One of the largest benefits to running a small team is the ability to problem solve with efficiency. “To have an experienced management team that can sit down together at a moment’s notice when problems arise and solve them is important to me, and I have that with Four Springs,” says Morgan.

Another facet of Morgan’s work at Four Springs is to develop a diversified portfolio. As he explains, you don’t want all your eggs in one basket, and product diversity will be the most beneficial to shareholders in the long run. “When a sector hits a tough spot like retail has for the past couple years, then I’m not fully exposed. As sectors like industrial get overheated and overpriced, I might find better transactions in other asset classes. I like that diversity, and I think it’s critical to building the right portfolio.”

With the multiplicity of moving pieces at Four Springs, Morgan works to overcome daily challenges by promoting efficiency protocols. “There are only so many hours of the day and so many places that I can go visit,” he explains. “I’ve learned how to become extremely efficient and creative in how I find opportunities.” This attitude manifests itself in Morgan’s meetings with the investment committee at Four Springs, in which he requires unanimous approval before writing an offer on a transaction. This might seem like a lot of up-front work, but Morgan finds it essential to have senior management commitment to a transaction to maintain a strong reputation in the market.

Morgan keeps up his competitive edge through creativity, hard work, and strong relationships with colleagues in his field. “There’s really no room for hubris/ego in what we do. We are all just too busy building,” Morgan emphasizes. When he’s not working on building his portfolio, he maintains his network by reaching out to colleagues on a daily basis and taking the time to share leads and ideas.

In addition to keeping his professional network in shape, Morgan also places a focus on building relationships with his tenants. “I’m always holding to my word.

Jared Morgan Head of Acquisitions Four Springs Capital Trust

◀ Four Springs Capital Trust recently cut a deal with Domino’s Pizza cold storage. Courtesy of Four Springs Capital Trust (Top), Donna D. Lovely (Bottom)

People know that when they close a deal with me, the relationship will continue. I want to help them grow their business, and sometimes that may mean expanding their building or connecting them with similar companies they may want to work with,” says Morgan. “To me, it’s important to keep those relationships not just because I want to make sure that they’re happy as a tenant but also in case there are growth opportunities.”

Morgan’s main focus is on the intersection of efficiency and creativity. He maintains a methodical professional outlook in structuring and negotiating deals, while still being the guy that personally delivers gift baskets to tenants during the holidays. At the end of the day, Morgan manages business without being prideful and without sacrificing his values. “There are a lot of great people that do what I do in this space,” he says. “At the end of the day, the fact that I can look back and feel proud of the portfolio and relationships I’ve built means I’ve done my job.”

Healthy Balance

Physical well-being isn’t just a priority in Jared Morgan’s personal life, but in his professional life as well: every year, Morgan and his colleagues embark on a strenuous hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up in a day. “What had started out as just two people is now a much larger group that requires six months of disciplined planning and training. I’m always trying to figure out the next new experience where we do something together as a team,” Morgan explains. “And I can blend both work and adventure to create a stronger bond.”

In His Father’s Shoes

Brian Mundy learned the skills from his dad, but it’s his trademark communication and collaboration style that has made him the successful director of construction he is today

By Anthony Ruth

Brian Mundy’s career began with working for his dad, a union carpenter who started his own contracting business when Mundy was only eight. The company did commercial interior finish work including ceilings, drywall, metal studs, and insulation, as well as general contracting. “I kind of had a taste of all that growing up,” Mundy remembers.

One of the family’s clients was Shoe Carnival, where Mundy would eventually take on the role of director of construction. Years before that, Mundy helped his father finish and remodel the stores. “I always got the hard jobs. You know, the stuffing insulation,” he says. “I think my dad did that so I would stay in school.”

Mundy attended Purdue and studied civil engineering, then designed bridges with the Indiana Department of Transportation. From there, he worked for a consultant where he oversaw varied projects from concept through completion, handing the keys over to the client. Most of the projects were related to water and sewer plants, but some were retail construction, which led him back to Shoe Carnival.

One of the biggest requirements for retail construction managers, according to Mundy, is the willingness to change. “There’s a lot of change that goes on at the last minute in retail, and you have to be able to deal with that. If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t like

◀ Shoe Carnival recently completed a new location in Sanford, Florida.

Courtesy of Skys The Limit Media Group LLC

change, you’re probably not going to make it in this business,” he says.

Change often comes from the constant drive by merchants to find ways to increase sales in the store, which then result in design changes. “For example, if they want to light an end panel on a run of gondola, they don’t think about how we’re going to get power to that,” Mundy says. “You’ve got to be able to work with those people and coach them and make them understand how those decisions affect everything else.”

For example, says Mundy, a new fixture might cost $500, but to light it well could be an additional $2,000. As the project manager, he would explain the trade-offs and guide the organization to the best decision. “When I first came to Shoe Carnival, that wasn’t really the case. It was more reactive. ‘They want this so just throw it in and don’t worry about the cost,’” he says. “Once you start talking about costs, it impacts things like that. It makes a difference.”

In addition to adding cost, late changes can threaten the timeline, which is often non-negotiable in retail where merchandise is seasonal and, in Shoe Carnival’s case, ordered seven to eight months in advance. If a store is set to open during the Easter season and misses that date, the sandals and other spring and summer shoes that were ordered would no longer be appropriate for the next opening season.

“We would have to try to either get rid of it somewhere else, or it would have to be put on clearance,” says Mundy. “It’s a big deal from the merchandising standpoint to stay on that schedule. And also, we are a publicly traded company, so those anticipated sales are calculated into our numbers that we report to Wall Street.”

With so much responsibility hinging on the construction team, Mundy implemented a crossfunctional project approval process at Shoe Carnival, bringing all the relevant departments to the table—

real estate, merchandise, and HR operations, in addition to construction. “I think it’s helping the entire team,” says Mundy. “Everyone understands better how their piece of the puzzle affects everyone else, and I think that helps immensely whenever you’re trying to meet a deadline.”

Before he arrived at Shoe Carnival, Mundy says this type of collaboration was happening through email, but he took the initiative to make it a regular meeting. “Somebody has to take charge. Somebody has to be the project manager,” he says. And in his case, it made sense that the construction team would take the lead. “It’s up to us to make sure that the store is opened on time. The other teams rely on us to give them the information—the dates, the schedules—so that they can put their piece of the puzzle together.” In Mundy’s five years at Shoe Carnival, the team never missed an opening. His efforts to unite a team and embody that spirit of collaboration has not gone unnoticed by his partners. “Brian is a leader in the retail industry due to his work commitment, his definition of clear expectations, and his trust in those he works with including his many allies and outside resources,” says Bob Baker, VP of construction at TDS Construction. “The level of collaboration that occurs while working together sets him apart from the rest.”

Mundy has enjoyed the diversity of his career, and he credits his upbringing and the hands-on experience he gained with preparing him for the range of roles and projects he’s worked on. “A lot of times that’s not the case with especially young engineers. They don’t have that experience,” he says. “You can design something that’s spectacular, but you also have to be able to build it.”

Editor’s note: As of press time, Brian Mundy is no longer with Shoe Carnival.

“If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t like change, you’re probably not going to make it in this business.”

Section 03: Spaces

Exploring new and renovated facilities across the industry, from buildings to work spaces, along with the people and companies behind these projects

Naturally Appealing

Heath Melton and his team at the Howard Hughes Corporation developed

a residential community of open space to harmonize all inhabitants

By Peter Fabris

Josey Lake’s skyway bridge and birding tower let residents watch waterfowl along the shoreline and has stationary binoculars for a closer look.

Mike McCurdy

This idyllic setting is real, and it’s called Bridgeland—an 11,400-acre master planned community in Cypress, Texas, brimming with natural beauty and recreational opportunities. The Houston-area project is the product of the Howard Hughes Corporation, which owns, manages, and develops commercial, residential, and mixed-use real estate nationwide.

Howard Hughes has produced large master planned communities in several states with designs that put a high priority on quality-of-life features such as recreation, wellness, and a sense of community. Bridgeland, with about 3,000 planned acres of open space, including 900 acres of lakes and meandering waterways, is a prime example.

Bridgeland’s designers took great care to create a highly walkable environment, says Heath Melton, executive vice president of Master Planned Community Residential Development. “We planned pedestrian connectivity first, then vehicular connectivity,” Melton explains, demonstrating a keen awareness of the inevitable dangers that can occur from drivers sharing the Mike

Imagine images of a parent and child fishing on the banks of a naturally landscaped lake, a kayaker paddling under a pedestrian bridge spanning the lake, and an adolescent biking on a woodsy off-road trail.

McCurdy

roads with walkers or bikers. “We want pedestrians to have the least amount of contact with vehicles as possible.” Pedestrian tunnels under major thoroughfares provide safe, convenient crossings for residents and visitors on foot or bicycles.

Numerous parks, retail centers, and waterways dot the landscape in strategic locations so that Bridgeland residents have easy access to amenities on foot from all living spaces. “We like to have a park or green space within a quarter mile of every home,” Melton says.

This vision is consistent with Howard Hughes’ corporate approach to master planned community developments—creating cities-within-cities that offer rich experiences for residents. Bridgeland will have about 65,000

◀ Dragonfly Park, Bridgeland’s latest world-class amenity complex, had its grand opening in August 2019.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

The Building Blocks of a Community

For six years, LJA Engineering (LJA) has planned, updated, and managed the Bridgeland General Plan. LJA is proud to be involved in the number-one, master-planned community in Houston, Texas, and among the top ten across the nation. Bridgeland features four villages and a Town Center that form the infrastructure of the 11,400acre family community. The appeal of Bridgeland lies in its amenities, which include 60 miles of parks and interconnecting trails, playgrounds, pools, recreation areas, schools, and retail. Currently, LJA is working on the general plan for Parkland Village, modifying park and pathway components, and developing detailed planning as the fabric of the neighborhood grows and evolves. Congratulations to the entire Bridgeland team and the Howard Hughes Corporation, always committed to a better quality of life for their residents from the beginning!

Bridging Connections

“The Howard Hughes Corporation believes it is important for the company to engage in charitable giving and for volunteerism to become part of the fabric of the community,” Heath Melton says. “To that end, the company grants all employees three days off per year to participate in volunteer activities.”

In recent years, Melton and other employees have assisted Operation Finally Home (OFH), an organization that provides a mortgage-free home to a deserving veteran and their family. “Being an Army veteran, this is very near and dear to my heart,” Melton says. “We donate the lot and partner with our homebuilders to get their participation.” Together, they help to secure in-kind donations from suppliers.

Melton’s charitable leadership extends to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night fundraising event in Montgomery County, Texas, serving as cochair and board member. Melton was a national top five fundraiser in 2018 and 2019. The work honors his mother, who lost the fight to cancer in 2015, Melton says.

Melton’s charitable third pillar of interest, after military and health, is education. He is a board member of the CyFair Education Foundation that provides scholarships to deserving college bound students. In addition, Howard Hughes is planning to launch a new initiative to provide scholarships to two seniors at Bridgeland High School each year.

residents when completed. Many will be drawn by the numerous recreational opportunities and the project’s scenic settings that are in harmony with nature.

For instance, waterside landscapes feature aquatic and meadow-like plants that provide habitat for insects and animals, including the monarch butterfly and waterfowl. In fact, pelicans adopted the area as a migration stop after the community’s man-made lakes and waterways were constructed, Melton points out.

To allow residents to fully enjoy these bodies of water, the development includes a boathouse where residents can check out a canoe or kayak for a few hours, and a tower for bird watching. Fishing enthusiasts can take advantage of stocked catfish, brim, and spotted bass.

Other amenities such as state-of-the-art activity centers that offer gyms, pools, splash pads, dog parks, tennis courts, basketball courts, playgrounds, and meeting spaces add to the recreational and social opportunities. The development’s four villages will each have retail village centers that will include medical and dental offices, dry cleaners, and other neces-

Heath Melton EVP, Master Planned Community Residential Development The Howard Hughes Corporation

Mauricio Ramirez

sities. These amenities, along with some healthy food purveyors in retail hubs, are in keeping with a focus on wellness that is desired by multiple demographic groups, Melton says.

Two public elementary schools and a high school have already been built within the community’s borders, and at least one more, a middle school, will be constructed in the future. Bridgeland also offers two places of worship, with another in the planning stage, to nourish the spirit. The lengthy array of amenities has helped make the community highly desirable for new home buyers. “Bridgeland is the number one-selling master planned community in the Houston area and number 11 in the country,” Melton says.

Homes vary in price ($220,000 to over $1 million), design, and lot size, creating a diversity of architecture and housing options. The superior engineering design of the community proved beneficial, as not a

single home was impacted in the recent Houston area’s floods during major storms. Hurricane Harvey, for instance, did not cause damage to homes from rising flood waters in Bridgeland when it struck the region in 2017. Lakes and waterways mark the low-lying terrain, providing stormwater retention and conveyance in a more attractive form than engineered structures like concrete culverts and channels.

Since the project’s first sales in 2006, Bridgeland has grown steadily, with new thoughtfully designed amenities and features keeping in step with population growth. Now accommodating about 11,000 residents, there is plenty of room for growth to reach the capacity of about 65,000 when fully built out.

As the neighborhood and its greenery expand, both human residents and the creatures of the local environment can look forward to the vibrancy the community has to offer.

All in a Day’s Work

Mailchimp’s Bill McClain helps grow the space for employees that grow small businesses

By Kathryn Kruse

Darris Lee Harris

Design firm ASD Sky created a visually appealing, open design for the Mailchimp headquarters in Atlanta.

Head up to the newly opened ninth floor in Atlanta’s Ponce City Market building and you will find 70 Mailchimp employees working in an office where every detail—from collaborative space balance to door handles—is considered. Bill McClain, director of real estate and facilities, acknowledges, “We think hard about how to have a positive environment.”

Less than a year before the ribbon cutting on this office, a different tenant still held occupancy and the space itself was unfinished. Working at a breakneck speed, McClain orchestrated sublease negotiations, architectural design meetings, and construction in

just a few months. The move itself was executed in less than four hours on a single Friday night, and involved schlepping dozens of standing desks and ergonomic chairs; arranging smart boards around a precise number of low-voltage sockets necessary for Mailchimp’s video conferencing software; and collecting, labeling, and delivering over 100 moving crates of employee personal items to each desk.

The following Monday saw members of the legal and finance teams sitting and standing, alone and in groups, working hard, as though that massive haul was already a distant memory.

The ninth floor, a recent win, is certainly not McClain’s first. In May of 2016 he joined a workforce

▲The Miami campus features break spaces equipped with coffee and healthy snacks.

Brian Gassel

of 460 that has since risen to 1,100. To scale, McClain maintains communication to constantly prepare people for what is coming down the pipelines. As the company grows, McClain keeps the needs of each employee in mind, ensuring access to nursing, huddle, quiet, and team collaboration spaces throughout offices.

McClain engages digital tools to develop new solutions. He overhauled a loosely kept analog system into a real-time employee-facing visual directory, critical in the expanding scope of staff and facilities. However, at Mailchimp he is “just a regular real estate person” surrounded by highly technical people. His challenge, then, is to complement that tech with the physical space around it. He keeps the question, “How do we translate what you are doing into the physical world?” at the front of his work.

To achieve this, he partners closely with Mailchimp cofounder Dan Kurzius to direct real estate, planning, and office design. This includes identifying space for expansion and implementing layout they are iterating to perfection. Recreational amenities, like pingpong and pool tables, prove to be just as crucial as any other aspect. “There is a benefit to providing people some kind of release, an opportunity to interact,” McClain explains. Especially for employees who spend the majority of their time working alone on a screen, game spaces increase ability to collaborate or ask for support.

In an era of open offices, Mailchimp adheres to a culture where everyone has access to a desk if they want. “We’ve studied what happens in open offices and tweaked it a bit,” McClain says. For example, they have arranged groupings of desks with a smaller amount of space between them, making it less comfortable for people to pass close by or linger, ensuring that they use specific pathways to cut down on distraction.

With Mailchimp’s dynamic approach, the ninth floor probably won’t stay static for long. “We try to make sure that nothing is set in stone,” the real estate and facilities director says. “We want to make sure it can be repurposed.” Mailchimp operates in response to the needs of the product, with teams in flux. In 2019 McClain and his team moved over 1,400 people—desks,

“I heard one agent say, ‘It feels like they made a home just for us.’”

▶ Mailchimp also worked with design firm NELSON to help define a creative direction that would be compatible with the company’s unique culture.

files, family photos, and all. If one does the math, it is clear that some employees moved more than once. It is critical that these moves happen with little disruption to employees.

The company even provides a white-glove service. It has invented tools that allow for shifting entire desks, saving the time, labor, and distraction of packing. An employee can work from home for a day, then return to find their work space is all set up.

McClain’s team also answers 7,000 employee requests and maintenance tickets annually, broken things and leaks, as well as managing security and access controls. “We get to interact with everyone across the company,” he notes.

Who does all this mammoth work? A team of only eight people. McClain admits that it sounds cliché but explains that the secret to his success is a simple truth: “We really have a passion to serve. We enjoy providing service.”

Previously the director worked for a private real estate company focused on medical office buildings. While he learned a lot in his 24 years there, he says, “I felt a need to find something more progressive and dynamic.” He saw Mailchimp as a company that gives back. The mission of the marketing platform is to support small businesses, helping them bring their ideas to fruition through user-friendly marketing tools, data analytics, and affordable pricing.

“I get to work in a vibrant, constantly changing environment. The soul of the company drew me in.” He not only believes in the ethos of the company—to help clients “look pro and grow” and “empower the underdog”—but he stands by the product as well. Before

Bill McClain Director of Real Estate and Facilities Mailchimp

“There is a benefit to providing people some kind of release, an opportunity to interact.”

Courtesy of Mailchimp

coming to Mailchimp he used the platform and, he says with a chuckle, “They made my emails look so good.”

In February of 2015 Mailchimp moved to its current headquarters but still rented 20,000 square feet at its original Carriage Works offices. A decision in 2016 to move support staff to that space raised concerns about protecting connection across the company. To remedy this, McClain and his team worked in small details such as placing coffee machines at close range, incorporating a lot of company inside jokes, and decorating the lounges with Count Freddie vampire logos with the overnight support crew in mind. They’ve even built out a room.

McClain opened the revamped space to celebration. “I heard one support agent say, ‘It feels like they made a home just for us,’” he remembers.

The director is not done innovating, shifting from the details of a broken office chair to large considerations of applied psychology. “We test different styles of seating,” he says, adding that he recently attended a demonstration on circadian lighting and its effects on hospital workers and patients, and sees the merit it could have for Mailchimp’s employees as well.

“When it becomes commercially available,” McClain says, “we will be looking into bringing it to us.”

Brian Gassel

Mike Rolves Senior Director of Design & Construction Heartland Dental Courtesy of Heartland Dental

Accelerating Growth in Dental Healthcare

Mike Rolves has put tools and teamwork in place for a major new expansion at Heartland Dental

By Lori Fredrickson

Mike Rolves sees today’s field of dentistry as one of untapped potential. “There’s a lot of opportunity for growth, in a way that’s comparable to the pharmacy business years ago, prior to Walgreens and CVS becoming as large as they are,” Rolves says. “And there’s a need for dentists to have support in their construction and facilities, as well as their overall business model, to have the support to focus on seeing patients.”

This is partly what drew Rolves to Heartland Dental in 2018 as its senior director of design and construction. Having spent the past 12 years working for Panera Bread, moving up from senior manager of design applications to director of design while over-

seeing new buildings and remodel programs, Rolves saw an opportunity to grow even further. “It was also very much aligned with my values,” he explains. “Heartland’s mission is to support dentists and their teams as they deliver the highest-quality dental care to communities they serve, so it was very inspiring for me to be able to join that team.”

Rolves joined the company at a pivotal growth period. KKR, an investment firm, had recently entered the picture as a majority stockholder and Heartland Dental was moving forward with plans of a major expansion, with the goal of opening up 47 new locations in 2018 alone. As leader of construction and design teams as well as facilities and special projects teams, the senior director hit the ground running,

▲ A peek inside the waiting area and reception desk of a Heartland Dental office. Courtesy of Heartland Dental

working to open up new locations while also remodeling existing ones. “At the time when I started, there wasn’t a design team as much as a collection of project managers,” Rolves says. “So there was a perspective of how do we divide and conquer to have designers focused on the front half of projects and construction managers focused on the back half.”

In order to hit the growth targets, the development team does its work of scouting new locations by tracking areas of population growth, patient profiles, and nearby competition, and finding the best real estate

in high traffic areas, with a large focus on states in the southeast. One of Rolves’s early hurdles was to improve the accuracy of Heartland’s construction schedule management, focusing on implementing predictive tools so that teams would be prepared. “This allowed the stakeholders of Heartland to focus on actual dates rather than constantly trying to hit a moving target and allowed my team to receive feedback on the built environment,” Rolves says.

Much of that feedback helped them to ensure that their office layouts supported dentists while also

▲ Heartland Dental’s vision is “to be a world-class company and the leader in dentistry.”

improving the patient experience. “There’s been a lot of work to make sure that our prototype aligns with work performed in those offices, as well as the anticipated growth,” Rolves says. “We want patients to know that from the moment they walk in the door they will be greeted and welcomed, and that there’s also a privacy and comfort level in the treatment areas.” His team also focused on making spaces flexible enough to introduce new technology as it came in, such as new X-ray machines and scanners.

Rolves is participating in a search for different ways for Heartland to manage its overall building life cycle, adding new programs to help with financial management beginning from location approval and using conditional surveys to gather all relevant information on lease rules and remodel programs. “It’s a one-stop location where they can gather all of that information, which will help us with efficiency,” Rolves says.

Throughout the process, Rolves has also worked to stay on top of changes and other opportunities in the industry. He’s had a lifelong practice of going to several different conferences each year to network with peers, not only in other dental offices but with other retail developers, finding out what their challenges are as well as valuable advice they may be able to offer on potential vendors and programs. And he also tries to learn from the advice of different motivational speakers to gain new perspectives, particularly in leadership. “My philosophy is to hire the right people and then empower them to make good decisions, and give them the autonomy to run their area of the business,” Rolves says. “I always try to look at ways that we can try to innovate and learn, and be nimble in how we approach our work.”

All of which will continue to be important as Heartland Dental continues on its growth track. Since Rolves began in 2018, Heartland has opened 107 new locations, with 70 planned for 2020; from there, it plans to continue building at a 15 to 20 percent growth rate. “The really big undertaking my team has right now is to make sure that we can continue to do that effectively without falling behind, and making sure that we have

“My philosophy is to hire the right people and then empower them to make good decisions, and give them the autonomy to run their area of the business.”

processes in place and an understanding of what the future looks like,” Rolves says.

It’s a challenge that he looks forward to. “The most exciting part of my job is in being able to lead a group of great people, and watch them succeed and be able to grow,” Rolves says. “We want to make sure that patients not only receive the best dental care, but that our practices also have the latest and best technology to deliver treatment.”

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Building Los Angeles

Shaabini Alford has tackled an impressive portfolio of projects that prepared her for new developments across Los Angeles

By Billy Yost

Shaabini Alford Vice President Murray Company

Marta Martin

Shaabini Alford’s assertion that she bleeds yellow may prompt a medical emergency response if it weren’t also the color palette of Murray Company Mechanical Contractors, the vice president’s home for the past 16 years.

Having helped grow an $80 million company to just shy of $350 million, Alford has an impressive résumé— as does Murray as a whole—even when it’s only pointing to the projects that are ongoing currently or recently completed. The renovation of the University of Southern California’s Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was completed in August 2019, and the venue will play host to the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Murray is also in the middle of building an exciting art museum that will focus on film and narratives, as well as a new stadium that will play host to local Los Angeles sports teams, which is set to open in July 2020.

To accommodate visiting guests to these attractions, Alford has been deeply involved in the renovation and construction of a Los Angeles hotel, which also includes two 45-story condominium towers that didn’t exist prior to the renovation. The project has been Murray’s own white whale—it was awarded in early 2016 but delayed due to factors outside of the company’s control. With Alford’s intervention and a new team on the ground, the mammoth project is on track for the hotel to open in early spring of 2020 and the towers to be completed in early 2021.

A New Century

The hotel’s renovation includes converting the 50-yearold building to include 63 condominiums and 93,000 feet of commercial and retail space. “Being a historic building, we’ve made sure not to alter the essence of

Courtesy of Murray Company

▲ Two residence towers are built as part of the renovation of a historic hotel in LA, to be completed by 2021.

this great building,” Alford says. Condos will sit on the second level, as well as the 12th through 16th, with hotel rooms occupying the bulk of the remainder of the space. The site also sits nearby the Westfield Century Shopping Mall which was also a Murray construction. “That mall is so iconic,” Alford says. “It’s really rewarding to see the intersection of projects that were ours.”

600 Feet Up

The construction of the 46-story, 600-foot tall condominium towers was initially supposed to commence after the completion of the hotel renovation. A lengthy delay eventuated with Murray managing both projects simultaneously. The team building the 290 luxury condominium structures is on the site with a separate team working the renovation. That means five architects, two project managers, two general foremen, and . . . Alford.

“It’s really rewarding to see the intersection of projects that were ours.”

plumbing crew celebrated over 100,000 manhours worked on the Century project without a recordable incident or injury.

Making Up for Lost Time

“The document control alone is enough,” Alford says, laughing. But the VP’s leadership is anything but a joke. “This was a $45 million project, and it could really make or break the year. I needed to be intimately involved and help push out in the field, whether it was our fabrication, cash collection, or just bringing leadership to our team.” She made sure to be on-site and let anyone know that they wouldn’t just be dealing with a project manager; Alford was there to put a face on the company.

Running two construction teams has been made more manageable by dividing and conquering with separate general foremen and project managers, Alford notes. But she is conscious of the hard work the hotel renovation team has put in on a project that has spanned longer than anticipated. “Just driving to that neighborhood is difficult let alone pulling onto Santa Monica or Wilshire Boulevard,” Alford says. “My team has been there for years and I want to be able to pull them out as soon as I’m able.”

The challenges kept coming, but Alford kept knocking them down. When the construction delay occurred, Alford spent nearly three months negotiating a multimillion-dollar settlement to keep the project moving forward. And in February of 2019, she brought in new leadership on the ground. “Since then

it has been night and day,” Alford says. “It required a lot of team building, but I think I’m good at bringing people together and getting them excited about moving ahead.”

Loyalty Matters

And while the huge project certainly had its fair share of hardship, Alford still talks about her job with as much enthusiasm as a new hire. After 16 years, that means something. “I am Murray Company to the core,” Alford affirms. The employee-owned organization has opened offices in San Diego and the Bay Area. Its diversified portfolio includes union plumbing, HVAC (both wet and dry), a standalone civil engineering division, and an advanced technologies team that does builds for high-cleanliness requirements like pharmaceuticals and food and beverage.

Alford says she’s been allowed to take on as much as she was willing to at Murray and that she has the “100-percent-backing” of her leadership team. All of the leadership at Murray has been there for over 15 years. “They’re like my brothers!” Alford says. The family that builds Los Angeles together, stays together.

Editor’s Note: All pending construction dates mentioned in the article reflect plans at press time.

◀ The entire

Marta Martin

Section 04: Portraits

Sharing stories that detail motivations, ambitions, and missions of executives in the building industry and getting a firsthand look at what they are achieving today

Fix It Before It’s Broken

Melanie Glenn’s determination to break into the hotel industry led her from entry-level to director, making ways for other women to succeed

By Russ Klettke

Portraits by Cass Davis

Melanie Glenn Director of Engineering

W Hotels

▲ W Hotels’ energetic and modern design is inspired by the liveliness of New York City, which it infuses into all locations worldwide.

As a whole, the hospitality industry has far to go in terms of promoting gender and racial equity in its middle and upper management ranks. Particularly when considering the heavy concentration of women and people of color in entry-level positions, such as hotel housekeeping and maintenance, against the dearth of people who look like them in senior positions.

Melanie Glenn is an exception to that. She is today the director of engineering at the W Hotel in Hoboken, New Jersey. She initially applied several times for several jobs with hotel companies just to get her foot in the door and, after much effort, the Marriott organization was the first to hire her. Even then, she had to take an entry-level job in housekeeping—something unheard of among her engineering peers.

Indeed, the World Travel and Tourism Council reported in 2017 that, while more than half the industry workforce is made up of women, less than a quarter of managers in tourism are women. One prominent hotel in Las Vegas has one woman among 25 executives. Doing a better job is American Airlines, where three women out of nine management team members are women, bettering all other major companies in the airline, hotel, amusement, and booking platform companies surveyed.

Glenn, who possessed an affinity for fixing things from a young age after being taught by her father, had the skills to do what hotel building engineers do, which is to oversee the functioning of the physical property. Perhaps perseverance was her strongest skill—something that counts for a lot in the never-ending challenges

Michael Kleinberg

of keeping hotels operating effectively, efficiently, and with apparent ease. She shares how guests never see what it takes to keep the lights on, the water running, carpets in good repair, and air temperature just right.

With what had to be a mix of frustration and determination, Glenn took the housekeeping position with pride and a plan but made it clear to her supervisors that she would like to work in the engineering department. After about four months at the Marriott International Residence Inn in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she and her New York City born-and-raised family moved after 9/11, the maintenance engineering position opened. Shortly after that, another vacancy enabled her to become the chief engineer, overseeing the renovations and property contracts.

All of this might appear to be strokes of luck. But luck, as it has been famously said, is when opportunity meets preparation.

Glenn describes her younger self as a child that loved everything from dolls to trucks, and says her father provided the encouragement she needed to put her interests to work with an engineering mind-set. Her talents for repair came in just as handy as an understanding of how to prevent things from being broken.

“We make your lights work,” she says. “That includes keeping the computers running and maintaining the chillers and heating. We call in an electrician—when the problem involves 240 volts—and the master plumbers, and the licensed engineers, and we oversee maintenance and replacement of things like carpeting.” Glenn is emphatic about preventive maintenance, describing

In Melanie’s Own Words

As told to Melaina K. de la Cruz

“Marriott Women’s Advisory Council is a platform for women to share our strengths, aspirations, triumphs, and fears . . . on what it is like to [succeed] in a male-dominated field.

“In the MWAC . . . we encourage, empower, develop, and mentor women from all around the world to become the next leaders in the engineering discipline.

“The advisory is so dear to my heart because when I was coming up through the ranks, I had women leaders that I could talk about everything. Even though they weren’t [all] in the engineering discipline, they were still there.

“There was only one woman director of engineering—in Atlanta—when I got my first leadership role in Marriott. She was my inspiration and to this day, we still stay in contact even though she retired after 28 years.

“Personally, I have asked at least two of my area directors about where the women [in the engineering field] are, and the answer is always the same—they just don’t apply! Well, now you have us to guide you and walk with you step by step on this journey called success in the world of engineering.”

◀ W Hotels Hoboken rests along the water, offering guests a clear view of New York City.

it as both scientific and strategic. That often means she has to roll up her own sleeves to diagnose a problem.

It’s also a job with no small effort given to sustainability. “Everything I do has a green initiative,” she says. “Marriott’s overall goal is to reduce our carbon footprint.” That included a universal replacement of halogen light bulbs with LEDs, which saves the company about $60,000 in energy costs and a commensurate amount in CO2. The hotel has also installed remote-con-

trol thermostats and sensor- and voice-activated light switches; throughout the older Marriott properties, including the Hoboken W Hotel, older windows have been replaced with modern, energy-saving versions. The housekeeping staff has even been trained to reduce unnecessary water use.

Of course, as buildings and building systems modernize, and municipal building codes become more stringent, so too do engineers. Not only has

▶ Melanie Glenn stands proudly on the steps of W Hotel.

Glenn advanced her education and certifications, but also her regional manager tapped her to participate in a quarterly advanced engineering program and to attend sessions with the hotel behemoth’s global vice president of engineering. “It’s mostly corporate people who go to this,” she observes. “I am one of the few hotelbased participants.”

Despite the hurdles it took to get hired in the first place, Glenn is grateful for the advancement opportunities she’s received, with stops along the way at Marriott properties around the world. She says the company values its employees and prioritizes promoting from within.

Countering the industry’s poor record in gender equity, Glenn now leads Marriott’s Women’s Advisory Council, which mentors, trains, and empowers women in the company’s engineering discipline. It fits an ethos she recalls her from childhood: “My grandmother always said, ‘Never give up on your dreams.’” Today, Glenn has her wife of 30 years, her 3 sons, 4 grandchildren, and family cheering her on.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Best of the Bedsheets

ChutePlus LLC worked with Melanie with reference to bringing the linen chute up to code compliance. The company came in and performed a full, detailed video survey of all chute doors and provide a quote to bring all doors up to compliance. ChutePlus LLC returned upon swift approval, making all necessary repairs before submitting the full detailed photo and video documentation once completed. Since then, Melanie has scheduled regular cleaning and inspections to ensure that she is always up to code.

We have a policy to work together as a team. We do work in some of the largest management companies in the world. Our building cleaning servicemen are trained and are constantly going to seminars to learn the latest techniques to ensure that your building/restaurant is as clean as possible.

Jason Speth Photography

By Sara Deeter

Whether he’s sprinting up a mountain trail or navigating the ins and outs of the storage industry, Rod Bolls knows exactly what path he wants to take. As managing principal of Boxwell LLC, the industry-leading supplier of customized, portable storage containers, Bolls spends his days ensuring that his customers and employees alike benefit from the values on which he has built his company.

After graduating from Linfield College with a degree in psychology, Bolls spent four years at the University of Alabama, where he not only completed two master’s degrees but also met a professor who was working on establishing an exchange program in Hong Kong. Bolls traveled to Hong Kong every summer to help his mentor build that program and, after graduation, he moved to Shanghai to teach English at a university level. Soon, though, his interests moved beyond academia.

“I came back to the US to start my own company where I was importing various products,” Bolls says. “I had relationships with a number of manufacturers in China, so I connected to other companies that needed products and served as the go-between.”

A few years later, the start-up went under and Bolls had to reconfigure his plan. “That was masterful failure,” he says jokingly. “I didn’t know enough about cash flow, finances, and capital requirements to run a young business. But I really enjoyed it. I didn’t want to follow a traditional path; I was more interested in creating my own culture and opportunities.”

Just when Bolls thought he had lost everything, his life turned around. “I met my wife at my lowest point,” he recalls. “We’re both pretty active and love running. I remember asking her for breakfast after a run, which was our first date, and she got the check.

“I promised her things would get better, and they did,” he continues. In 2007, Bolls accepted a position as vice president at a portable storage manufacturing company, where he spent the next eight years sharpening his business acumen while growing the business. He learned not only about the operations of a

Jason Speth Phot ography

▼ Boxwell containers can be made for portable storage, complete with clients’ full branding and high quality vinyl logos.

company but also about himself and what he wanted from a business.

“There are certain principles that I live by, like honesty and integrity,” Bolls says. “I never want to be unable to uphold the promises I make to my customers, and I never want to be lied to.”

At Boxwell, Bolls keeps those principles at the forefront of the business. “It doesn’t matter how much

Boxwell works with the customer to provide a fully customized product to meet their needs.

Jason Speth Photography

money you make—your reputation will always be more important,” Bolls says. “We care about our customers— it’s a sort of social services mentality, but in business.”

Bolls makes a point of hiring good people, he says. He wants to employ the kind of people who prompt customers to call and say, “So-and-so is out here—they brought us doughnuts and were here all day waiting for the delivery. We told them to leave, but he insisted on staying.”

“We’re doing that extra thing that shows we care about what we do,” Bolls adds. “And our customers share those principles—we’ve come across customers that were not necessarily aligned with us, but we’re at a point in our business where those customers can go elsewhere. We don’t need or want that kind of business.”

To Bolls, having a good company culture means more than delivering on your promises to customers and partners—it’s about doing everything that you can for your team so that they feel happy and cared for as well.

“A big part of the culture here is about balance,” Bolls says. “I encourage everyone to get outside, be active, and pursue their passions outside of work. If they want to take a half day off work to go fly fishing, that’s great.”

Bolls himself is an avid outdoorsman and can often be found mountain biking, running, or fishing. “I love being in nature and finding a meditative state,” Bolls says. “We can all run 30 minutes or an hour, but when you get to the four- or five-hour mark, it becomes so much more therapeutic. Everything just melts away, and you’re able to focus on the important things.”

Recently, Bolls completed the Leadman races, a series of summer running and biking events in Colorado. Most of the events are 50 or 100 miles, Bolls says, a challenge made all the more grueling by the fact that the races take place in the mountains above Leadville, at elevations of 10,000 feet or more.

“The staff came out to support me, meaning they got to see me suffer,” Bolls laughs. “There’s 1,100 people that sign up for the race, and maybe 350 people finish within the cutoff.”

And that says something, Bolls notes, to everyone watching and cheering him on. “Embrace the challenge,” Bolls says—whether you’re racing in the mountains or building a company that has priorities beyond simply making a profit. “Commit to something and get it done.”

“We’re doing that extra thing that shows we care about what we do. And our customers share those principles.”

Prepared for Anything

As senior director of design and construction at RLJ Lodging Trust, Sean Showers makes sure that his teams are ready to handle everything from mold to hurricanes

By Sara Deeter

Sean Showers Senior Director of Design & Construction

RLJ Lodging Trust

To Sean Showers, life in the hospitality industry is even more thrilling than the life of a spy.

“My brother works in national security and won’t tell me what he does, so I always say he must be a spy,” Showers says, laughing. “But I have such a fun job—there are so many moving parts.”

But as Showers has learned throughout his years in the industry, those moving parts can create chaos if they’re not managed properly. As senior director of design and construction at RLJ Lodging Trust, Showers finds success by balancing the industry’s unpredictability with a commitment to intentional, proactive preparedness.

When Showers first graduated from Emory University with a degree in economics, he had “no inkling” of what it meant to work in the hotel industry. “I was always under the impression that it meant working at the front desk, or as a general manager or housekeeper,” he recalls. But Showers’s eyes were opened at PKF Consulting, where he learned all about how hotels are appraised, purchased, and financed.

The more Showers was exposed to that side of the industry, the more he was intrigued. But one of the highlights of his career, he says, was his tenure at Ashford Hospitality Trust. “My boss at the time, one of the greatest minds from an asset management perspective, actually sent me to work at a hotel for six weeks,” Showers says. Although he had been in the industry for over a decade, this was his first experience actually working inside a hotel.

“I worked the front desk checking in customers, I worked in the housekeeping department cleaning rooms, I worked in the kitchen, I worked with the engineers, and I worked with the sales and marketing team,” he explains.

By the end of the six weeks, “I had so much more respect for everyone working there,” Showers emphasizes. “I had no idea how much work went into making those hotels function the way we expected from an owner perspective; I’m thankful that I had that experience.”

With that on-site hotel experience as a supplement for his expertise in asset management and underwriting, Showers quickly moved through senior roles throughout his career and, in 2017, to his current position at real estate investment trust RLJ Lodging Trust. RLJ prides itself on investing in high-quality, full- and

select-service hotels. As a senior executive in the company, Showers ensures that capital is deployed in a manner that maintains and enhances the quality of all assets by providing capital oversight and guidance to his entire fleet.

And that is no easy task.

“If you have over 100 hotels in your oversight, you can’t just approve capital dollars for them all without doing any research on what’s needed,” Showers points out. “You have to be diligent in terms of what you’re approving and ensuring that those dollars are actually spent.”

Showers and his team of experienced engineers manage the hotel capital budgets for spending, as

“I had no idea how much work went into making those hotels function the way we expected from an owner perspective; I’m thankful that I had that experience.”

well as execute the large building projects geared at protecting the physical assets, like roof replacement and elevator modernizations.

Beyond asset health, Showers says, another key area of spending will always be technology. As he explains, it’s becoming more important for all hotels to offer technological amenities and services, from high-speed internet access to guest entertainment platforms.

“You have to make sure that hotels get that capital they need so they can stay competitive in the market,” Showers advises, “but you also have to make sure hotels have the power and wattage to handle all of that.” But Showers’s task of ensuring quality buildings

Trust in Transparency

Sean Showers knows full well that in any job— including those at RLJ Lodging Trust—there are good days and bad days. “But at the end of the day, it’s a great job, a great company, and a great space,” says the senior director of design and construction. “We have a lot of access to the C-suite executives—they regularly take groups of us out to breakfast and ask us how we’re feeling and what the company could be doing better. That kind of transparency speaks volumes.”

▼ The Hilton Cabana in Miami, Florida, is an art deco-style hotel on 119 feet of beachfront property with direct ocean access. Courtesy

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◀ Hilton Cabana Miami Beach is set within the emerging submarket of South Beach known as “Millionaire’s Row” that is filled with restaurants, entertainment, and nightlife.

goes far beyond the implementation of new technologies and features.

“There’s never a dull day in this world,” says the senior director. “There’s always something different every day—it might be hurricane season and we have to go into action to make sure our hotels are prepared for the disaster. Or we might need to ensure that we’ve prepared our buildings for winter. We have to prepare for the worst.”

During his tenure at RLJ Lodging Trust, Showers has implemented a number of new initiatives and

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procedures to help his teams stay prepared for that worst outcome. Water safety and mold prevention programs are being formalized and rolled out to the fleet. One other initiative is a simple checklist to be performed on a biannual basis designed to identify key focus areas, such as roof and façade, plumbing, testing, and air balance. This is crucial for the safety and well-being of hotel customers and employees alike. It requires hotel teams to check periodically for mold, leaks in the roof, flaws in the plumbing, and much more.

“At the end of the day, we value our assets and make sure we do all that we can to make sure they’re taken care of, not only from an asset health perspective, but also from a shareholder equity perspective,” Showers says.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

Super Screens

Since 2008, Inre Media has proven itself as the leading hospitality systems integrator. It specializes in upgrading in-room entertainment systems in hotels and resorts nationwide. Annually it averages over 50,000 guest room television installations and upgrades.

In 2019, the company installed new satellite systems and upgraded the cable distribution networks for a 500+ nationwide hotel chain, turning an outdated standard definition satellite system into a first-rate high definition system. Inre Media completed this project on schedule and under budget while servicing and maintaining its regular customers’ TV installations and upgrade projects.

The tinted windows in the Atrium Skylight of the Embassy Suites in San Francisco help control temperature and reduce energy costs. Courtesy

Saying ‘Yes’ to Opportunity

Ben Branch, EVP at Codina Partners, believes that opportunity results from a combination of courage and preparation

By Clint Worthington

Ben Branch likes to compare his career trajectory to an LP record: you have to be patient, enjoy the ride, and pick up on the highs when you see them. “I’ve always viewed opportunity as the confluence of courage and preparation,” he says.

In his decades of work in the construction industry, he’s learned the value of not only preparing for new opportunities but also having the nerve to seize them when they come along. As executive vice president of design and construction at Florida-based real estate development, investment, and property management firm Codina Partners, Branch brings that experience and a growth mind-set to his work.

A first-generation immigrant from England, Branch came to the United States as a child in the 1960s with his parents, got a green card, and pursued a drafting and design degree after high school. “This was back in the day when drafting was really drafting,” he explains: “no computers, just pencils, pens, and rulers.” After getting a degree in architectural engineering from Penn State, Branch started working for a general contractor, learning the construction industry from a project management perspective.

A pivotal opportunity for Branch came in 2003, when he took a position managing design and construction services for commercial real estate firm Flagler Development. Branch continued seizing opportunity, eventually advancing to serve as senior VP under the leadership of then-chairman Armando Codina, who helped Branch grow and mature as an executive. He stayed and honed his craft for a decade, until a private equity firm acquired Flagler, and Codina left to form Codina Partners. Branch spent a few years at other firms, but in 2019 he joined the team at Codina Partners to work with his mentor again.

During his years of professional experience, Branch has worked in virtually every aspect of design and construction in the real estate development industry.

Ben Branch EVP of Design & Construction Codina Partners

Builders Without Borders

In addition to his work at Codina Partners, Branch is a board member for the faith-based organization Mission to Haiti (MTH), which focuses on child sponsorship. The children have the opportunity through MTH for education, meals each school day, healthcare, and religious education. For the last seven years, he’s planned trips there; he’s distributed food, painted schoolhouses, worked on other light construction projects, and has even sponsored a child himself.

He’s especially thankful, he says, for the years he spent working for firms like the Haskell Company and Liberty Property Trust, where he learned all facets of the business and picked up a diverse set of experiences.

Branch also credits the influence of strong mentor figures like Codina for his ability to follow his instincts and move through this industry with confidence. “It’s great to see how visionaries like Armando make decisions,” he says. Personally, he says, he’s taken tremendous inspiration from Codina’s strong leadership and admirable vision in his own work at Codina Partners.

He’s faced challenges along the way, of course—but Branch prefers to view setbacks as learning opportunities. That’s key, given the unpredictable nature of the industry: “Construction projects can go sideways in a minute; that’s just the nature of these projects,” he notes. He’s seen capable professionals freeze when something goes wrong, getting lost in the problem without a backup plan. To executives and managers facing a setback, Branch advises getting back to basics, staying focused, and following established protocols.

At Codina Partners, Branch puts these lessons to good use. Currently, a large part of his time is taken

Downtown Doral is 250 acres of neighborhood and nightlife in the Codina portfolio.

up by high-rise multifamily projects and a charter high school in the downtown Doral area, and Beacon Logistics Park, a “high-tech, class-A business environment” for industrial development in South Florida, which is currently set to complete its first building in early 2020.

Sometimes, though, things don’t go as planned— and Branch believes that this is not just a part of life, but also a learning opportunity. “We like movies that have happy endings you can see from a mile away,” notes Branch. “But not every obstacle has a happy ending.” Even so, there are ways to put your best foot forward and power through the problem. “We all stum-

ble,” he points out. “The difference is how we get up and move forward.”

Branch believes that his personal victories are a result of a combination of factors: his own perseverance, having strong mentors like Codina, and an openness to learning from the failures that sometimes result from the complicated nature of the construction industry. From a childhood spent mending fences and learning how to draft the old-fashioned way, Branch’s dedication has led him to his dream job as executive VP for a real estate developer, working with his mentor. It just took courage, preparation, and the willingness to say “yes” to opportunity.

ENGINEERING the FUTURE

Puga and Associates, Inc. is a consulting and engineering firm that has been serving architects and developers in the State of Florida since 1990. We specialize in the electrical, plumbing, and mechanical and life safety design of commercial, residential, and industrial buildings.

Our design projects encompass all types of buildings: commercial lighting | professional o ces | industrial warehouses | hotels | retail stores | churches | restaurants | custom homes | life safety systems.

Puga & Associates, Inc. congratulates Ben Branch for his contributions to Codina Partners!

Puga & Associates, Inc. | Consulting & Engineering Firm | 305.661.7700

“We all stumble. The difference is how we get up and move forward.”

The Fort Lauderdale Tower project and client conference center were completed with the helo of Redline Design Group. Chad Ba umer

From Software to Hard Hat

David Smith once implemented software for banks. Now he builds them as VP of construction project management for Truist, formerly SunTrust Bank

By Anthony Ruth

The first time David Smith worked for SunTrust, he was on the business side. Fifteen years later, he returned as vice president of construction project management, corporate real estate, and workplace. Today, he oversees retail construction project management in the southeast for Truist, the new entity formed from the merger of SunTrust and BB&T—the largest bank merger in the US since 2004.

Smith literally built his way from business to construction work. While working for a software consulting firm, implementing bank software, he and his wife bought a new house with the intention to renovate it, but the project didn’t go as planned.

“It ended up being a piece of junk, so we ended up bulldozing it,” he recalls. Smith, working as the general contractor, built an entirely new house from the ground up.

Smith learned construction at home from his dad. “Nothing got built around our house if we didn’t build it ourselves. He had built his own house, so if there was an addition to be made, we would build it,” he remembers.

Smith’s own home construction was a wake-up call. “After doing that, I thought, I really don’t like software, it’s not my thing, I don’t like computers that much,” he says. “I really enjoyed building that house.”

After this epiphany, Smith enrolled in commercial construction management classes and quickly took a position as a project engineer. He eventually landed at Lincoln Harris, where he became the outsourced provider, building new corporate space as well as building and renovating branches for SunTrust. After several years, he went in-house at SunTrust, working with Lincoln Harris to oversee all of the bank’s renovations, corporate projects, and new builds.

Now that SunTrust has merged with BB&T, the bank’s number of facilities has increased dramatically. In his new role, Smith oversees about 200 projects a year—roughly the same volume he oversaw at SunTrust but focused exclusively on about 1,300 of what are now more than 2,000 retail branches.

David Smith VP of Construction Project Management, Corporate Real Estate & Workplace Truist, formerly SunTrust Bank

Courtesy of SunTrust

“Combining several thousand branches under one banner will be quite exciting,” Smith says. “Everybody has their own way of doing things, so combining those to create a best-of-breed in the way we manage our projects is going to be exciting.”

Smith is also energized by the challenge of updating and rebranding the branches. “We have a tremendous amount of work to merge the two companies into a single brand, and the real estate into a single brand—just the volume we’re going to be dealing with,” he says.

From his years in construction, Smith has seen and learned a lot—including that you can never know it all. “You think you have a pretty good grip on your role, expectations of projects, that you have a good understanding of what you think is going to happen,” he says, but that experience only goes so far. “There’s constantly new challenges, things you never saw coming.”

When things go wrong, Smith prefers not to waste time pointing fingers. “My first instinct has never been to assign blame, but instead to pull everyone together, as a team, to work out a timely resolution to the issue and keep the project moving,” he says, recalling an owner’s representative who said, “We can print more money, but we cannot print more time.”

That isn’t to say that issues won’t be addressed. Smith tries to pinpoint the root of the mistake and also asks himself what he as the leader could have done differently to prevent it. “But I have seen teams spend so much time working to assign responsibility that they lose sight of the end goal and fail to resolve a situation in a timely manner,” he says. “They end up further impacting their budgets and schedules negatively.”

When new challenges arise, Smith often calls on his network of architects, other general contractors, and building owners for advice. “Having people you

“My networking is less for, ‘What’s my next role, what’s my next job?’ It’s more for the knowledge my network brings.”

The New Orlando Tower Client Conference Center includes meeting rooms and centers for breaks and socializing.

goal.”

“I have seen teams spend so much time working to assign responsibility that they lose sight of the end

feel comfortable reaching out to, who are trusted advisors—I think that’s an important part of a network,” he says. “My networking is less for, ‘What’s my next role, what’s my next job?’ It’s more for the knowledge my network brings.”

Smith did benefit professionally from his network early in his career. While he was serving as a project engineer, the superintendent on the project went out of his way to help Smith get promoted. Smith paid it forward years later. “We had a project manager who I thought was exceptional, and I reached out to his leadership and said—because I knew there was a management role coming up—‘This is somebody you

really need to evaluate for that role,’” he says. He also encouraged the candidate, who hadn’t before considered applying. “He’s in that role now, and he’s outstanding,” Smith says.

Smith is happy he made the move to construction. “It’s a great career,” he says. He recommends anyone interested in project management to spend hands-on time in the field, and while there, observe and absorb the experience of others. “There are literally hundreds of years of experience—from the plumbers to the carpenter, electricians, concrete foreman, etc.—from which you can learn, if you are willing to ask the questions and pay attention.”

Smith Currie is proud to work with Truist (formerly SunTrust Bank), and David Smith, an exceptional VP of Construction Project Management, Corporate Real Estate & Workplace.

points of interest

Some of the quirkier takeaways from this issue

Users of Mailchimp are likely familiar with the winking monkey that serves as the company’s icon and appears onscreen when using the platform. Well, he has name: Frederick von Chimpenheimer IV. (p.62)

The beloved football quarterback for the University of Arizona John “Button” Salmon passed away in 1926 but offered the unforgettable last words to his coach Fred “Pop” McKale: “Tell [the team] to bear down.” This message has since been adopted as the university’s official motto and even served as inspiration for Jack Lee’s lyrics that became the UA fight song. (p.10)

Guests who stay at any of the Marriot’s W Hotels locations will notice the letter W has a strong presence in the amenities. The swimming pool (the Wet), the concierge (Whatever/Whenever), valet (Wheels), and front desk (Welcome). It may be a coincidence, but the Spice Girls filmed a music video at Marriott’s St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. The song in question? “Wannabe.” (p.80)

In 2015, Julia Lee raised the point that she was the sole woman on Gusto’s engineering team. This prompted Gusto to focus its efforts on recruiting more women to join the department. The original goal was to reach a target of 18 percent women engineers, but in just six months, it was up to 21 percent! (p.39)

The University of Texas at Austin has fostered a legend that if you come across an “albino squirrel” on your way to an exam, you will receive an A The squirrels themselves are actually white fox squirrels, not albino, but the magic persists nonetheless. (p.16)

Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com (Gusto), Tony Campbell/Shutterstock.com (University of Texas at Austin)

Melanie Glenn, pictured here with her wife Nicole, noted that there’s nothing like the view of New York City from the W Hotel across the Hudson River. (p.80)

Cass Davis

Reliability. Credibility. Compatibility. Accountability.

Ability gets you to the table. But it’s everything else that allows you to stay there.