American Builders Quarterly #79

AMERICAN BUILDERS QUARTERLY

ENDURING ELEGANCE AN

At Bergdorf Goodman, Design Director Mika Raja-Dell’Anno curates immersive experiences that keep the iconic institution synonymous with luxury P32

Employee Owned

EMPLOYEE OWNED

For the Taft Family, employee ownership represents our long standing commitment to the future and success of the company. It allows us to utilize our resources and provide our clients the highest level of service, quality and craftsmanship while understanding that the results of our e orts will be a representation of our pride, passion, hard work and dedication for years to come.

www.taftelectric.com

Make the Moment

For each executive spotlighted in our feature section,the experience within a space is more than just a complement— it’s the payoffPage 8

contents

Sourcing Locally

Becky Holler’s recipe for successful design and development at True Food Kitchen has cultural flavor P87

Designing to Scale

Adam Nelson is the man behind the curtain at Event Network, bringing stories to life for many of the nation’s most prestigious institutions P66

Work Station Imagination Sherry Coughlin takes an eclectic approach to facilities design at pharmacy automation company ScriptPro P78

Tony Ventouris (Tr ue Food Kitchen), Jesse Barrus (Event Network), Alex Buettner (ScriptPro)

Passion Runs

Deep Maria Moye helps curate personalized experiences for runners to enjoy at ASCIS’ stores, incorporating interactive displays and cutting-edge technology P110

Home Comforts

The warm atmosphere Kari Ihle found as a shopper at EVEREVE inspired her to serve as its design director P142

Mathew Scott (ASICS), Corey Gaffer (EVEREVE)

Come Together

Fall is my favorite season, when the world feels like it resets. Damp summer air fades into crisp coolness, we exchange short sleeves for sweaters, and the steady parade of holidays begins. This time feels like the truer New Year to me, partly because of childhood being defined by school, but also because it’s our last opportunity to reflect on what’s happened while simultaneously planning what’s to come.

I’d be remiss not to acknowledge what a strange year 2020 has been. Despite the social distancing measures, there’s been an increase in community outreach and improved communication. This issue is the first ever in our company’s history to be completed remotely. We traded in our markers, sticky notes, and endless stacks of paper for Zoom meetings, marked-up PDFs, and a virtual relay race of completing our changes to the same files. While it posed some challenges, it was also a testament to how well we work as a team no matter the circumstances, and it even allowed our pets to join us for webcam discussions.

It’s fitting that this issue’s theme is about experience, given all the new ones we’ve recently faced. The executives you’ll meet design, plan, and shape spaces with future encounters in mind. Martin Picard (p.27) heads global real estate for Sonder, a company that has rethought the traditional tourist experience of a hotel so that it always feels like home, no matter where you are. Facilities VP Bradley E. Smith (p.10) shares his passion for the unique projects underway at the Pittsburgh Zoo, projects that will not only introduce visitors to animals, but also educate them about conservation efforts and offer some delightful critter facts.

Mika Raja-Dell’Anno (p.32) graces our cover and invites us inside Bergdorf Goodman, the high-end department store that doubles as as a New York City landmark. Not only is Raja-Dell’Anno the director of the store’s planning and design, she’s also its storyteller. Her passion and ideas are reflected through BG’s new bistro, which opened early this year, and she shares how the brand has remained pinned to the maps of followers across the globe.

As we stand on the precipice of 2021 and reflect on this unpredictable past year, I’m encouraged to start crafting a “new normal” and planning experiences of my own. As you read the stories in our final issue of 2020, I hope you’re just as inspired.

Melaina K. de la Cruz Managing Editor

Built to

Last

Six executives across different industries design memories before they’re made

Bringing theTop of the World to Ground Level

Bradley

By KC Esper

E. Smith details how the new Top of theWorld exhibit educates patrons while providing an unforgettable experience at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

“I’m like a moth to a light when it comes to unique projects,” says Bradley E. Smith, vice president of facilities, construction, and design for the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The simile makes sense: Smith has always been someone ready to take on complex projects, whether that’s building cars from scratch or building exhibits for leopards and giraffes. And at the Pittsburgh Zoo, Smith is able to let that passion take flight as he helps design and construct its

always-evolving landscape—one that mimics the evolution of nature itself.

Growing up in the countryside of Pennsylvania, Smith always considered working with his hands a hobby. “There was no guy to call—you were that guy,” he remembers. And that work ethic stayed with him for the rest of his life, gifting him with a knack for woodworking in high school, guiding him to apply for a handyman job at a gas station at the age of 15 (even if that meant lying about his age), and encouraging him to break from the family tradition and attend college at Point Park University.

Each hands-on experience that Smith acquired during his adolescent and young adult years informed the rest of his career, as did the mentors he encountered who encouraged him to get where he is today, starting as an architectural designer for JCPenney and working his way up to president of BSmith Consulting Inc.

“I had a blue-collar home life and a white-collar professional life,” he says. “I’ve been able to successfully meld those two things together: I can work with contractors and I can work with architects; I can wear a tuxedo, or I can wear biker clothes. I’ve had the right people in my life pushing me in the right direction.”

These attributes come in handy in Smith’s current role as he oversees planning and execution of everything built across the zoo’s 77-acre campus. His latest undertaking, the Top of the World exhibit, is as much an interactive experience as it is an informative one, featuring immersive displays of oceans, mountains, and rain forests that showcase endangered and threatened species in their respective environments.

The project, which began in 2014, has been unfolding in four different phases, each of which will create a new simulated landscape that immerses patrons in the habitats of native creatures. Currently, the zoo offers several opportunities for visitors to interact with “ambassador animals,” who are trained and comfortable being up close and personal with guests.

People can have personal encounters with cheetahs and giant anteaters, and on weekends with perfect temperatures, the zoo even uses snow machines to create a trail for penguins to parade in front of visitors’ eyes. The goal of these exhibits, Smith explains, is to give the zoo’s patrons something to remember once

The Top of the World’s live exhibits bring awareness of endangered species and conservation efforts.

Did You Know?

• One otter at the zoo costs about $35,000 a year to feed. Why? They eat high-quality seafood for every meal of the day.

• Endangered and threatened species make up a whopping 95 percent of zoo residents. Hosting them protects from poaching or habitat destruction in their native lands.

• The clouded leopard is a direct descendant of the saber-toothed tiger. It can walk vertically down trees because it can rotate its paws.

• The male giraffe at the zoo is named Louis. He remembers people who feed him treats and will come to greet you if you are lucky enough to be his friend.

they leave, and to encourage them to be mindful of how they interact with the environment.

“To me, it’s all about impacting and educating,” Smith says. “Providing a guest experience that leaves with them and hopefully makes a change in their lives. Creating a connection between guests and endangered species makes the experience more personal and provides a greater opportunity for buy-in to make a difference themselves.”

Phase three of the Top of the World project—an exhibit devoted to educating about conservation and research—is currently underway. “We are moving about 18,000 yards of earth, importing about 3,000 yards of topsoil, planting over 650 trees and shrubs, implementing water conversation measures, and building the first green wall of its kind in this area,” Smith explains. The finished green wall will be 350 feet long and about 14 feet tall, built with the help of FlexMSE, a vegetative utility wall infrastructure.

The zoo’s conservation efforts don’t stop there, however. Smith explains that everyone on the zoo’s

Bradley E. Smith VP of Facilities, Construction & Design Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

Paul A. Selvaggio/Pittsburgh Zoo

campus, from President and CEO Dr. Barbara Baker to the maintenance staff and contractors that Smith oversees every day, is conscious of the organization’s impact on the environment. Buildings are renovated and repurposed every 20 years or so, rainwater is collected and recycled to nourish the plants around campus, trees are planted on top of buildings to reduce the carbon footprint, and the 1.2 million gallons of exhibit water that the zoo houses is recirculated, treated, and cleaned.

Smith says that every day is something new, switching from planning the renovation of new exhibits at the zoo to assisting in the transport of animals to other wildlife facilities. His job is always interesting, but when he can see his efforts in action is when he remembers it’s worth it.

“It’s difficult to explain, but it makes sense when you see it,” he says. “When you see a visitor’s reaction to a clouded leopard leaping about or to a giant anteater taking a bath; when you see the guests with looks of surprise, laughter, and enjoyment, it all makes sense—and you know you made the right decisions.”

offer portable welding services, a plasma cutting system, and press capabilities. Our welders possess over 175 years of combined experience, and our owners possess over 60 years of combined management and welding experience.

“To me,it’s all about impacting and educating.Providing a guest experience that leaves with them and hopefully makes a change in their lives.”

No Gambling on Green

Dana Ham has helped see through sustainable initiatives at a casinomultibillion-dollar and resort

By Billy Yost

Dana Ham’s impressive résumé—which includes overseeing facilities of the “largest private single-phase construction project in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts” and being part of a $2.6 billion project with 2,000 construction workers onsite doing $2.5 million in construction every day—stems from a decision made in middle school that he says forever impacted his life.

“I decided that I wanted to attend Minuteman Regional Vocational School,” the now vice president of facilities at the casino and resort Encore Boston Harbor says. “That was not the normal path for the people who are in my position now, but I wanted to go a different route.”

That route would include becoming a certified welder for five years out of trade school before taking a 17-year detour as a

Massachusetts police detective, running crisis response efforts, implementing IT projects, and acting as a DARE and school resource officer, all the while building spec houses and doing construction on the side. Ham then evolved into facilities work, initially so he could spend more time with his growing children and maintain a regular schedule with his family. After a few successively larger Massachusetts

The South Lawn is a 21,000-square-foot event space that often hosts concerts and weddings.

Roger Davies

public school facilities roles, Ham made the jump to Encore in 2015 and promptly became entrenched in the 33-acre remediation and construction project taken on by Wynn Resorts.

The Fixer Upper

The $35 million parcel of land Wynn Resorts purchased in Everett, Massachusetts, wasn’t without what would constitute several thousand truckloads of issues. The former landowners, which included Monsanto and other chemical companies, had done a number on the environmental integrity of the site. “The $68-million remediation removed over 840,000 tons of soil—that’s enough to entirely fill Fenway Park,” Ham says. “We dredged seven acres of the Mystic River and removed 41,000 tons of sediment, capping it with 30,000 tons of clean fill. This was completely funded by Wynn.”

The $14 million Harbor Walk that was built onsite includes a massive event lawn right on the Mystic River. “We have added boat docks and installed a living shoreline,” the VP says. “This is an area that hasn’t been accessible to Everett residents in over a century. The change that this has made is huge.”

Aim for Gold, Wind Up with Platinum

The environmental considerations taken on by the resort and casino aren’t just impressive by Massachusetts standards; they might be one of the most sweeping sets of standards enacted for a construction project, period. “We were aiming for LEED Gold certification, but we wound up being awarded LEED Platinum,” Ham says.

That starts with the power at Encore. Three megawatts of cogeneration, one megawatt of solar, and four megawatts of battery backup for peak shaving, keep the casino up and running. The battery install itself was the largest on the owner’s side

of any meter in the area. Encore is also reclaiming its rainwater for outside irrigation, and the structure features a green roof.

“Milton CAT was a very good partner for us in implementing all of these systems,” Ham says. “Mark Schow, our engineer of record, was also instrumental in getting these systems to do what we needed them to do.”

Schow is the principal mechanical engineer at Elevated Designs Inc. and designed the energy efficiency measures that were incorporated into Encore’s project. “I’m particularly proud of the cogeneration system,” Schow adds, “which generates onsite electricity and recovers the heat for heating and cooling the building. This was a major contributor to the building achieving LEED Platinum.”

“Automated Logic was also brought on as a partner to guide us through the integration of these major systems,” Ham notes. “We’re incredibly lucky to have collaborated with them on this project.”

Unrivaled Partnership

“Construction and facilities are two entirely different animals,” Ham says, but notes that despite the quick turnaround needed to execute the massive project, the facilities

team was “still able to work hand-in-hand with the construction team to get them to think operationally” with help from the director of construction, Peter Campot. The teams still took time to talk through potential issues that would oftentimes be left to the facilities team to handle after construction was completed.

“This is probably one of the most talented construction teams I’ve ever seen,” Ham says. “Suffolk Construction should be recognized for just how well they were willing to look at the bigger picture here.”

The funny thing is, a landmark project in the billions isn’t really any sort of end point for Ham. “Where else can you have a $2.6 billion project finish and you move right into your CAPX projects?” Ham asks. “Our customers are everything, and so we listen when they want us to try something different. It’s never going to stop.”

While Ham loves spending his free time tuna fishing with his two sons, both now in the construction industry as a union electrician and project manager respectively, the VP of facilities says the sheer number of individual projects makes every day a challenge that he looks forward to. “I’ve been fortunate to build a team of such highperforming individuals. We have fun here and we get the job done.”

Roger Davies

Dana Ham VP of Facilities

Encore Boston Harbor

Five-Star Innovation

Automated Logic has focused on one objective: to develop innovative, intelligent building automation systems that advance operational freedom, flexibility, and ease of use. All of its hardware and software products contribute to an intelligent building ecosystem—buildings that are designed to maximize occupant comfort, while ensuring energy savings.

The WebCTRL® Building Automation System enabled the building operators at Encore Boston Harbor to make this 51 percent more efficient than the baseline building. Encore Boston Harbor earned the maximum of 19 LEED points making a Certified LEED Platinum building, the highest rating of sustainability.

To keep up with the extraordinary pace of construction for this project, ALC had a dedicated team of operational, technical, and project management professionals who worked directly with Suffolk Construction and other contractors to deliver the

project. An intuitive web portal feeds KPIs via online dashboards, providing a complete picture of system health in realtime. Proactive maintenance strategies can then be deployed, helping to improve performance and extend system life.

As part of the IntelliVisor suite, the WebCTRL® Health Monitoring application will continue to provide insight to health of Building Automation System and associated controllers for Encore Boston Harbor resort.

Highlights

• 1,000+ ALC Controllers

• 18,000+ points

• 33,800 trended values

• 3 Billion+ trend samples and counting used for energy monitoring and analytics

• Natural Gas metering and billing for 13 kitchens

• Monitoring and control of 57 points for ground water remediation and containment

IMAGES BY BARBARA KRAFT

Juliana Strieff VP of Design & Construction Blaze Pizza

Courtesy of Blaze Pizza

Craving an Experience

Juliana Strieff describes how the evolving food industry has helped—not hurt—Blaze Pizza as the brand keeps itself relevant and recognizable

By Melaina K. de la Cruz

Nearly every day, there’s a new article about another industry that millennials are killing. Traditional brick-and-mortar retail, for instance. Hotels. Napkins. Casual dining. Anything that’s been around for decades has been added to the watchlist. But Juliana Strieff, vice president of design and construction for Blaze Pizza, disagrees.

“Millennials aren’t killing the restaurant industry. They’re making it.” Strieff looks at the growing statistics of customers opting for takeout or delivery as an opportunity rather than a discouraging reality. The experience of sitting down rather than ordering carryout is now a novelty. “When people go out to restaurants, they’re going to have higher expectations,” she says. “You go in for the community. We’re selling a night out; we’re selling entertainment. We’re social creatures at the end of the day. We want to come together and share a meal.”

According to mobile ordering company LevelUp, 67 percent of people who order online are more likely to visit the restaurant in person. “It’s not an either-or scenario; it’s both,” Strieff explains. “We can’t take our focus off of making these really interesting, unique settings and places for people to come together and enjoy themselves—because that’s never going to change.

“Millennials are keeping everyone honest and on their game,” she adds. “It’s the best thing that could have ever happened.”

Blaze Pizza doesn’t shy away from change. The company itself is a pioneer of pizza innovation. Even its executive chef, Bradford Kent, is nicknamed “The Pizza Whisperer,” and LeBron James serves as one of its earliest investors.

Unlike big name brands Domino’s or Pizza Hut, Blaze offers flat-rate customizable pizzas built by the customers themselves through an assembly line similar to Chipotle’s. These 11-inch personal pies are then fired in the oven before customers’ eyes in just 180 seconds,

making it a fast-casual chain of choice for patrons who want quality on their own time.

As Strieff leads the brand’s refresh, she notes that it’s important to the company to evolve the menu and offerings while keeping the spaces themselves true to the original atmosphere. “These new designs are meant to be members of the same family, not previously recognizable but familiar,” the VP explains, noting that the original designer who established the “brand’s DNA” still works with the company to maintain and evolve it. “We’ve shifted the mind-set of being a really small brand to being national.”

Blaze opened its first restaurant in 2012 and now has more than 300 locations worldwide. Creating a design template for a restaurant with that many locations is very different from one that hovers around 100, Strieff

The Disney Spring location features long communal tables to accommodate large families gathering together on vacation.

Blaze Pizza’s location in Walt Disney World’s Disney Spring allows theme park visitors an escape from the Florida heat. They can enjoy personal pizzas either in the air conditioning or outdoor shade.

As Blaze Pizza rolls out its newest designs, it’s preparing to open up a new location in the Dubai Mall located in the United Arab Emirates.

Courtesy of Blaze Pizza

says. Working with a smaller number of restaurants allows the designer and architect the luxury to continually evolve the brand presence, whereas there is far less control when there are hundreds of locations under one’s purview.

“I wouldn’t say you need to be much more prescriptive, but you really have to think about what’s significant and what isn’t significant,” the VP says. “We need to consider what can keep the image durable. And when I say durable, I’m not speaking only of keeping the furniture but also of having an image that’s not trendy, not something you’ll want to put on Instagram and then in two weeks [get sick of].”

Small details—like the material of the seating— are what matters. “Laminated plywood will chip at the edges and you need to think about that,” Strieff notes. “How does that impact the profit and loss of the company?” It’s these types of considerations that the VP’s team needs to keep in mind, especially when keeping up with a company that’s expanding so rapidly.

Luckily for Strieff, strategic thinking is a skill she refined during her college years. She graduated from Illinois State University with a fine arts degree, then received a master’s in architecture from North Carolina State University, and credits the experience of these studies as one of her best assets. “This background is a foundation for a lot of things I’ve done,” she explains. “Going

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

WHEN EXPERTS COME TOGETHER

JBI Interiors prides itself on forming long-term partnerships with its customers and supply base, enabling a thought partnership to develop honest sharing of broad industry expertise. Juliana Strieff experienced these commitments firsthand as she selected JBI Interiors as a partner in the development and refinement of the Blaze Pizza asset prototype. As a vertically integrated group, JBI Interiors leveraged industry-leading design, engineering, and manufacturing expertise to rapidly develop seating and decor for their new prototype, balancing price, quality, and application for durability, easier install, and high-volume operations.

to art school teaches you to not give up on things, too, because if you’re making something new, it’s creativity and art and design. It’s all about innovation.

“When you make art, it’s really just a personal interpretation of whatever experience is happening, something that you want to say to the world,” Strieff continues. “You have to learn before you make anything to see and understand the world. And that, I think, is probably the most significant thing for me, because it has helped me to be a much better problem-solver for architectural design problems, personnel, and leadership issues.”

Earlier in her career, Strieff applied this line of thinking on projects with JBI Interiors. “Working with Juliana is always a pleasure,” says Andy Braddy, the executive vice president of sales and business development for the company. “Her highly collaborative process of

“We can’t take our focus off of making these really interesting, unique settings and places for people to come together and enjoy themselves— because that’s never going to change.”

design and development ties well into the culture at JBI. Juliana empowers JBI to utilize our expertise and thought partnership to codevelop innovative and functional interior spaces.”

This experience has allowed the VP to approach the ever-changing industry dynamically through her work at Blaze. To accommodate the younger market, Blaze has rolled out an app and reward system to uphold convenience while also giving people what they truly want, which the VP affirms is “really good food.”

“Blaze has a very entrepreneurial spirit that permeates the company, and it’s very scrappy despite its size,” Strieff says. “We’re not a little company anymore, but it’s not a bad thing. We’ve got the enthusiasm of a start-up and the scope of a contender.”

Proluxe is dominating the popular pizza industry along with manufacturing the fastest growing stone hearth oven brand in the US. Proluxe’s innovative in-house engineering and product development team is designing a new highperformance stone hearth pizza oven. It’s equipped with a lower dome sitting at 16 inches and a brick deck embedded with an electric heating system. This oven powerfully radiates heat for more efficient cooking and beautifully baked pizzas.

Hippos,Heritage,and the Next20Years

It’s unlikely that you’ll often encounter construction plans with a premise to find a home for a retired baseball mascot. But that’s exactly how the world-renowned Memphis Zoo came to be.

Colonel Robert Galloway began petitioning for funds in 1904 to build a home for Natch, a massive Southern black bear—confusingly, the mascot for a team whose name was the Turtles—chained to a tree in Memphis’s Overton Park and being

By Billy Yost

taken care of by city residents. Natch was soon joined by a handful of other nonregional wildlife, and the Memphis Zoo was established in 1906.

Since then, the zoo has gained recognition for impressive residents, such as the world’s longest-living hippo Adonis, who reached the age of 54 and fathered approximately 25 offspring in his lifetime.

In 2016, 100 years after the completion of two small pools cut out of concrete, the

4-acre Zambezi River Hippo Camp was opened to the public and hippos alike. The exponentially upgraded facility contains a 200,000-square-foot pool for the hippos with state-of-the-art filtration and life support systems. It was the final accomplishment of the previous zoo master plan that had been developed back in the ’80s.

Over the past 114 years, the Memphis Zoo has repeatedly been identified by publications like US News & World Report

Leah Jensen is helping map the next great innovations for animals and visitors alike at the Memphis Zoo

Brandall Atkinson

Leah Off the Clock

Leah Jensen’s passion for both people and animals isn’t just evident in her nine-to-five. She acts as a mentor for tnAchieves, which provides support and advice for incoming college freshmen who are often the first ones in their families to pursue higher education. Jensen has also served on a variety of nonprofit boards and is a threetime participant in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, a 60-mile walk to raise money and awareness for breast cancer, a personal and enduring cause for the COO.

and USA Today as one of the finest institutions of its kind. Since then, its animals and visitors alike have inspired it to find even more ways to innovate.

Stakeholders of All Species

Development and implementation of the next master plan will fall partially on the shoulders of Chief Operations Officer Leah Jensen, who has been promoted repeatedly since joining the team in 2017. Prior to her arrival at the zoo, Jensen gained HR and operations experience all over the map, from healthcare to retail—and now hippos.

“Motivating people and helping them recognize what they do matters has always been my passion,” Jensen says. The zoo has offered an even more vital

opportunity for the COO, as it works to educate guests about conservation and preservation of the wildlife. “I’m just so fortunate to be connected to a mission that is so impactful; it’s one I really connect and identify with.”

That’s because in everything Jensen does, from implementing operational initiatives to the successful completion of special events at the zoo, she says that the well-being of the zoo’s animals is what comes first, always.

“This role has required a significant amount of learning, because even from an operational mindset, you have to be thinking about shifting elephants and rhinos around when you’re doing repair work or consider the noise level when you’re thinking about the events that we throw,” she says. “We have an unbelievable animal care team that I believe is world-class, and they do a great job of educating our team about the best way to move forward.”

A New Master Plan

Animals aren’t the only unique challenge to Jensen’s role. The 76-acre zoo is landlocked in the middle of Midtown Memphis and is just one of many residents of Overton Park. “We have a very unique partnership with the city of Memphis because we’re on cityowned land but are privately managed by the Memphis Zoological Society,” Jensen explains. “While it’s always been vital for me to cultivate relationships, there are now taxpayer funds, city-provided technicians, and the reality that when you’re talking about animal welfare, sometimes you need a solution right now and don’t have time to go through the proper channels. It’s very important that we build those relationships and are incredibly transparent and honest in our communication with the city, our neighbors, and all the stakeholders involved.”

Teton Trek brings authentic features of Yellowstone National Park to the Memphis Zoo.

The unique history of the zoo also offers its own share of obstacles to overcome. “Our last 20-Year Plan brought us so many unbelievable exhibits,” Jensen says. “But there are also portions of the zoo whose building dates back to the early 1900s. That can create its own maintenance nightmares,” she adds, laughing.

That includes a barn the zoo acquired from the Memphis Police Department in 1923 that used to serve as the base of operations for the Memphis Mounted Police Force. “Our story and how we came to be in Overton Park is so important, and we certainly don’t want to knock down everything we see as vintage or old,” Jensen says. “We have to continue to find a way to incorporate those pieces and preserve the rich heritage that we have.”

None of those challenges seem to rattle Jensen. “There’s no other way to say it. This job is pretty incredible.”

Specialty Contractor & Construction Management Firm

As a company, our focus is on plant & industrial responsibility. We are constantly improving our productivity through ongoing training, education and certification for our employees. We use both long-established methods and state-of-the art technologies.

1-901-213-9020

Leah Jensen COO

Memphis Zoo

The Space Between Home and Hotel

Martin Picard has evolved Sonder to become a four-star staycation getaway

By Billy Yost

Sonder guests are treated to a modern layout with vintage touches in a San Diego rental.

What do Jeff Bezos, Alex Rodriguez, and Elon Musk have in common?

They’ve all invested in Sonder, the tech-enabled apartment and hotel company, building on the Airbnb model but providing a more luxurious experience for its jet-setting clientele. From subletting student apartments to going toe-to-toe with the biggest names in hospitality, the Sonder story is one of massive growth, but with the foresight to not bite off more than it can chew.

The Montreal-born company made its leap to San Francisco in 2016, and almost all of the full-time staff chose to move as well; that’s the belief in Sonder. The market seems to agree: the company reached the “unicorn” one-billion-dollar evaluation last year.

Martin Picard, global head of real estate and cofounder at Sonder, says the last two years have been especially transformative as the company moves away from its community-model roots toward being a disruptor in the hotel and hospitality industry.

“After coming to San Francisco, we were able to start looking at partnerships with some of our bigger landlords,” Picard says. “During that time, we began shifting our business away from one-to-five-unit deals

to getting full floors and, in some cases, entire buildings. It’s a model that much more resembles a hotel.”

The Best of Home and Hotels

But it’s not exactly fair to call Sonder a hotel brand either, as the features driving the guest experience aren’t exactly commonplace. “Through technology, we are able to create a different experience when it comes to what you might find in a small hotel,” Picard explains. “Through our mobile app, our access to tech,

Martin Picard Cofounder and Global Head of Real Estate Sonder

“Through technology, we are able to create a different experience when it comes to what you might find in a small hotel.”

Courtesy of Sonder

Sonder’s brand of “spaces designed for living” often incorporates a minimalist and inspiring environment.

and partnerships we build in the cities we operate, we’re able to offer amenities and a level of service that is much closer to a four-star hotel.”

Picard says that mundane hotel hassles, like requesting more towels, is bypassed via the Sonder app, which will provide the guest a code to a cubby where they are able to grab extra towels as soon as they need them. Connecting to Wi-Fi and requesting delayed checkouts are just a few of the other features available in the app, and more benefits like ordering

groceries for long-term stays and a litany of others are in the pipeline. Sonder has found a way to put the hotel lobby in the guest’s phone, available at any time and for virtually any reason.

Moving into hotels has been good business for Sonder. “We’re now in a really good position that went from a small subset of test cases to about 40 to 45 percent of the properties we’re now leasing,” says the cofounder. “The type of hotel we’re going after is also evolving. In January, we closed on a 12-key hotel

in San Diego, but [shortly thereafter] won a 165-key bid against all of the main contenders in the space.”

Growth for Guest’s Sake

The head of real estate says that Sonder is adding between five and ten new markets every year, and while it may seem slow, it’s the smart move. “We obviously don’t want to expand too rapidly until we have some proof points that are validated,” Picard says. “The first year in a new market we tend to move slower, and then really hit the gas after that.” Sonder has put the pedal to the metal in New York City, where they have more than 1,000 apartment or hotel units.

Sonder’s massive growth also can’t come at the expense of bypassing important relationship-building. “The most impactful relationships that we have is on the developer side of the business,” Picard says. “We have to make sure we’re tightly integrated, so that we’re first on their minds when they’re looking at new properties and we can collaborate on how to provide the absolute best guest experience possible.”

When asked what he has been able to bring to Sonder, Picard explains, “I think it can be hard to find

“Through our mobile app,our access to tech, and partnerships we build in the cities we operate,we’re able to offer amenities and a level of service that is much closer to a four-star hotel.”

Sonder has locations worldwide, including neighborhoods throughout Rome.

Courtesy of Sonder

people on both the hospitality and real estate side that are creative but maintain a finance mind-set. How can we keep the consumer in mind all along the journey? I think that’s something that hotels have maybe lost over the years, and I think I’m able to make sure that we are growing fast while still keeping a high bar when it comes to financial discipline and putting the guest experience first.”

As Sonder continues to delve into new markets, develop new technology to continue to make a guest’s stay as seamless as possible, and reinvent itself over and over again, there’s one thing that is abundantly clear. It’s not about growth at all costs at Sonder—it’s the guests who make these places, even temporarily, home.

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Mika RajaDell’Anno

Director of Store Design & Planning

Bergdorf Goodman

Indulgence by Design

Director of Store Design and Planning

Mika

Raja-Dell’Anno on how

Bergdorf

Goodman’s brand story shapes the new experiences the store has to offer

By Melaina K. de la Cruz Portraits by Aundre Larrow

Step onto the marble floors of Bergdorf Goodman Women’s Store on Fifth Avenue and you’ll be greeted by twinkling chandeliers, designer handbags, stunning jewelry displayed in glass cases, and a serene color palette of ivory, soft pearl greys, and brass. Across the street is the Men’s Store, which boasts a library of curated shoes along a wall of gridded walnut paneling and upholstery in shades of green velvet and leather.

The Bergdorf brand is the quintessential mecca of luxury and high-end Manhattan culture, catering to the store’s well-traveled shoppers, who pass through the doors in droves. Overseeing the landmark retailer seems a daunting task, as it spans 140,000 square feet across 10 floors with design and displays that must be both fresh and familiar.

Mika Raja-Dell’Anno, however, finds the rapid pace invigorating. Moving from Mumbai to Los Angeles in pursuit of her architecture degree, she discovered an affinity for retail and yearned for the busy metropolitan energy that she’d grown up around. This desire sent her to New York City after graduation and straight into the proverbial arms of Bergdorf Goodman, which itself is housed in the retail epicenter of Midtown Manhattan.

“I love New York,” says Raja-Dell’Anno, who is now Bergdorf’s director of store design and planning. “I love the pace of retail design and construction, and the idea of telling the story of a brand, creating a home for the customer and evolving that aesthetic as the brand grows.

“What’s unique about Bergdorf,” she continues, “is that it gives me the chance to tell the brand story in many different ways because each floor has its own design vocabulary, a unique point of view.”

The Jewlery Salon includes many handcrafted pieces that are exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman and its shoppers.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT MORE THAN MAKEUP

O’Kane Enterprises Ltd. helped Bergdorf Goodman reimagine an existing space by creating a café in the new “Beauty Lab” for customers to pause and recharge.

The design and finishes are harmonious with the ivory, neutral color palette of this floor and the details lean toward art deco. The company also wanted to highlight its brand-new collaboration with farm-to-table coffee brand Devoción. During visits to Devoción flagships, Bergdorf Goodman learned that a live element is important to Devoción’s brand ethos, so it designed and installed a sculptural metal fretwork with succulents as a frieze above the coffee bar as a nod to this collaboration.

Supporting the launch of innovative, clean beauty brands at Bergdorf Goodman, the company combined multiple existing spaces to create one new open beauty lab for these emerging brands.

Dine among Design

Bergdorf has a habit of listening to employee and customer feedback, then delivering something that exceeds expectations. The highly anticipated Goodman’s Bar opened its doors in January 2020, replacing the vendor shop that had long ago replaced a once beloved café. “It’s always been on our radar to build some sort of replacement for the café, but we wanted to do it the right way,” Raja-Dell’Anno explains. “We wanted to do it differently than before.”

Indeed, Goodman’s Bar serves more than just espresso or martinis. It’s a full-service restaurant located on the second floor of the Men’s Store, featuring a menu created by Michelin-starred Chef Austin Johnson and a wine and cocktail list curated by Master Sommelier Dustin Wilson.

Jeenah Moon

The Goodman Bar features a curated collection of European architectural elements found in cafés.

Raja-Dell’Anno describes the space itself as “rooted in art-deco style” with elements inspired by international influences, and European cafés. “There’s Italian-inspired broken pattern marble,” the director describes. “There are caramel leather and cane banquettes that are reminiscent of Viennese coffee shops.”

True to its home, these touches are still undoubtedly New York. The focal wall is lined with a mural inspired by Central Park, which Raja-Dell’Anno refers to as Bergdorf’s backyard. The director designed this mural with hand-painted wallpaper expert De Gournay, giving the restaurant an open, expansive feel in a unique way.

When it comes to installing an entire restaurant into the middle of an existing retail space, the director says, “It was not challenging as much as it was refreshing to design an experience rather than an envelope because in traditional retail, we always design the shell.”

“[Goodman’s Bar] gave us an opportunity to explore a different level of design detail in everything because now the customers are interacting with the furnishings.”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

ZONING IN THE HEART OF NEW YORK CITY

Metropolis Group, Inc, would like to congratulate Mika Raja-Dell’Anno and Bergdorf Goodman for their feature in American Builders Quarterly. Metropolis Group has worked with Bergdorf Goodman on the 754 Fifth Avenue location since 2004, managing filings and renovations throughout the whole building, all while navigating its landmarked status. Metropolis Group is made of the top code and zoning consultant experts in the city of New York and beyond. For over 30 years, the company has been highly beneficial for anyone who owns a building or intends to build one by providing filings and approvals, expediting and sign-offs, and violations resolutions.

The product itself usually remains the star of the show, but not in this case. “It gave us an opportunity to explore a different level of design detail in everything because now the customers are interacting with the furnishings,” Raja-Dell’Anno says. “What do the tabletops feel like? What is the experience when they’re seated at the bar? What makes them comfortable, even if it’s as simple as integrating a USB charger under the bar? Those things are important to people, and they’re often overlooked.”

Not anymore.

Stop and Smell the Coffee

Customers who are famished but only have a New York minute can visit the coffee bar on the Beauty Level in the Women’s Store, a partnership between Bergdorf and specialty coffee brand Devoción, one of the only farm-to-table coffee roasters in the world.

No stranger to the urban atmosphere, Mika RajaDell’Anno was attracted to NYC’s fast pace.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

A ROUND FOR THE TEAM

Bergdorf Goodman hired Setex Inc. to participate in the build-out of a new bar in the Goodman’s Men’s Store, in cooperation with the Sweet Construction Group, Adam Golinczak Design, and Bergdorf’s own Mika RajaDell’Anno. Mika played a key role from the beginning of this project in selecting materials, colors, and all little details which had a huge impact on a final result. Her decisions were always quick, firm, and professional, all of which contributed to the success of completing the project on a short schedule. Setex Inc. is proud to have been a partner in the development of the bar.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

SWEET ENOUGH TO EAT

Sweet Construction salutes Mika Raja-Dell’Anno for her continued success as director of store design and store planning at Bergdorf Goodman. Sweet has been privileged to work with Mika for nearly ten years at this iconic New York City store.

Mika’s design excellence is once again featured with the turnover of Goodman’s Bar in Bergdorf’s Men’s store. Sweet has partnered with Mika and her staff to build this classic looking bar and restaurant for Bergdorf.

For over 100 years Sweet Construction has prided itself on building for premier clients in New York City. We are delighted to add another one of Mika’s classics to our résumé.

“We met with the owner and founder of Devoción [Steve Sutton] to understand a little more about their business and aesthetic,” Raja-Dell’Anno says. “We learned it’s very important to them to have a live element in all of their flagships.” The director’s solution was to incorporate a 6-foot-by-26-foot frieze that merges Bergdorf’s classic art deco style with a live installation of succulents along sculptural brass fretwork.

Much like every detail one can find in the store, the café placement is the most intentional part of all. As the coffee bar sits beside the fragrance section, it’s meant as a relief to the “olfactory fatigue” that sampling an array of perfumes can bring on a customer. “We thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to put the coffee bar in our fragrance hall,” Raja-Dell’Anno says. “It helps reset your palate and reenergizes you to keep going.”

Each chapter of the Bergdorf brand story offers the director an opportunity to try something different, to see the entire evolution of a project from start to finish. “When you’re talking about retail, Bergdorf is the pinnacle of luxury and style,” Raja-Dell’Anno says. “And to be able to shape a New York City landmark each day is truly a dream come true.”

“What’s unique about Bergdorf is that . . . each floor has its own design vocabulary,a unique point of view.”

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

Cultural Shapeshifter

Stephen Vedral transformed a department fraught with challenges into a well-oiled machine at Northern Arizona University

By Peter Fabris

When Stephen Vedral took over responsibility for maintenance and custodial functions as Northern Arizona University (NAU)’s associate vice president of facility services, he faced formidable challenges. The level of absenteeism was problematic. There was a shortage of trade shops. Morale was low. There were gaps in longterm maintenance and planning. He realized that operations had opportunities for improvement.

While better use of scheduling and planning tools along with revamping organizational procedures would help, the problems seemed to stem from weak leadership, lack of clear processes, and a need for cultural change. Remedying these problems was a tall order for Vedral and his team. Joining Northern Arizona in 2018, Vedral had experience in the Arizona state university

system with the flagship Arizona State University in Tempe, but he was an outsider in Flagstaff.

He knew significant changes were necessary, but if he approached the task in a heavy-handed and excessively top-down manner, it could backfire. Vedral had to alter the organization quickly, but with a deft touch.

Dr. Daniel Okoli, the school’s VP of capital planning and campus operations had already begun to open lines of communication, a measure that Vedral continued once he joined the team. The new associate VP asked open-ended questions during early meetings with supervisors of operational groups, trying to get his charges to think about the big picture. For example, “What does success look like?” and “What does quality service mean?” Such basic questions spurred

reactions from all participants and began to open minds to change. “You get better results when everybody participates,” Vedral says. This set the stage for organizational buy-in for new approaches.

Vedral also framed the challenges. For instance, while a reasonable argument might be made for more money for maintenance and cleaning, the prospects for bigger budgets were dim at best. The reality was that the department had to find ways to improve the quality of its work within tight budgets. “We need to do things more efficiently, and that’s not because you’re not working hard,” he told staff.

One of the leadership team’s first initiatives was to continue work started by Dr. Okoli on budgeting, estimating, and productivity. This cohort had little

▲ Northern Arizona University's recruiting lounge provides a scenic outdoor view.

training on how to stick to a budget. Vedral’s team led weekly coaching sessions on this and other topics. For the custodial group, these sessions included how to address a rampant absentee problem. Workers would go on vacation at the last minute. Some would just fail to show up for work without reason. Those conditions had to change.

Vedral emphasized the need for accountability, which ultimately brought deeper issues to the fore-

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

NAU HIGH PERFORMANCE CENTER

CORE is currently building Northern Arizona University’s High Performance Center. This project is a collaboration between NAU Athletics and the College of Health and Human Services. The 70,000-square-foot building will focus on the wellness and development of NAU student athletes and provide educational opportunities for students. The new center will feature a welcome area, including the NAU Hall of Fame and box office, a practice gym, a strength and conditioning area, sports medicine facilities, a nutrition station, oxygen-related altitude training and recovery spaces, lockers, team lounges, coaching offices, and academic support spaces.

front, such as the attendance policy. Repeat offenders of unexcused absences were ultimately dismissed, Vedral says, while the good performers welcomed the changes as they had been forced to work harder to make up for shirkers.

“We continued collecting data,” Vedral adds. “That was something we did not do very well before.” Managers now tracked absenteeism rates and kept a closer eye on spending. These improvements bore fruit quickly. Within nine months, every shop was in the black, absenteeism was addressed, and worker disputes were ameliorated as teams spent time clarifying responsibilities and expectations.

The performance improvements did not end there. Vedral and his team identified ways to ensure all employees were productive by eliminating unsupervised night shifts and establishing differential day shifts to improve coverage and organization.

The general maintenance mechanics now receive cross-training to take on some of the lower skilled tasks of HVAC and plumbing, such as changing filters and fixing minor leaks. This produces more workers that can function as first responders and perform triage during emergencies. Providing workers with opportunities to learn skills is good for the university and helps with morale, Vedral notes, adding that “it’s not about grinding people into the ground.”

▲ The science annex was recently remodeled, offering an open office space.

Courtesy of McCarthy Building Companies

Upholding performance standards is critical, but making employees feel valued by broadening their skills and offering rewards for good performance is just as important. All of these efforts have resulted in improved productivity and higher quality service, the associate VP notes, and the immense support he has received from the president and senior leadership team have made it all possible.

Aside from managing team refinements, Vedral’s responsibilities also extend to space allocation. Just like maintenance and custodial services have to operate more efficiently, so too do academic and support services in how they use space. A recent space analysis by a consulting firm provided some good news: “We have adequate space that needs to be looked at differently and used more effectively,” he says.

Better scheduling of classes and reconfigurations of space will have significant impact. A renovation of planning, design, and construction services offices has already demonstrated how to use space more efficiently. This project removed large offices and replaced them with an open-office concept.

The original space supported 10 people and after the renovation, it can support nearly double that, and will include amenities that did not exist before such as six

new meetings space, one-on-one rooms, small collaborative spaces for five-to-six people, a larger 12-person conference room, and a much needed design center.

Under Vedral’s continued leadership, NAU’s facilities team will no doubt continue to reach for mountainous new heights.

NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY RECITAL HALL

“You get better results when everybody participates.”

Popeyes Finds Its Roots

Jessica Aleman and her team at Restaurant Brands International research and implement a redesign to reintroduce the Popeyes that you thought you knew

By Sara Verdi

In August 2019, the Popeyes chicken sandwich took the media by storm.

Twitter battles and Instagram polls arguing its quality over other fast food chains erupted, and morning show hosts were even filling entire TV segments focused on trying the sandwich. This media frenzy led to franchisees selling out of sandwiches in mere hours. The chicken sandwich came at an excellent time not only for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen’s marketing team, but also to propel the company into its long-researched rebrand.

Jessica Aleman, lead architect of design and construction of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen through Restaurant Brands International (RBI), offers some context on this rebrand and the process of implementing the restaurant chain’s new image.

“When our parent company RBI bought out Popeyes roughly three years ago, it started looking into the brand as a whole,” Aleman explains. “The company realized that Popeyes was really behind in the industry as far as brand level goes. So we got together with some design agencies and we

started looking into how we could revamp the image that is currently in place.”

The main concept that everyone seemed to land on was returning to Popeyes’ New Orleans roots. “Popeyes was born in New Orleans, yet our image was outdated and lacked the vibrancy of the city,” Aleman says. Thus, the research and concept behind Popeyes’ NOLA Makers Image was born.

“Our designers, marketing team, and our design agencies spent over a year immersing themselves within the New Orleans culture,” she says, adding that these teams focused on design details from Courtesy of Restaurant Brands International

materials to lighting that embodied true New Orleans fashion. “We wanted to work out how we could bring these details into a QSR (quick-service restaurant), fast-paced environment, so that when you look at the NOLA Makers Image, it truly highlights the things that make up New Orleans.”

The new NOLA Makers Image incorporates homemade items and furniture on the interior to give diners the feel of eating a meal right at home, while natural materials and marquis lighting on the exterior mirror the feel of strolling down New Orleans’ iconic streets.

“It’s a very exciting process,” Aleman enthuses. “Getting to be a part of this rebrand from the concept phase, from sourcing materials to finding suppliers, to value engineering all of these elements, it’s all so interesting, and I love being part of it.” While the rebrand has proved to be incredibly exciting, Aleman concedes that there have also been some pretty significant challenges that she and her team have faced as well.

“Once the NOLA Makers Image was finalized, it took us quite some time to get to the next level of the rebrand,” Aleman says. During this time, RBI was under-

going transition. The company moved Popeyes’ corporate offices from Atlanta to Miami, and it took roughly one year to complete this migration. “During this transition, the image hit a standstill. So for two years we were showcasing this brand new image to franchisees, yet it wasn’t ready for these franchisees to participate in. It was incredibly challenging to navigate.”

Though things weren’t quite ready to roll out for the rebrand, franchisees were extremely interested. “We had franchisees reaching out to us saying, ‘We want to implement this rebrand even though we

Popeyes' very first corporate remodel is located in the Marrero community, just southwest of New Orleans.

service, and dependability. Loren offers high-quality creative imaging solutions through project management, manufacturing, and installation to serve corporate, retail, and hospitality clients.

know it’s not ready; we just feel so confident that we want to take the risk alongside you,’” Aleman recalls. “So with the more that people reached out to us, we internally decided to start a pilot program.” This pilot program allowed franchisees that wished to collaborate on the NOLA Makers Image to “test drive” the new brand.

Of the pilot program, Aleman explains that the Popeyes system is unique in which 100 percent of its sites are based off the current LK+ image and all traditional sites use the standard prototype build, giving the company an advantage when creating a way to update its existing fleet. However, the team needed to be creative because it was nowhere near ready to launch it system-wide. Instead the remodel image was used as the designated pilot program image since the team had just completed its first corporate remodel and was now further along with the concept.

“It was a great opportunity for us to work alongside our franchisees and see what was or wasn’t working before we rolled out the brand across all stores,” Aleman says. “Now that franchisees are taking part in this as well, it has given us a broader field to collect data and analysis for the rebrand.”

“We wanted to work out how we could bring these details into a QSR (quick service restaurant), fastpaced environment, so that when you look at the NOLA Makers Image it truly highlights the things that make up New Orleans.”

In the pilot program, there are currently 23 franchisees with 84 locations in total that have committed to implementing the new image before system-wide rollout. While this is great for the aforementioned data and analysis, it also lends to some of the challenges for Aleman and Popeyes. “When a brand rolls out an image, it’s after they have value engineered, after they

have done their RFPs, and data and analysis, but because of this pilot program, we have had to work with these franchisees on a daily basis because they are asking us questions that we, theoretically, don’t have the answers to yet,” she explains. “It definitely keeps us on our toes because every day there is something new that we are trying to put together guidelines for. The franchisees are ahead of the game, so they are asking before we even have the information ready.”

Overall, Aleman has found the pilot program for Popeyes’ NOLA Makers Image advantageous. “It’s overwhelming sometimes because we are doing it at such a fast pace to reach our goal of system-wide implementation this year, but it’s awesome to work with the franchisees ahead of time. It’s a learning tool, and it has been great to be able to fine tune everything before we roll it all out,” Aleman says with confidence.

Jessica Aleman Lead Architecture, Design & Construction of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Restaurant Brands International

Retail to Restaurants

Qdoba’s Head of Facilities Services Shannon Markwell has jumped careers and industries—and proven herself worthy every time

By Billy Yost

Large numbers don’t scare Shannon Markwell. The facilities head for Qdoba restaurants may oversee 350 corporate restaurant locations, but she says the work required is just about equal to the over 600 retail locations she oversaw previously for retailer Charlotte Russe. “This work is all about the team that you build,” Markwell says. “I’ve managed to build a team of people that have great skills and knowledge in different areas, which makes us a rock star team.”

But it’s not just the team. Underneath the polite and generous spirit of the facilities leader is a former construction manager with 15 years of experience—from tenant improvement to fire alarm monitoring to telecommunications—who had to effectively build her facilities careers from scratch after leaving the construction industry to try something else.

“I started at the bottom of facilities at Charlotte Russe and knew I was going to have to work my way up if I wanted to get where I wanted to be in a new field,” Markwell says. In the first year-and-a-half, Markwell was promoted five times. “That’s where my career took a great turn, and I wasn’t going to stop,” Markwell says.

A New Flavor

When Charlotte Russe filed for bankruptcy in 2019, Markwell was rattled. Her journey at the company where she had effectively built out an entire second chapter of her career was coming to an end. Fortunately, Markwell had learned one of the most important lessons of her new career. “I think such a big part of this particular industry is networking,” Markwell explains. And she had done just that. She would wind up with a chunk of job offers, electing to bypass retail completely in favor of Qdoba’s extensive portfolio.

In coming to the fast-casual chain, Markwell was able to define, for the first time, the facilities director role. “There was no one to really spend the quality time with the employees to help build out this department,” Markwell remembers. “I knew upon coming in that that was what I wanted to do first. I needed to bring collaboration and that flavor of hospitality

▲ Qdoba's designs are so consistent that you can even find them in the company's corporate headquarters, which includes its own Q café.

By the Numbers

47American states that have a Qdoba location (not including DC)

60 restaurants receiving carpet-to-tile overhauls at the time of speaking

80 restaurants receiving a second makeline to more efficiently service third-party and online orders

350 corporate restaurant locations

Shannon Markwell oversees

to the team.” That meant working hard to earn the trust and respect of her facilities managers and coordinators.

Along with cultivating relationships under the Qdoba roof, Markwell says she’s also endeavored to create more lasting relationships with third party vendors, or as Markwell simply calls them, “partners.”

“I’ve really encouraged our coordinators and facilities managers to create those relationships and bring our partners to the table,” Markwell says. “I think those interactions had been much more transactional in the past, but I think building one-onone relationships with your vendors is the number one most important skill you can have as a facilities director.”

Upward and Ongoing

Markwell and the facilities team are in the middle of a carpet-to-tile rollout of 65 Qdoba locations (at the time of interview.) “Who puts carpet in a restaurant anymore?” Markwell jokes. The process started in November and Markwell says

it’s meant a huge improvement for the company brand in numerous ways.

The restaurant also recently completed a second makeline rollout so third-party vendor orders from Uber Eats or DoorDash have less of an impact on dine-in guest orders. “We want the customer that’s walking in to build their burrito to have the 100 percent attention of our staff, and so we’ve installed a second makeline where we are able to put those third-party vendor tickets together.” It’s a strategic move that recognizes the popularity of meal delivery apps but still keeps the dine-in customer front and center.

The wider challenges faced by the entire fast-casual movement aren’t lost on Markwell—she just thinks Qdoba has a different approach. “We build our daily tasks on three pillars that I think are incredibly important,” Markwell says. “Hospitality, Performance, and Positivity: you will not meet one person who works for this company who doesn’t hold true to those pillars. Because of that and the drive this company has, we’re still growing and plan on opening eight new stores this year.” Courtesy of Qdoba

◀ The pops of color and bright interiors of Qdoba's restaurants create a friendly atmosphere for guests to linger and socialize.

Not only new stores, but a litany of remodels and rollouts are also in the pipeline. It’s just proof, Markwell says, that Qdoba is set on continually reinventing itself without losing what’s gotten it this far.

Markwell says she’s excited about the possibility of utilizing more technology to enhance Qdoba’s efficiencies. “Whether it’s an EMS in stores or asset tagging, I’m really excited to boost us up to that industry standard level,” the facilities director says. “Bringing in some of that new technology will be a huge win for us.”

More broadly, Markwell says she is always ready to serve. “That means always being open for communication. I take accountability to get the job done and my door is always open,” she says. Markwell may have come to facilities later in her career, but there is no doubt she has succeeded in making up for lost time.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

KEEP THE LINE MOVING

When Qdoba decided improvements were needed to satisfy increased online ordering, it turned to MLE for help implementing a second food-prep station to fill these orders without disrupting the in-store customer experience. Every additional makeline required electrical upgrades, low voltage and data lines, equipment, and more. MLE completed 80 locations in 6 weeks across 16 states with all work completed in a single night. A truly turnkey service level was provided through MLE from project planning to consolidation, deployment, execution, and reporting. Since completion, Qdoba has enjoyed an immediate ROI with increased productivity and satisfied customers both in store and at home.

There’s No Innovation like Nebraska’s

Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

John Ingram helps the University of Nebraska Athletics Department set the bar for all athletic programs with student athletes in mind

By Frannie Sprouls

▲ Nebraska's "Go Big" athletic facility project will be the largest of its kind in the entire country.

Nebraska football players tap the horseshoe above the doors leading into Memorial Stadium for the famous Tunnel Walk, a tradition going back to 1994. At the northwest corner, they gather at the entrance with head coach Scott Frost to take in the roar from Sea of Red before running out into the field.

Memorial Stadium has seen many expansions, improvements, and innovations since its construction in 1923, and it boasts 375 consecutive sellouts going

back to 1962. The stadium might be the most recognizable venue at Nebraska, but the university hosts other industry-leading facilities for all student athletes.

Since joining the Nebraska Athletic Department in 1993, John Ingram has overseen the planning, design, and construction of more than $500 million in construction projects. And innovation is the name of the game.

Nebraska was the first to have big screens in a college stadium and an on-site video production studio, as well as the first to have field turf, which is now the standard artificial athletic surface. The school was one

▶ Plans to break ground on the new facilities, which are positioned at the north and east sides of Memorial Stadium, are set for the summer of 2022. Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

“When you see the faces of those kids, when they walk into that new facility, that’s the crowning moment . . . that makes it all worthwhile.”

Gather ’Round the Table

In 2019, Nebraska saw $1 billion of damage after heavy rainfall and rapid snowmelt caused catastrophic flooding across the Missouri River Basin. As an amateur woodworker, John Ingram saw an opportunity to make dinner tables for flood victims after conversations over Easter dinner.

“As I was reflecting, I just came up with the idea,” Ingram explains. “I’ve got wood. I’ve got some talent. Maybe I can inspire other woodworkers, and we can make dining tables for flood victims.”

So he created the Reclaim, Rebuild, Restore Project to help flood-stricken families, partnering with Habitat for Humanity in Omaha and Nebraska Innovation Studio to not only make the tables but also deliver to families as they moved back into their homes.

of the first to have a field level suite before it became fashionable. For the national championship volleyball team, an alternate court was developed to be used for important matches utilizing a removable court system. For the national champion bowling team, Ingram led the implementation of a new product coming from Germany: pins on strings, which had 20 percent of the moving parts of a typical pinsetter and provided a better ability to set up spares to help the team train.

“We’re not here to copy other people and just do what other people are doing,” explains Ingram, the associate athletic director for capital planning and construction. “We’re trying to think of what’s coming in the next five years, ten years, and trying to go there when we develop our new facilities—so we are ready for the future when we open the doors.”

Passing of the Torch

An Ingram has been working on Memorial Stadium since 1962, the year the sellout streak started. Ingram’s father worked with the facilities management department, which also took care of all athletic

John Ingram Associate Athletic Director, Capital Planning & Construction University of Nebraska Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

facilities. Since around the age of five, Ingram has been around Memorial Stadium. He followed his dad around on game days, going out with him on calls.

Ingram’s father retired in 1993—the same year Ingram joined the athletic department. “I didn’t realize it at the time when I first took the job,” he says, “but the torch was kind of passed on.”

There hadn’t been any real work done on the stadium in years, and on May 17, 1993, the southeast corner of the stadium collapsed. A structural team was brought in to do an analysis and when Ingram was hired that fall, he picked up where the university facilities management team had left off and developed a long-term plan to take Memorial Stadium into the 21st century. $25 million in repairs were made to the stadium with repairs to the endzone structures, and 30 percent of the original concrete was replaced on the original 1923 stadium. The stadium bowl was then waterproofed with an elastomeric coating.

One of his first big projects was the west stadium expansion project, which added 42 suites and a new press area in 1999. “That was a big learning curve, but it was very satisfying in the end,” Ingram explains. “We finished it a week before the kickoff for the first game in 1999. It really educated me on how projects— major projects—work and are delivered in a college athletics setting.”

He adds, “Kickoff dates are set and don’t wait for you to finish the project.”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

A MONDO HYDRAULIC BANKED TRACK AT UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA–LINCOLN

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s hydraulic banked track is the evolution of a Mondo system that was developed in 1987. The push of a button raises the curves of the 200-meter track in minutes to the desired height for competitions or training sessions, making the track extremely versatile and ideal for athletes of all levels. When lowered, the track is flush with the surrounding surface, so the entire area can be used for other sports or activities. Mondo has over 20 indoor hydraulic tracks installed worldwide. In 1998, Nebraska was one of the first schools to install a Mondo Super X Performance outdoor track which is still in use today, installed by Kiefer USA.

“We’re not here to copy other people and just do what other people are doing. We’re trying to think of what’s coming in the next five years, ten years, and trying to go there when we develop our new facilities, so we are ready for the future when we open the doors.”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

TURF PRIDE

FieldTurf celebrates 21 years at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Memorial Stadium. In the fall of 1998, Coach Osborne traveled to Maryland to meet with FieldTurf’s founders. As legend has it, he walked across the field and asked, “Where’s this field you want to show us?” The response was, “Well, you’re standing on it.” The following summer, FieldTurf was installed at Memorial Stadium. Today, FieldTurf is still the surface of choice for the Cornhuskers. Alongside Memorial Stadium, FieldTurf is also installed on seven other fields on campus.

Nebraska Goes Big

Next on the horizon is the “Go Big” project, which was announced in the fall of 2019. The $155 million athletic complex, constructed north and east of Memorial Stadium, will provide convenience and benefits to all 600-plus student athletes as well as the fan experience with new vertical transportation modes for fans entering and exiting North Stadium.

The 350,000-square-foot facility will provide the football program with a new locker room, strength and conditioning center, athletic medicine facility, equipment room, meeting rooms, coaches’ offices, and an additional outdoor practice facility. Because the "Go Big" plan will replace the Ed Weir Track, it also includes the construction of a new outdoor track stadium north of the Bob Devaney Sports Center, home of the volleyball team.

The complex will also include a training table and academic support facilities for all student athletes, regardless of sport. “We probably develop athletes more than other schools,” Ingram says. “Nebraska has been the pioneer in the areas of academic support and nutrition nationally.”

Athlete development is a tradition established way back when Tom Osborne was head coach, he adds. “In our walk-on program with football, we might not get our share of five-star athletes, but we’ll take three-star athletes and turn them into a five-star throughout their career at Nebraska because of our innovative ways to develop the student athlete.”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT SPACE FOR FAITH

The St. John Paul II Newman Center at University of Nebraska–Omaha, completed by BVH Architecture, creates a unique, spiritual home for students living off campus. This 95,000-square-foot facility mirrors a traditional abbey, wrapping a residence hall, commons, and chapel around a central courtyard.

There are 41 apartment suites that overlook the rectory and open to rooftop terraces along the second floor. Shared common areas lead to a modern, limestone-clad chapel. The result is a simple, beautifully defined space for every aspect of student life.

The St. John Paul II Newman Center won the 2018 Tucker Design Award and 2018 AIA National Faith & Form Religious Art & Architecture Design Award.

In 1969, Nebraska was the first university to hire a full-time strength coach, Boyd Epley. “We set the standard with strength and conditioning,” Ingram says. A lot of the equipment in the strength complex since then, he explains, has been designed on campus and that continues today—some of which Ingram cannot speak about just yet.

When it comes to leading these large projects that ultimately impact the student athletes’ experience, Ingram includes a focus group of student athletes. In February 2020, the gymnastics team moved into its new 42,000-square-foot home, which has training rooms, locker rooms, large gym spaces, more equipment, a hydraulic system, and offices for both the men’s and women’s teams.

“When you see the faces of those kids, when they walk into that new facility, that’s the crowning moment,” Ingram says. “After the hours of planning and working with contractors and working through the issues, that makes it all worthwhile.”

The Virginia Tech baseball team plays an evening game at English Field at Atlantic Union Bank Park.

Courtesy of Virginia Tech Athletics

Be a Good Sport

Tom Gabbard’s success at building the athletic facilities for Virginia Tech stems largely from his approach to early collaboration

By Keith Loria

Living across from the Ohio River and nearby Crosley Field, the former ballpark of Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds, Tom Gabbard grew up dreaming of one day becoming a professional baseball player and playing amongst his boyhood heroes.

“I used to listen to the Reds every night on the radio, and I did really well in Little League and always made the all-star game,” Gabbard recalls. “But I stopped growing and the world passed me by physically, so I quit baseball and started playing tennis.”

He played tennis at Brevard Junior College and transferred to the University of Florida. Upon graduating in 1968, he joined the Army and served in Vietnam. Once home, Gabbard spent 20 years in the real estate business, eventually opening his own company with his wife in Gainesville, Florida.

One of his clients was Jim Weaver, associate athletic director at the University of Florida, who wound up becoming a close friend and brought Gabbard on at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,

and eventually at Virginia Tech when Weaver himself took the athletic director’s job there.

Today, Gabbard serves as senior associate athletic director of facilities and operations for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT), charged with new construction and maintenance of the school’s athletics facilities, as well as supervising the university’s athletics facilities managers and game operations people (such as ushers, ticket takers, referees, and police). He’s also the sport administrator for men’s basketball, men’s and women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s golf.

“Anything that’s a capital project—$3 million and above—in respect to athletics, I do,” Gabbard says. “Any renovation of anything within the athletic area is also my responsibility to oversee.”

One current project he’s working on is a new Student Athlete Performance Center in the Jamerson Athletic Center. This $16 million project will include an expanded dining area, a gathering area, the addition of two-story glass windows, a new angled roof, and renovating the existing corridor connecting the fourth floor of Jamerson to Cassell Coliseum.

“The way our area is set up athletically, we are all in one area, so the south wall of this facility will be 24 feet of glass, which will overlook our stadium, our practice facility, our football practice fields, and our weight room,” Gabbard shares. “From a recruiting perspective, we feel it will add a lot of sizzle for student athletes who are taking a look at Virginia Tech.”

Tom Gabbard

Senior Associate Athletic Director, Facilities & Operations

Virginia Tech

“From a recruiting perspective, we feel [the Student Athlete Performance Center] will add a lot of sizzle for student athletes who are taking a look at Virginia Tech.”

Courtesy of Virginia Tech Athletics

Another project he’s working on is renovating the sports facility’s football weight room. The weight room and agility room (“a sort of indoor field,” Gabbard explains) were each 6,000 square feet, and the new plan is to combine them to create a single 13,000-square-foot weight room. When the team evaluated it, it opted to also include the football meeting rooms in the expansion as well, all of which kicked off early this year. “The shell is already there so we’re just knocking down walls and enhancing the look.”

For any project, Gabbard’s philosophy has always been to get the user in the room and talk through the project to get absolute clarity for what the scope of the project will be. “I learned that the hard way from when we were at UNLV,” he reveals. “We were building a new athletic complex that would house all our locker rooms, training room, weight room, auditorium, and equipment rooms. We had it all designed and were getting ready to build it, then when we reached out to the equipment guy, he told us it wouldn’t work and we needed to redesign it.”

Gabbard is no stranger to challenges within his role. Hahn Hurst, the Hokies’ $21 million, 49,000-square-foot basketball practice center that opened in 2009, was his first construction management at-risk project. “You put an architect with you, who takes it to schematic design, and then he gets together with a builder and gives you the price,” Gabbard explains. “They are at risk and have to hit the number.”

He feels that method is a little more cumbersome bureaucratically and would rather do his projects as design-build or the more traditional design-bid-build. Gabbard adds that he makes sure to include the coaches and team decision-makers about all plans before finalizing anything.

“You might not bat a thousand, and what happens many times is they saw something, and they want it—but once you start talking them through it, they recall something else that they also want,” he says. “So it is important to get all the ideas on the table and begin to design around a scope they agree to.”

Looking ahead, with Gabbard’s methods in mind, VT has many plans for improving some of its other sports facilities. “We’re going to totally renovate the Cassell Coliseum, which was built in 1965,” the senior director explains. “It’s an iconic piece of architecture and we’re doing a feasibility study now.” The project, which is expected to cost $50 to $60 million, is still a couple years away.

Then there’s the project Gabbard has dreamed about— breaking ground on a new tennis complex. He’s wanted it for a long time and expects it will happen within the next year. And even at 73, he still plays and looks forward to playing on the new court.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

TWO PROJECTS, TWO DELIVERY METHODS, BOTH VERY SUCCESSFUL

The Virginia Tech Hahn Hurst Basketball Practice Center was the first CMAR project for Virginia Tech athletics. Whiting Turner finished this 49,000-square-foot, $21 million facility on time and on budget. The space includes practice courts, a spacious weight room, training room, equipment room, men and women’s locker rooms, film rooms and lounges, and offices for each of the coaching staffs.

The Atlantic Union Bank Baseball Stadium at English Field, a design-build project, is located on the south side of the Virginia Tech campus. It is the first structure welcoming students, fans, and visitors to the campus. This $18 million project was completed on time and met the budget. The stadium is complete with several VIP areas, luxury suites, an abundance of fan amenities, and capacity to host NCAA regional playoffs. Whiting Turner’s challenge was to build this stadium while the baseball season was ongoing. Its ability to do so and stay within the budget and time constraints are a tribute to their outstanding organization.

Designing with Both

Adam Nelson

Sides of the Brain

Event Network’s Adam Nelson creates custom retail experiences for his partners through achieving a balance of imagination and profitability

By Billy Yost

In the National Aquarium, artist Kathleen Plate handcrafted the ceiling display using glass bottles recovered from dumpsters.

If Event Network does its job right, nobody knows the company is there. As one of the premier experiential retailers in the world, the company works hand-in-hand with art museums, zoos, aquariums, and other hallmark destinations to seamlessly integrate vital retail spaces that delight visitors and generate income for the host organizations. That means that no two projects are similar, every approach is customized, and optimizing retail space for the Georgia Aquarium or poring over Frank Lloyd Wright’s original Guggenheim plans are just another day at the office for Adam Nelson.

The director of store design has been with San Diego, California-headquartered Event Network since 2015, and since his first major project—the remodel of the National Aquarium retail space in Baltimore—word is spreading about Event Network’s unique and experiential approach to building not only an immersive but profit-driving space.

“There is such a difference between something that looks attractive and something designed to be both visually appealing and a successful store,” Nelson says. “Architects do such a great job designing exhibits when they understand the core purpose of a museum, but when it comes to designing a store for a major destination, for some reason retail logic often gets thrown

out the window, and what you’re left with is something that just looks pretty in a portfolio.”

Missing the functionality component simply isn’t an option for Nelson. “Our partners are amazing organizations that often rely on their retail revenue to be able to fund community and ecological projects,” he says. “Profitability must be a core pillar of the design.”

Even though Event Network strives to work quietly in the background, people noticed a shift in the store designs. One of Event Network’s customers shared that he had been approached by a handful of colleagues at a conference who were buzzing about the company. “They were calling it ‘those new Event Network stores’ with clear excitement,” Nelson was told.

“Our team had worked tirelessly. These were totally new kinds of spaces and getting that recognition, especially having a partner pass it along, was really exciting,” the director recalls, adding that Corey Folster, Event Network’s director of visual merchandising, was instrumental in bringing Nelson’s designs of the praised spaces to life. “Corey has been my partner in crime.”

Embodying Partnerships

It’s necessary to list some of Event Network’s partners precisely because it proves the trust the young San

The EDGE main store at Hudson Yards is the entrance to the observation deck experience, the highest in the western hemisphere.

Jesse Barrus

Diego company has built for itself with worldwide recognized and prestigious institutions. The American Museum of Natural History in New York, Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago are just a few of the names who have seen fit to become Event Network partners.

“Trust is the most important component when sharing new designs with our partnerships,” Nelson says. “There has to be a willingness to adapt and move beyond what has been in the past, and there has to be some level of trust that what we’re going to create is going to work.”

That adaptation includes truly unprecedented efforts on Event Network’s part to create spaces that fall in line in both mission and aesthetics with its partners. Baltimore’s National Aquarium is one of the first great examples of a bringing the mission and environment together, as Event Network found unique and creative ways to weave sustainability into their retail spaces.

“This is an organization that had shifted from an entertainment venue to being an educational institution whose mission is to save and preserve their local ecology,” Nelson says. “We’re an extension of them, and we want our mentality to fundamentally be in alignment.”

Adam Nelson Director of Experiential Store Design Event Network

“From the visual to the engineering to deploying it in a great way, we do what’s right for each partnership.”

Leaving Plastic Behind

At the Baltimore National Aquarium, the standard plastics used for signs, shelves, and the dozens of other plastic touch points had to be rethought. All wood products are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. The carpet is produced from recycling fishing nets that have been recovered from ensnared coral reefs. Even the giant sculpture that appears to be a school of 500 fish is actually made of recycled bottles, which becomes intentionally obvious upon closer inspection. “We’ve layered all of these elements to create this immersive space that people may or may not know is highly sustainable,” Nelson says.

An equally unique approach to sustainability was taken with the recent remodel of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo retail space. All building materials have been evaluated to ensure they reinforce the zoo’s mission. LED lighting is everywhere. Tree structures in the store sprout leaves made from Falconboard, an alternative to foam board made from recycled materials. Those leaves are magnetized and can be changed out and reused seasonally to coincide with the greens of spring and the golds of fall.

“Creating these sustainable practices and spaces is one problem to solve after another, and I love that continuing evolution,” Nelson says. “From the visual to the engineering to deploying it in a great way, we do what’s right for each partnership.”

The director’s latest project to open was three retail spaces for New York’s Hudson Yards, a massive luxury and retail landmark. “There was an expectation that when a partner is spending billions on a building, the retail fixtures also had to look the part,” Nelson says with a laugh.

During this project his greatest moment of pride came from an interaction with a lighting designer who had worked at other observation deck venues. “As I was walking away, he said that he had never really thought about the retail experiences at other locations,” the director remembers. “But when he came into ours, he said he’d never felt anything like it. It was such an immersive experience that it caught him off guard.”

Coming from a fellow designer, that means a lot to Nelson, but he has other ways to measure success. “Some parents are frustrated when their kids like the museum store as much as they like the museum,” Nelson says. “For me, that’s mission accomplished.”

◀ Adam Nelson designed the gear tower at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, as well as performing all structural and electrical calculations. Adam

Services That Spark Growth

A trusted partner of Event Network, Shapes Unlimited has helped many other companies thrive with its unique offerings

Shapes Unlimited partners with companies across the country to fabricate their designs, providing them with unparalleled customer service and delivering innovative product solutions. The Wisconsin-based company offers a wide range of production capabilities to make its customer’s fixture unique. Through Shapes Unlimited’s engineering and production expertise, the design will be brought to life, creating a customized solution that will impress a customer’s clients, show off its brand, and wow the end users.

Commercial furniture fabrication offerings include merchandise displayers, service counters and cabinets, focal point displays, reception desks, retail store

fixtures, cone pedestals, and drum tables available in a variety of geometric shapes. Customers can also find a variety of expert capabilities, such as CNC programming, miter fold constructions, curved constructions, high pressure laminate finishes, wood veneer finishes, solid surface countertops, and lighting and acrylic installation.

Shapes Unlimited’s success was founded on taking great care of its clients and employees. By always giving more than expected, responding promptly, and

providing exceptional support, it collaborates with companies acting as a behindthe-scenes business partner and building a long-lasting relationship based on integrity and mutual success.

Shapes Unlimited also specializes in the fabrication of fixtures for custom projects as well as contract furniture. It continues to evolve into the future providing fabrication solutions for a variety of industries, however, its commitment to service remains the same no matter how large or small the project may be.

The Complexity of Simplicity

Eataly's Manhattan location saw an impressive redesign of its coffee bar, achieved in just a few short months.

Chris Delusky dishes on what it takes to make Eataly’s extraordinary build-outs possible

By Melaina K. de la Cruz

Chris Delusky’s arrival as the vice president of construction and design at Eataly was fortuitous. The massive Italian marketplace, where shoppers can find restaurants, beverage counters, bakeries and cafés, retail items, and even a cooking school, was still discussing an “aggressive rollout plan” for its flagship stores throughout the nation.

His start date timed out perfectly with the conversations of expansion, giving the VP time to become acquainted with the company’s philosophy as well as the design team and its vendors. He developed relationships with these partners to identify solutions for complex construction issues, enabling the challenging build-outs that would become part of Eataly’s evolution.

“We are extremely proud of our work with Chris and the team at Eataly,” says Gary Reed, Structure Tone Southwest account executive. “With STO’s experience at multiple Eataly locations, we’re able to

collaborate and share lessons learned to make sure each new project benefits from that insight.”

Delusky sat down with American Builders Quarterly to share more about these experiences during his tenure with Eataly.

Eataly is known for designing each of its locations with a unique vision that pertains to a respective city. How do you and your team approach this way of thinking?

Each store is dedicated to a different aspect [of the community]. We very much take the city and the people who live in it into consideration when determining the theme. We think about what we’d like to pay homage to and how it connects to our values and offerings.

Does Eataly have a general vision that you adhere to when designing, building, and renovating the locations?

[Eataly’s “simple is better” motto] is the mind-set we have for everything

we do. We have four-ingredient dishes that completely amaze our guests in terms of the simplicity, elevated taste, and affordable value. In terms of design and construction, simplicity is not always achievable, but authenticity is. Our primary goal is to create the canvas where our operations team can create their art. First and foremost, in terms of the physical spaces, is to provide our guests with an authentic Italian experience.

How do you marry design to authenticity?

For Eataly USA, we put forth a tremendous amount of effort in achieving a cost-effective design that never ever compromises on authenticity. It begins with [acknowledging the concept] that it’s difficult to be simple. But, when someone sees how difficult achieving an authentic experience in any concept can become during the design and construction period, the challenge in resisting an opportunity to compromise becomes Courtesy of Shinola

Chris Delusky VP of Construction & Design Eataly

the single most important concept we address during both the early design and value engineering.

What sorts of challenges come up when you’re renovating a location while staying true to the brand and its authenticity?

Our concepts need to remain relevant, and our chefs are always innovating and maintaining immensely high standards. Our job in the design and construction department is to give those amazing operation teams the place to create the fantastic dishes and provide our customers with an authentic experience like none other.

More often than not, many of our remodels can be categorized as a “refresh.” In the restaurant business, furniture and décor have short lifespans, so our team always takes the opportunity to reimagine material choices and improve seating design. We have spent the better part of the last year redesigning our banquette seating to allow for flexibility and aesthetics, while providing an enormously comfortable place to enjoy a meal.

Was there a time when you needed to handle an upgrade quickly at a high-traffic location?

The Flatiron flagship coffee bar at the entrance of Eataly’s 5th Avenue location is at the entrance of one of our busiest locations. The team had a very short window to close the space, demolish the old bar, refinish the concrete floors, and install a very unique cappuccino experience designed in conjunction with our partners from Lavazza. The team managed to start the design process in October 2019 and reopened the space [shortly thereafter] in January 2020.

How does your team work together to plan for a space physically to accommodate new concepts?

The concepts for our flagships originate with our hugely talented team in Italy led by Thomas Bartoli. Once they have refined [the vision for] a particular store layout, we begin a series of design workshops between

the Italian team and our design management team here in New York, preparing the conceptual design package for eventual release to our technical architecture team based here in the US.

We then go through another round of discussions at each design phase with our operations, retail, and chef teams to really refine and define the offering of each square foot inside the store.

From start to finish, we find the process of delivering a flagship Eataly to last between 24 and 27 months once we have selected a site in the US. Not only does our team have fantastic “bedside manner” but they are a patient group of talented people that develop our stores into what is one of the most unique experiential retail concepts in the world.

What inspired you to launch your Three Sides of Construction podcast?

In this business, we call the informal group that convenes during a project the OAC: Owner, Architect, Contractor. When I started looking inside that [OAC] triangle, I realized the huge group of dedicated and talented professionals not only had amazing stories of their experiences but are wonderful people to talk to. Because I became really interested in the way this OAC triangle affects my favorite industry— retail construction—it became an opportunity to hear the voices of those people who are at the forefront. At the same time, some people who are not considered “thought leaders” still have a valuable voice in this space. Plus, their stories are great. The value that a podcast has to their career and legacy is important enough for me to get a larger audience to hear their stories.

Editor’s Note: At the time of press, Chris Delusky was no longer with Eataly.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

EATALY TORONTO

In November 2019, Eataly celebrated the opening of its first location in Canada, at 55 Bloor Street in Toronto. Built by Govan Brown, the project required a substantial reconfiguring of the three-story, 55,000-square-foot space in the Manulife Centre, where Govan Brown has years of experience. The team spent two years in preconstruction to ensure the complex mechanical and electrical scopes would be integrated with the premium finishes and functional layout. The schedule featured six phases, which accommodated an in-situ build of temporary retail spaces and significant city planning and logistics. Thanks to this successful effort, Eataly is currently building a new location in Dallas, Texas, working with Govan Brown’s Dallas-based sister company, Structure Tone Southwest.

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

Robots in Retro Spaces

Catherine VandeVelde

Imagination was a key factor in launching ScriptPro, a robotics company designed to automate prescriptions. Sherry Coughlin infuses that same creativity into the campus grounds.

By Billy Yost

The glass lobby offers visitors and workers a view right into the manufacturing floor.

There is the “nontraditional career journey” and then there is Sherry Coughlin, who came to interior design and construction via robots.

Coughlin spent 25 years in partnership with her husband in a CPA firm. Then the two of them decided to put a patent they had purchased into motion. The idea was that a robotic prescription-dispensing system could aid pharmacists in accurately filling scripts. The idea may seem far-fetched today (even through there are thousands of ScriptPro robots working all over the world), let alone in 1994. There were three years of what Coughlin calls a “crushingly hard” pursuit of perfection in designing and building the robot—and paying 45 employees while bringing in no income.

But the robot proved to be a success, and in 1998, “Rite Aid came in and bought a thousand from us, and that was it,” Coughlin remembers.

ScriptPro now employs more than 800 employees, provides medical solutions to the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration, and continues to function on the front line of technology-enabled services in both hardware and software. The Mission campus in the Kansas City metro area was once one large building but continues to expand its footprint, with more than 25 buildings and more than 30 conference rooms.

But none of that can really explain how the EVP and former director of marketing started rehabbing office spaces and utilizing a truly unique aesthetic for each and every space she renovates. That’s the best part. Coughlin herself says simply, “It just started with one room, and I just kept going, and I’m good at it. I modeled a lot in high school and college [where she got her art history degree], and I think if fashion is something you’re interested in, you develop a good eye for what goes well together.”

Over the years, the Coughlins have purchased around 68 buildings. Some of them they kept, some they remodeled, and some they demolished. But what has

emerged is a list of properties so extensive that as soon as the now director of facilities has been able to put her skills to work on each and every room, it’s essentially time to start all over again.

“I always speak with the managers of the departments to figure out what they really need,” Coughlin explains. “Not from a design standpoint, but what they really need in their space to be able to do their work and feel like it’s somewhere that they want to be. A lot of time I hear that the space feels too serious, and that’s where I’m really able to help.”

Coughlin mentions she’s not really one to stick to a strict design schedule or to go in knowing exactly what she’s going to create. Both sentiments would traditionally send a facilities manager into a psychic tailspin. Instead, “I usually just start with colors and go looking for furniture, and it starts

Going Off Script

Every year, Sherry Coughlin hosts the entire ScriptPro family at the horse ranch and acreage that she and her husband own together. This is no small party either—1,500 guests (employees and their family members) show up for horseback riding, catering, prizes, and an opportunity to gather with pride for the once little company, which now boasts nearly 1,000 employees. Coughlin and her husband are also joined by their four daughters and extended work family in an event that has been affectionally referred to as the Farm Party.

Sherry Coughlin

EVP and Director of Facilities Design

ScriptPro

Little Bird Photo

to come together,” Coughlin says, adding that her designs typically wind up “pretty unusual,” but in a way that still serves the varied needs of ScriptPro’s professionals.

One of the mainstays of Coughlin’s process is her long-term relationship with Kansas City’s Retro Inferno owner Rod Parks, who the facilities head says is well acquainted with the way that Coughlin likes to work. “Rod started his business around the same time I was starting to decorate a couple of buildings,” Coughlin recalls. “He had a warehouse, and I just loved walking through it with him. I would point to something and ask him what it was. He’d tell me, ‘Oh, that was the old TWA furniture,’ and I’d say, ‘I’ll take it.’ That old TWA furniture went into my favorite conference room, ‘The Terminal.’”

Coughlin has a warehouse of her own where chosen pieces might spend years before their inclusion in a project. “I find a lot of things I know I can do something with, but it may not be for 15 years,” Coughlin says. “I don’t go buy what I need today. I buy what I see is a great design and plan to use it ‘tomorrow.’”

To explain Coughlin’s aesthetic is no easy task. A showroom that includes a partial hand-placed stone floor, a couch backed with a life-size stuffed-animal-style black angus cow (the “cowch”), and a glass-paned lobby where onlookers can watch employees building the latest in medical systems technology: these are all just small facets of Coughlin’s wandering imagination but clear vision.

Every time there’s an open house for a new building or a redesign, the facilities head is reminded that her work isn’t going unnoticed. “People from around the company come up and ask if I might have time to come take a look at part of their building,” Coughlin says. “I get a lot of requests, they go on a list, and I work my way there.” Her schedule may not be written in stone, but that’s about the only thing Coughlin is certain of before her next design. And that’s just how she likes it.

Joe A. Mendoza/Colorado State University

CSU’s Canvas Stadium includes football training facilities, the alumni center, and classroom space—not to mention it’s certified LEED Silver.

Green Growth for Colorado State

Tom Satterly’s role as associate VP of facilities management allows the team to execute an array of projects that take a more sustainable approach to building at Colorado State University

By Keith Loria

While serving more than 21 years in the United States Navy as an engineer, acquisitions specialist, and construction battalion officer, Tom Satterly led and directed facilities operations for a 350-acre, one-millionsquare-foot Naval postgraduate educational campus valued at $2 billion.

It was just one of the many leadership positions that Satterly would have in facilities engineering and construction over his tenure. When he transitioned from the Navy to civilian life in 2007, he took a role as

assistant vice president of the facilities management division for the University of Georgia, charged with all aspects of the school’s maintenance and operation of its facilities. That meant working on everything from an athletics facility to a residential hall to a large classroom project.

When Colorado State University came calling four years ago, Satterly was impressed with its commitment to excellence, setting a standard for universities in teaching, researching, public service, and engage-

Each Day Is Different

As associate vice president of facilities for Colorado State University, Tom Satterly has participated in numerous projects to enable the school’s growth and offerings. The C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute is part of a $500 million P3 program, consisting of more than a dozen veterinarian and research projects. Satterly also helped facilitate the $26 million, LEED Silver-certified Warner College of Natural Resources addition—the first performance-based design-build CSU accomplished— which allowed the faculty to find a design solution that would be a signature facility for the college.

“The diversity of work is what keeps my job interesting, and most importantly I enjoy being a contributing member of our facilities management team,” Satterly says. “This checks all the boxes if you’re a facility professional in higher education today: building sustainable facilities while also building a facilities team and culture that one can be truly proud of.”

ment to benefit the citizens of both Colorado and the rest of the world.

He was offered the role of associate vice president of facilities management, and the university laid out its plans for the next decade.

“A lot of the features of this position were attractive to me, and they had a lot of growth planned, so it was a good transition from my prior position at the University of Georgia,” Satterly says. “CSU had just embarked on a major capital construction program—about a 10-year plan—and had started a few buildings, but there was so much potential for growth through new acquisition strategies I thought I could contribute to.”

Satterly was also drawn by CSU’s commitment to sustainability. He made that focus a reality with some of the utility projects he spearheaded, the largest being the $26 million GeoExchange for both the Moby Arena complex and Meridian Residential Village, the first geothermal heating and cooling project on campus.

“This was a project about 10 years in the making,” Satterly explains. “Our team did a study to determine whether they should replace an aging, 60-year-old steam system with traditional heating and cooling, or

John Eisele/CSU Photography

◀ The Michael Smith Natural Resources addition is LEED Silvercertified and includes classrooms, common spaces, labs, conference rooms, and offices.

The first project that the associate VP worked on at CSU was the construction of Canvas Stadium, the on-campus multipurpose home of the Rams, which brought football back to the campus for the first time in 50 years. The LEED Silver-certified stadium also houses the Collaborative for Student Achievement, general classroom space, and the Iris & Michael Smith Alumni Center.

“The previous stadium location was three miles off campus, so bringing it back required a lot of planning on where it would be situated, and it ended up on what was mostly a parking lot,” Satterly says. “There was a lot of information gathering with our team that included planners, architects, and the athletics department traveling the country and seeing how other universities had constructed an on-campus stadium.”

Satterly also brought his own experiences with an on-site stadium from his time at the University of Georgia.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

LIGHT THE WAY

if we should consider a ground-source energy replacement that’s more sustainable.”

After a life-cycle cost analysis, Satterly showed the administration why the geothermal exchange was a clear winner in terms of capital cost savings, carbon footprint reduction, utility, and maintenance costs. Originally, it was only going to be for the Moby facilities, but he partnered with the CSU Division of Housing and Dining plan to build a $130 million residential village, and soon the university will offer its first-ever “green” residential housing.

Hord Coplan Macht designed the new $54 million Biology Building at Colorado State University, which is part of the new science quad on the south side of campus. It was completed in 2017 and has 153,000 square feet of teaching labs, research labs, faculty offices, and student study spaces. The integration of biophilic design elements was one of the most unique aspects of this building. The design team focused on ways to break down the stereotype of research labs as bunkers, with no natural daylight or views outside, by creating more transparency and connection to nature throughout the building.

Tom Satterly Associate VP of Facilities Management Colorado State University

We design for their success.

“You also have to consider the operational changes when you bring 40,000 of your closest friends onto your campus on a Saturday as opposed to the event taking part off-campus, and the impact to the educational component,” he says. “You may have classes going on, and you need to find parking for everyone, but a lot of planning and anticipating the changes made it a success.”

CSU is also among the nation’s leading research universities, with its world-class programs in infectious disease, atmospheric science, clean energy technologies, environmental sciences, and biomedical technology attracting more than $300 million in research funding annually.

That’s why the new 155,000-square-foot, $70 million Biology Building, which opened its doors in August 2017, was an important project for the university. The four-story, LEED Gold-certified structure houses the entire department, including all its research labs, special collections used for teaching, and faculty offices. Part of the building is also dedicated to updated flipped classrooms, teaching labs, student common spaces, advising and tutoring offices, and study rooms.

“It incorporated a lot of the biophilic design features and wellness features, bringing natural light into the building, with a lot of collaborative spaces and open laboratories where you can walk by in the hallways and see what’s going on in real time,” Satterly says. “The ‘flipped’ means that it’s not your static, tiered classroom with fixed seating. It’s a flat-level floor with movable chairs and desks that allow both lecture-style and group learning.”

For any project Satterly works on, he notes that strong communication is a must and the key to success starts with establishing trust and partnership—and that means being involved. For example, he was part of the acquisition selection panels for several of the projects, and being engaged, visible, and listening to clients on their needs helps everyone agree on the best framework for getting things done.

“We’ve got some believers out of our faculty now. The administration sees the value of design-build and recognizes the value of having a design competition among our contractor partners,” Satterly says. “But it all starts with introducing yourself, building trust, being present in the selection boards, and answering all questions.”

A Taste for Success

By Sara Deeter

Becky Holler has everyone’s dream career. As a seasoned design and development executive working at top restaurant companies like True Food Kitchen, Holler not only pursues her passion for architecture and design but also travels all around the globe—all while eating some of the most delicious food imaginable.

After graduating from North Dakota State University in 1996, Holler decided to move to Colorado to work at the Lawrence Group as a senior architecture associate. And even that early on in her career, Holler notes, the bulk of her work centered on restaurants and restaurant chains.

“We did a lot of concept work for companies like PF Chang’s and Irish Pub,” Holler recalls, “although we also did a couple of projects for John Hickenlooper.” And in 2003, based on the relationship that they

had developed with her during her tenure at the Lawrence Group, PF Chang’s invited Holler to work for them directly as regional director of development for their fastcasual restaurant chain, Pei Wei Asian Diner.

“They were just rolling out the concept for the Diner at the time,” Holler explains. “From there, PF Chang’s started working on the international expansion for the business, and I was promoted to director of development.

“What a great experience that was,” Holler reflects. “I got to travel to so many places because of the expansion—cities across the Middle East, North America, South America—just as a part of my job.”

Holler stayed with PF Chang’s China Bistro (PFCB) for more than eight years before accepting a role as vice president of development at Aurify Brands, the New

York–based parent company for popular restaurants such as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, the Little Beet Table, Make Sandwich, and the Melt Shop.

“That was an incredible learning experience—working with multiple high-level brands as well as an opportunity to really understand the Manhattan space,” Holler says. “But in March 2019, I got an opportunity to come to True Food Kitchen, and it’s just been the best way to build on all of my previous experiences.”

Founded in 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona, True Food Kitchen is a health-driven, seasonal restaurant and bar with 33 locations across the United States. Its array of gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and customized dishes have attracted interest not only from guests passionate about healthy living but also from high-profile investors such as

Becky Holler on her journey in the design and development world and the passion that she brings to her work every day at True Food Kitchen

Oprah Winfrey. “When I first dined at True Food Kitchen, I was so impressed with the team’s passion for healthy eating and, of course, the delicious food, that I knew I wanted to be part of the company’s future,” Winfrey said in a 2018 statement.

As senior director of design and development for True Food, Holler is responsible for leading the completion of about ten projects per year, she says. She and her teams oversee projects in the earliest stages of design development, projects close to finishing up construction, “and projects in every phase in between,” she says with a laugh. “And whether we’re just getting the design team set up or coordinating with the landlord or initiating construction, there’s always something going on.”

According to Holler, some of the main challenges that she and her team face are

the result of a recent trend within the industry as a whole. More and more, companies are electing to secure and utilize existing spaces rather than creating entirely new spaces, she says, True Food included.

“When you’re not creating the space from scratch, there are just a lot more mysteries involved,” Holler says. “You may have no idea what exactly is in that space until the demo—something might be hidden, or something won’t quite work because there’s no storm drain where there should be.”

To navigate those mysteries, Holler makes sure to remain in constant communication with everyone involved in a project. She holds regular meetings with landlords, has a phone call with the design team every Monday, and checks in with her construction team every Friday to ensure that everything is going smoothly and on schedule.

“There are always things that need to be resolved, and I want to make sure that everyone has input throughout the process,” Holler says. “But one of the best things about working here is the atmosphere—even when things do go wrong, we never point fingers. We just say, ‘OK, that

The Globe-Trotter

“I grew up in North Dakota,” Becky Holler says, “and never even flew on a plane until I was in college. My first flight was to London for a college architecture program— and ever since then, I’ve just loved to travel.”

Over the years, Holler has taken trips to Panama, South Africa, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Jordan, Russia, Singapore, Qatar, and Germany. She’s walked along the Bosporus river in Istanbul and “flown around the world in seven days.”

And all of that travel goes handin-hand with her work, Holler points out: “You have to see the space in order to truly design for it.”

Becky Holler

Senior Director of Design & Development

True Food Kitchen

 Customers at True Food Kitchen’s New Orleans location are treated to the restaurant’s signature eco-chic design. Frank L. Aymami II (top), Little’s Photography (bottom)

didn’t work. How do we solve it as quickly as possible, and how do we avoid doing that again in the future?’

“The entire team has bought into that mentality,” she continues, “so there’s a very positive work atmosphere that, at the end of the day, makes it easier to get things done.”

But to Holler and her teams, building a new True Food location is about far more than just “getting things done.” There is a broader purpose behind everything that they do, she emphasizes.

“We are really looking at the spaces we’re working in now and trying to see them as part of the larger cities that we’re bringing True Food to,” Holler says. “In Kansas City, we included a skyline of the city. The New Orleans location had a lot of different vibrant, upbeat pieces of artwork.

Congratulations Becky Holler

RCC Associates is proud of our long-term relationship building spectacular projects together such as True Food Kitchen

“Including those kinds of personal, more local touches in our restaurants helps show people in those cities that we are really trying to understand what their city is all about,” the senior director adds. “So many other chain restaurants look exactly the same as all the others, but we’re trying to do something that makes our locations unique.” www.rccassociates.com

“Whether we’re just getting the design team set up or coordinating with the landlord or initiating construction, there’s always something going on.”

How to Forge a Paradise

The Greek Amphitheatre was constructed by the Theosophical Society in 1901. It has been adopted as the university’s logo and as a symbol of PLNU’s commitment to providing a Christian liberal arts education.

Courtesy of Point Loma Nazarene University

Daniel Toro asks the right questions to build educational excellence at California’s Point Loma Nazarene University

By Cora Berg

Although a native of New York, the director of campus facilities and sustainability for Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) now prefers to be situated along the breathtaking Pacific Coast. “I get to live in paradise every day,” he says.

Toro’s role means that, on a daily basis, he takes on questions of best practices in stewarding the land, facilities, campus environments, and his own staff. Toro builds more than facilities. He builds his team.

“Even if individuals agree on principles, they may differ on methods,” the director says. “The greatest barricade to effective work is neglecting to understand the people you work with. I can embrace differences to maximize unity.”

Toro’s responsibility stretches over 3 regional campuses, comprising approximately 900,000 gross square feet of facilities on 90-plus acres of land, including several historically designated landmarks. More than 4,000 students and 950 employees utilize the physical environment. Currently, his team is taking on a huge quality improvement project across PLNU, intent on finding a new approach. “The end goal is developing an environment of wellness,” he says.

The concept of “environment” is nuanced for Toro. While it refers to physical entities, the word also encompasses communities of people and their cultures. The goal is to design an end-user experience that is defined beyond technical use, which requires intentional listening to the vision of one’s stakeholders instead of the traditional prescriptive approach.

“Our physical assets and resources need to align with how we educate,” Toro says. Something seemingly small, like a broken stool or outdated whiteboard, can be significant distractions to the educational experience. The director wants to maintain facilities that never lead PLNU students to question the money or time they spend at the school, lest they “go somewhere else.”

As higher education shifts towards more online classes, the school in turn needs to shift facilities to cope. Toro gets granular, thinking about electrical outlets and lighting, all in the service of more macro concerns, like facilities strategic plans that involve student success as a key performance indicator. The question he considers is, “How do we manage resources in a changing educational environment?”

PLNU, like many US universities, owns a number of buildings near the end of their “useful life.” Constructed in the 1950s and ’60s, many show signs of their age and often present challenges to the occupants. A teardown and rebuild on all structures at once is simply not an option. Thus, as Toro brings together planners, engineers, and tradespeople, he asks everyone to consider future-facing strategic positioning. “With fresh eyes, we are asking about the campus envelope,” he says.

Critical to this strategy are questions of sustainability, including meeting local, state, and federal requirements. To lead responsibly, Toro identifies specific actions beyond marketing awareness. He asks hard questions about everything from waste management to materials use to utilities to sustainable construction.

For instance, PLNU is considering ways to go beyond the basic fulfillment of California’s Title 24 with options

Daniel Toro loves his Southern California home.

▲ The curving stainless steel screen of PLNU’s Sator Hall, perforated with the alpha and omega, filters in the light of the golden hour.

“With fresh eyes, we are asking about the campus envelope.”

Daniel Toro Director of Campus Facilities & Sustainability Point Loma Nazarene University

Courtesy of Point Loma Nazarene University

of smart lighting. Toro now envisions facilities design that uses natural light more effectively.

When it comes to being an effective leader, Toro says, “If you lead from insecurity, you are a danger to yourself and others.” This is a mind-set he applies particularly in both employee and end-user engagement, especially when it comes to tough conversations about change management in the way employees approach their work and their customers. “We must lead from the front and from the center.”

As Toro manages the culture of the physical plant, he also reminds his team to slow down and reconsider

relationships. “We are a service-based industry,” Toro says, “but historically, tradespeople showed up as the experts, telling everyone what was going to happen.” Instead, he asks his team to get ahead of this by collaborating with the customer. “Ask them what they want, so we know how to facilitate the need.”

He is also investing in people by getting middle-management certified in lean Six Sigma to enhance their critical thinking and strategic decision-making capabilities. Every Thursday morning, Toro opens his doors to talk leadership skills with his management team. He knows focusing on soft skills is sometimes viewed as

“People can dream again. There is a fresh vision and a fire.”

PLNU’s LEED-certified Sator Hall was built to connect students of the natural sciences to the natural world as much as possible. Courtesy of Point Loma Nazarene University

a poor use of precious time but defends his actions, saying, “If you never pay attention to a horse’s shoes, the horse will go lame.”

Toro himself is no stranger to a transition in leadership style; he changed his own while earning his master’s degree in theology and ethical leadership. His professors challenged and encouraged him to reevaluate. “They took time to stop and learn about me, to help me get to the finish line,” he recalls. “They helped me fully be myself. This was really powerful support.” Toro reports that he now thinks about humans as much as he thinks about tasks.

Along with his grad school revelations, Toro looks to his grandfather’s example of leadership. A Spanish immigrant, his grandfather eventually landed in Manhattan after fleeing Franco’s Spain. Toro recalls, “His goal was to leave this world better.”

Since arriving at PLNU in 2018, Toro sees more shared intent and support among his staff. People ask “why,” not just “what.” A few individuals who had been counting down the days to retirement have instead gone back to school. “People can dream again. There is a fresh vision and a fire.”

As Toro aligns team management with strategic goals, his methodologies may well not only maintain but improve his paradise.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

BYCOR GENERAL CONTRACTORS

Bycor General Contractors was founded in 1981 by Rich Byer and Scott Kaats. Bycor has earned a reputation as a leader in San Diego’s commercial construction industry.

Beginning January 2018, Rich and Scott brought Tom Brunson and Brian Stanton on board as partners at Bycor to strengthen the team and provide continuity of service into the indefinite future.

Today, Bycor is a team of more than 100 with a steadfast commitment to deliver high-quality projects on time and within budget. Its business cards are imprinted with “Your Construction Partner.” This is intended to convey Bycor’s commitment to putting the clients’ needs first and to protect their interests in every transaction.

Unlike Any Other

By Peter Fabris

In his own words, Nate Franje explains how he and his team at R&R Realty built a modern, desirable new office campus in a highly competitive market The Westfield Campus in Des Moines, Iowa, boasts highend features and accommodations for attracting and retaining top talent in the workplace.

Jacob Sharp

With the average full-time worker clocking in nearly 2,080 hours per year—not including overtime—it makes sense that the office would feel like a second home. These days, there’s a greater focus from companies to refine workplace offerings so they can attract and retain the best talent.

So what kind of environment will draw in the best?

American Builders Quarterly asked Nate Franje. The vice president of operations for development services at R&R Realty was responsible for creating Iowa’s premier office property, the Westfield Campus.

A pacesetter in the Des Moines, Iowa, region, the Westfield Campus is a 180,000-square-foot modern office complex, conveniently situated near both downtown and the Des Moines International Airport.

What qualities and features set the Westfield apart from the rest?

Westfield is a one-of-a-kind building within R&R’s portfolio. The use of metal and glass as exterior design elements make the building stand out from R&R’s traditionally brick-built buildings. We also incorporated common areas that are rarely seen in speculative buildings, like a rooftop patio, ground-level amphitheater, and a 20,000-square-foot commons space where customers can host events, meetings, or training sessions on a large scale. There is also a state-of-the-art fitness center, a digital Starbucks café, and a custom corporate market with fresh options like sandwiches and salads. The building concierge can do everything from help schedule a meeting to coordinate dry cleaning and automotive service requests.

What shaped the programming and design plans?

When R&R began the process of designing the Westfield Campus, we knew it had to be unlike any building in the Des Moines metro area. Our in-house design firm, Spark Design, took up the challenge and delivered a fantastic result. We knew that collaboration and shared space would be hallmarks of the building, so the programming went in that direction.

Why did the team choose the features and attributes that make up the final design?

We emphasized the creation of spaces where people would want to spend time. This meant light and airy materials were used to maximize natural daylight coming in from large, expansive windows. The design team prioritized flexible seating that allows people to cus-

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

WATERFORD OFFICE BUILDING FINDS A HOME IN OMAHA

Confluence is proud to be a part of a building and courtyard design currently under construction in the Omaha, Nebraska, metro area near West Dodge Road and 192nd Street.

Confluence has provided landscape architecture services for the courtyard and front entry spaces as well as design services for the office park identity signage that will include a large fountain feature positioned along Dodge Road. The courtyard space will provide building tenants an area to work, meet, and relax outdoors, while the fountain feature will capture the attention of busy Dodge Road drivers with its cascading water during the day and its exceptional illumination at night. Confluence specializes in creating unique outdoor places for the human experience, whether they are courtyards, rooftop design, plazas, signage, or anything in between.

Nate Franje VP, Operations for Development Services R&R Realty

Courtesy of R&R Realty Group

The Rooftop Terrace

“The rooftop has proven to be a very popular place for our customers to host events and meetings. The outdoor space includes chairs, tables, and a long multiuse bar with shades, and it’s equipped with Wi-Fi. Customers have hosted cocktail hours for clients, held meetings, and routinely used the space as a place to collaborate in a more natural setting.”

The Amphitheater

“The amphitheater is used by many people during the warmer months. Considering that the Westfield Campus is located within a suburbanstyle office park, food options can be limited. We planned for this by making the area next to the amphitheater a dedicated food truck zone. When the sun is shining and the weather is warm, a variety of people from the companies that call Westfield home enjoy lunch at the amphitheater.”

The Collaboration Center

“The collaboration center within the Westfield Commons is used for a variety of functions. It has played host to more than 600 people for a magazine unveiling event, and it hosts groups far smaller daily for meetings. The furniture within the collaboration center is flexible and can be easily configured for small gatherings, happy-hour-style social events, or classroomstyle training sessions.”

Jacob Sharp

tomize layouts within spaces. They also used art within shared areas, working with a Des Moines art gallery to curate a collection of pieces done by Iowa-based artists.

How are the offices themselves arranged?

Each customer is empowered to create the space that works for them. Spark Design works closely with our brokers as they assist customers to create their ideal environment. Within the Westfield Campus, you’ll find office spaces that range from the traditional to the quite contemporary.

Biophilic design was also a major priority. Two living moss walls with R&R’s familiar logo greet visitors at the main entrances. By featuring items like moss walls along with clean, white marble floors, the design team succeeded in their goal of bringing nature into a high-end office space. The result is an office environment that feels healthy and successful.

Another unique aspect of R&R’s new space is the use of various design styles and finishes. Because R&R

is a commercial real estate company, the design team was tasked with creating a functional, cutting-edge office that could double as a showroom.

How did the teams collaborate to determine what would make the space unique and successful?

R&R has 35 years of experience developing, leasing, and managing speculative office buildings, so when it came to the Westfield Campus, our experience guided our strategy. We used price point data within the Des Moines and Midwest office markets, and we looked to Chicago, New York, and other large cities to determine what amenities and features were trending. Then we used our experience in the Des Moines market to understand how these trends could be implemented at market-appropriate price points. Team members from across our organization performed this research, and I think the spirit of collaboration is evident in the success our brokers have had in leasing the building.

We are designers, planners, innovators, collaborators, facilitators, and creators of ideas that improve our built environment. Think Confluence. Think ahead.

Over twenty years of award-winning experience

Courtesy of Caruso

Palisades Village is home to the highly anticipated restoration of the historic Bay Theater.

Construction in High Style

Tom Veje heads construction for some of the most high-profile retail, residential, office, and hospitality properties

at Caruso

By Billy Yost

Every morning when Tom Veje gets ready for work, he has a choice to make. Among the rest of his attire are eight sets of cufflinks, all gifts from Caruso CEO and real estate mogul Rick Caruso, highlighting the successful completion of some of the company’s most high-profile construction projects.

Veje has overseen construction for properties that don’t just occupy their spaces; they are extensions of neighborhoods and become intertwined with the communities they serve. The Grove and Americana At Brand, for example, are two of the country’s most beloved and visited shopping centers in the country. According to Green Street Advisors, Caruso properties consistently outperform traditional shopping destinations based on productivity and sales per square foot. The Grove, its flagship property, was ranked second on Fortune’s list of the top 10 highest sales-generating shopping centers in the country.

Each set of cufflinks Veje earned is styled with a brand logo of its respective project, serving as a memento of Caruso’s relentless commitment to be the last word in luxury construction. Veje makes a decision and gets on with his day.

For 10 of the past 18 years at Caruso, the EVP of construction has helmed construction projects for one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the US. “We always have projects in the pipeline, but we get to be selective about them to really focus on the desired outcome,” Veje says. “I’m not sure that working at any other development company could afford me the level of creativity and autonomy I have here because everything we do is so unique.”

Part of Veje’s expertise comes by way of having not dug so deep that he misses the forest for the trees. “I’m glad I never became a specialist, because I’ve developed a broad skill set and base of resources that allow me to be successful whether we are building high-rises or residential properties,” the EVP explains. “That’s especially important here because every project we do is a blank slate, a clean sheet of paper. We don’t assume the project we’ve done before informs what we do in the future.”

The one constant, Veje says, is maintaining the relationships that are imperative to the EVP having never missed a schedule in his building career. “Everything from our contractors and architects to our subcontractors are vital because so much of the work we do requires a high level of craftsmanship that not many companies have. This ability to define our projects through the lens of design is what differentiates Caruso

Rosewood Miramar Beach boasts an elegant grand foyer and ballroom; a large front lawn with ocean views; many ultraluxury guestrooms, suites, and signature suites; and multibedroom bungalows. The resort was designed to evoke style, grace, and glamour, balancing the residential and the refined.

from so many and makes us capable of delivering true value,” Veje explains. “I have such enormous gratitude for our partners, who ensure that we deliver on the three pillars that ground our business: fiscal responsibility, delivering the highest quality, and staying on schedule.” Caruso’s most recently completed projects appear to be the pinnacle of these finely tuned partnerships. His partners agree. Travis Roy, vice president of business development for Taft Electric, speaks highly of his longtime work with Veje. “Taft’s experiences with Tom extend back 20 years; the Caruso design concepts

Courtesy of Caruso

foster unimaginable ability to create an unparalleled retail experience, which Tom is instrumental in executing,” Roy says. “To say each project is unique and challenging would be an understatement, but the end result speaks for itself. We are honored to work with Tom and the entire Caruso team, and we look forward to the next 20 years.”

Likewise, Tutor Perini’s former EVP Craig Shaw, who retired in 2019 and now works there as a consultant, is proud of some of the most captivating projects that the general contracting group has partnered with Caruso on to bring to life. “Tutor Perini Corporation collaborated with Tom Veje on the Palisades Village and Miramar Beach Resort projects,” Shaw explains. “He was a pleasure to work with and a consummate professional. His business style and attention to detail were instrumental in the success of both projects, despite extremely aggressive schedules and complex construction challenges.”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

AMERICANA AT BRAND

A resounding success since its opening, Caruso’s Americana at Brand is a one-of-a-kind community gathering place offering an all-in-one living experience by combining a dramatic mix of luxury residential units, unique shopping experiences, dining, and entertainment in downtown Glendale, California. Built by Bernards, which also built Caruso’s stunning 8500 Burton Way mixed-use complex, this five-structure destination complex offers a vibrancy that attracts and captivates the surrounding communities. Stylish residential units integrate seamlessly within the project’s commercial core. At its heart, the project features an open-air, two-acre central square with spectacular landscapes, fountains, a full-scale trolley, and meandering walkways.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

EXPERIENCE THE GROVE

The Grove at Farmers Market is an outdoor urban shopping and entertainment hub with retail, theater, restaurants, and office spaces totaling approximately 411,000 square feet. The project consisted of the construction of 9 structural steel and wood framed buildings, and the site work and area development totaled 18 acres. The buildings were composed of highend finishes, bay windows, stone columns, steel-welded storefront systems, and all-glass storefront systems. Special interactive features such as a programmable fountain with dancing waters and a custom trolley and track system running approximately 1,200 feet in length make for a pleasant day or night stroll. The Whiting-Turner team is very proud to have been part of the Grove at Farmers Market project.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

PARKING WITH A VIEW

Los Angeles’ 1003 E. 4th Place Parking Structure was completed by Parkco Building Company and is located in the Los Angeles Arts District in what was formerly the historic Maxwell House Coffee Building, built in 1924. The six-level cast-in-place concrete parking structure provides 200 parking stalls with a post-tensioned podium deck that supports a two-story structural steel-framed creative office space above. The class A office space includes an open-floor plan, high ceilings with natural lighting, and amazing views of downtown Los Angeles. The façade of the structure includes a thin brick veneer, metal-louvered vision screen, exposed and sacked concrete columns and walls, a viewing deck, and a large, expansive office curtain wall system.

Despite those hurtles, Caruso and its vendors were able to offer the communities who enjoy these two spaces an unparalleled experience.

Palisades Village

Measuring only three acres, Caruso’s Palisades Village is a bespoke walkable village home to more than 40 uniquely curated boutiques, entertainment, and fresh food experiences. Since its opening in fall 2018, the property has brought to Pacific Palisades a collection of specialty retailers ranging from brick-and-mortar ventures that are unique to the community to soughtafter fashion labels, as well as tenants who have found a home for their first West Coast outpost.

Shaped over the past several years in close dialogue with the residents of the community, the 125,000-square-foot development was uniquely designed to seamlessly blend into the surrounding neighborhood, giving it the look of a local town center that grew organically and matured over time. True to Caruso’s commitment to offering unparalleled guest experiences, Palisades Village is home to an extensive selection of dining venues—including the highly anticipated restoration of the historic Bay Theater—a specialty grocer, concierge service, a community room, and a beautifully landscaped green space.

Tom Veje EVP of Construction Caruso Courtesy of Caruso

A park, an underground valet parking garage, a bike-share program, and space for 42 businesses comprise what Veje says was Rick Caruso’s vision for a “coastal beachside environment that you might find on the East Coast.” The construction head says the in-house design team employed varied and unique architectural styles so as to make the shopping center that appeared over months look as if it had been gradually added to over decades.

The choice of tenants was also given intense scrutiny. “Over the last 30 years, little downtown districts have been destroyed by the big box stores, which in turn have been crushed by online retailers,” Veje says. “We decided to approach online retailers and partner with them for first or second versions of brick-andmortar stores that almost function like showrooms. You can go there, try on or out a product, buy it then and there, or go home and order it.”

As for the dining choices, Veje says local restaurateurs were given priority over national chains, ensuring the local community, who had significant and continued input into the shopping center development, felt more connected to the entire experience.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

PALISADES PARADISE

Taft Electric was the electrical contracting partner on the most recent Caruso premier development, The Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades. The project, a high-end retail development, consisted of five new retail, restaurant, and mixed-use buildings, including a three-level belowgrade parking structure, neighborhood cinema, eight living residences, a specialty grocery market, extensive site development, and open-air paseos for community enjoyment. Taft Electric is proud to have been a part of this exciting endeavor for the community and an ongoing trade partner with the Caruso development team for the past 22 years.

CONGRATULATIONS

to Tom Veje and Caruso Affiliated on the success of The Grove. We are proud to have been part of your vision and this iconic project.

The Grove at Farmers Market

www.barrettbuilding.com

CAREFULLY CRAFTED INTELLIGENT DESIGN

AMPAM is California’s #1 multifamily residential plumbing subcontractor. For more than three decades, AMPAM has been an industry leader and one that is committed to quality, safety and unprecedented customer service.

Since opening in 2018, there has been very little tenant turnover, and the apartments that sit atop the shopping center command the highest rent in Pacific Palisades, a community already well known for its affluence. Palisades Village sits across from homes whose starting prices are somewhere around $3 million.

Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito

Caruso’s first hotel endeavor has set a standard that will be hard to top. The 161-suite and bungalow beach resort lies 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles on 16 acres of beachfront property. The main building of the hotel feels like a manor house that one of the great railroad titans of the 1800s may have built as a retreat from the world, and that feeling has been maintained and embellished. The entryway leads to a foyer and a minimal reception area, with a living room bar just steps away. A grand ballroom, spa, and main restaurant also sit on the main floor, with luxury suites on the second.

The bungalows and cottages on the estate are modeled after those that may have been built over time as the owner’s family and friends circle grew, and Veje says those cottages at Miramar have now been rented out for weeks, months, or the entire summer by families looking for an optimal summer getaway.

“Everything about this place just feels right and comfortable,” Veje says, “to the extent that the community around it is probably its biggest customer.

“Everything about this place just feels right and comfortable to the extent that the community around it is probably its biggest customer.”

Barrett Building Company offers full design and build for high end residential and retail construction, tenant-improvement in high luxury lifestyle centers and construction management. The combination of our construction experience, vast resources, financial strength, and our successful track record of delivering quality projects brings a unique value to satisfy all your construction needs.

The locals come for drinks or food over and over again and treat it like their traditional neighborhood district.”

Miramar is truly one of those locations where the pictures say it all. Nothing needs to be left to the imagination, because anything a guest could want in an experience has been accounted for.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

BUILDING AGAINST ALL ODDS

Tutor Perini Building Corp. was honored to be the general contractor for Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito, a landmark destination. The upscale resort complex is located on nearly 16 acres of beachfront property with guest accommodations, many in single-story cottages and bungalows, along with numerous resort amenities. Having navigated through the impact caused by floods, mudslides, and fires that occurred in the area during construction, the team was able to persevere. Combining modern technology and design with old-world style and craftsmanship, the project was constructed to a standard that is superior in all respects. In the end, the closeworking relationship developed with Caruso was Tutor Perini’s greatest achievement on this project.

Secret Sauce

There is a contentment and excitement in Veje’s voice as he explains these projects as well as the team to which he credits such a long tenure at Caruso. “I’ve got the sickness, and I’ve had it in my blood for as long as I can remember,” the EVP jokes. “I just love everything about the development, design, and construction process. Our team has a culture of trust and openness that allows us to tackle problems head-on when they arise. The critical factor is our team’s ability to come together to overcome any problems.”

And lastly, over 18 years, Veje says the privilege of getting to build such high-profile properties lies first and foremost with his CEO. “Rick has given me the chance to have this career,” Veje says frankly. “I’ve gotten to do things that, at the heart of it, nobody else in this business gets the opportunity to do.”

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President/CEO Adrian Hoyle

Chief Estimator Derek Chambers

Maria Moye Senior Manager of Visual Merchandising, Retail Marketing & Store Design ASICS Corporation

Shape the Space

Senior Manager Maria Moye on her mission to create a memorable and personalized experience for all ASICS consumers

By Sara Deeter

Portraits by Mathew Scott

Like many children who grow up in close proximity to New York City, Maria Moye felt energized every time she visited Manhattan. That world felt different—it felt bigger, more expansive. And Moye knew she wanted to be a part of it. Today, as senior manager of visual merchandising, retail marketing, and store design at the ASICS Corporation, Moye aims to create that same sense of wonder and excitement every time a customer steps foot in a store.

“When you’re seeing Manhattan or any big city as a child, you see its glamour—the style, the edges, the shine, the grit. You get caught up in a vibrant and almost tangible

energy just by walking down the street,” Moye recalls of her childhood. “And that translates to the museums, the restaurants, and the shopping centers—each and every environment is designed to be explored, to inspire visitors, and to help them unlock and discover what each space has to offer.”

Moye’s fascination with the experience that the right environment can provide was something that stayed with her as she began to partner with brands and make a name for herself at prominent companies such as Guess, Nautica, and Nike. As a retail brand manager, visual merchandising manager, and senior creative visual planner

at those companies, Moye strived to create an engaging and stimulating experience for consumers—even if that meant turning store design convention on its head.

“Working at Nike’s Fifth Avenue NYC flagship store to deliver brand-design experiences made me realize that there are other ways to present information that aren’t just about hanging things top to bottom on a wall,” she explains. “You can shape the environment and bend it to what you need it to be.”

And that is exactly what Moye has done at ASICS, the Japanese sports performance brand born to inspire hope and purpose.

ASICS itself is an acronym for the Latin phrase Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, which translates to “a healthy soul in a healthy body,” embodying the brand’s commitment to improving society and empowering people through sport.

As senior manager, Moye oversees the company’s visual merchandising and retail marketing efforts, from store events to activities in the local communities. But whatever she’s working on, Moye says, she is always mindful of the blurred lines between online and in-store experiences.

“Online shopping is the ultimate convenience, and we are seeing that grow across all brands in the industry,” she says. “So our physical locations really have to serve as an experience worth seeking out. Shop-

pers have to feel personal connections to our people, products, and services.

“I have a really small team, so in order to hit all our dates and gates, it’s really critical that we partner with external teams like SEG Services,” the senior manager points out. “It’s because of their attention to detail and relentless dedication that we are able to move quickly across all our different projects and change directions on a dime when needed.”

Over the past year, Moye has been working with partners like SEG Services as well as her internal team to implement a number of different unique services, initiatives, and technologies designed to create a personalized experience for ASICS consumers.

One of the most exciting technologies, to Moye’s mind, is something that many Yoga

Photo: Christopher Roger

▼ Maria Moye ran point on all strategy around event planning, retail marketing, public socialization, and design for the ASICS Takeover of Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California.

Setting the Pace

SEG Services designed, built, and installed an innovative experience for ASICS’ energy-saving shoe designed to make running longer easier

For ASICS Fifth Avenue flagship, the athletic brand partnered with SEG Services, a production agency based in Portland, Oregon, to showcase its GLIDERIDE™ sneaker to consumers. SEG oversaw the project from concept to execution and was instrumental in bringing the ASICS Institute of Sport Science (ISS) innovation to life.

Utilizing the ASICS RUN ANALYZER ® app, while also presenting the GLIDERIDE™ to prospective buyers, SEG Services created a 16-by-12-foot aluminum frame with light panels and monitors surrounding a treadmill. Customers could then test the sneakers while the app measured their movement, revealing the energy saved and improved form. SEG and ISS’ partnership allowed consumers an immersive, firsthand experience that demonstrates how the ISS developed the shoe technology.

On the rest of the floor, SEG Services built and installed lit shoe pedestals, light boxes, and window display monitors that face 47th Street and Fifth Avenue. They provided ASICS with ideation, graphic design, production design, engineering, fabrication, and installation, making it a one-stop shop for bringing the company’s vision to life.

The GLIDERIDE™ came to market in the flagship location during the NYC Marathon week, attracting thousands of running fans and athletes in close proximity from Central Park.

people might overlook at first glance: a shoe sole.

“This is a groundbreaking technology [introduced in the GLIDERIDE shoe] designed to not only propel you forward but also help you conserve energy and absorb shock so that you can run longer and more efficiently,” Moye explains. “When we debuted this technology at our Fifth Avenue Flagship location in NYC, we built an experience so that consumers could see and feel all the different advantages of the technology for themselves.”

The team at the ASICS Institute of Sports (ISS) produced several prototypes with a curved forefoot design, which gives runners a smooth and comfortable rolling effect as they run. The unique features of the GLIDE-

RIDE also help runners save energy while in motion and lessen foot fatigue.

“That experience was planned to be ready for the NYC marathon,” she adds, “so we were able to become a part of a really exciting sport moment and engage with extremely knowledgeable consumers.”

According to Moye, this technological experience was designed to give consumers a sense of the extensive research and analysis that went into the development of the shoe sole at ISS, which is located in Japan.

“I am a conduit from the ASICS North America region to our global headquarters in Kobe,” Moye notes. “I am in constant communication and partnership with our teams in Japan to ensure that the voice

of the brand—its authentic heritage, our founder’s dedication to physical and emotional well-being, and our tradition of product innovation—is coming to life in the consumer experience.”

At the end of the day, everything that Moye does is “guided by the experience,” she says, whether she’s hosting a holiday gathering, organizing a store event, or helping to design a new ASICS space.

“I want it all to be the best experience possible,” Moye emphasizes, “the kind of experience that stays with a person and creates a connection to the brand that lasts for years to come.”

Editor’s note: At the time of press, Maria Moye was no longer with ASICS.

“There are other ways to present information that aren’t just about hanging things top to bottom on a wall. You can shape the environment and bend it to what you need it to be.”

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

The View from the Top

By Keith Loria

Gregory Iannacone joined the ROTC in college, and by 22, he was an air defense officer for the Army, leading a group of 30 men and learning about responsibility, leadership, and communication.

It’s those traits that helped him when he transitioned back to the civilian world, interacting with executives and using his engineering background to establish a strong career in construction and development—one that has led him to his current role as a director in the hotel development team for New Yorkbased Lightstone Group.

Iannacone started his construction career with highway improvement projects, then moved to New York City, where he got his first taste of building construction. He moved to the owner-operator side with Faithful+Gould, a project management and cost

consultancy firm that introduced him to the hospitality industry.

His first foray into the hospitality world started in 2007 at the Peninsula New York on 5th Avenue and 55th Street. He helped renovate the top three stories of the hotel, which included the property’s luxury spa, pool, gym, and rooftop bar.

“Hospitality is a very demanding market to work within,” Iannacone says, “especially on the higher-end side, when you’re dealing with five-star properties.” He adds that the New York market, on top of that, adds a rigorous challenge on its own.

While at Faithful+Gould, Iannacone was also tasked by Marriott with the repositioning of the old Metropolitan Life Clock Tower from a commercial office space to a hospitality asset. Originally constructed in 1909 in

Gregory Iannacone has specialized in hospitality throughout his career, offering him opportunities as sky high as clocktowers and now ocean views

Courtesy of Lightstone Group

“We started on the project in early 2012, and it was unique because to reposition it and make it code compliant, the building required significant structural realignments and improvements,” he explains. “The existing building had one stair tower but needed two, and it literally took a year’s worth of a structural program where the building was gutted and floor plates demoed out to facilitate the hospitality fit-out.”

Because it was a steel structure with cinder-ash concrete floors, surveyors needed to go in to ensure what could be demoed safely and where floorplates could be realigned to set up for hotel rooms.

“We also had to improve both of the property’s elevators banks,” Iannacone recounts. “One bank

of three cars went through a modernization program and the other midrise bank was completely demoed, and two new cars were installed into a new full-rise elevator bank.”

Overall, he doesn’t think he will ever again work on a project as complicated in terms of realigning a building’s core before performing a fit-out, but he feels the project gave him a lot of different experiences and ideas for future projects.

For instance, when working on the Moxy East Village—a recent 286-key micro hotel concept situated just south of Union Square on East 11th Street, which opened in the fall of 2019 after two years of development—Iannacone notes he used a lot of the concepts from the Met Life Clock Tower job to better work with Lightstone’s hotel development team.

Gregory Iannacone Director of Hotel Development Lightstone Group

“Hospitality is a very demanding market to work within, especially on the higher-end side, when you’re dealing with fivestar properties.”

Manhattan’s Flatiron District, the 50-story, 700-foot-high office tower is now home to the New York EDITION Hotel.

Down to Earth

As a father of three daughters—who fall between ages 3 and 10—Gregory Iannacone has a life outside of work that revolves mostly around his kids and their activities. This includes the their school’s Dads’ Night, where students’ fathers put on a show every year. Iannacone relishes the opportunity to not only bond with his own kids but to meet and socialize with other families in his community.

Iannacone adds that he coordinated with many stakeholders throughout the entire project, from the operations side, the funding side, the construction team, and the Lightstone development team. The design of the hotel was conceived as a vertical timeline, finding inspiration from various periods in East Village history, starting with its earliest settlers and moving to the punk era to today.

Based on his background, in his role on this development, Iannacone worked for the senior vice president of construction, collaborating closely with the contractor and performing overall monitoring and support for the day-today buyouts of the construction team. He notes that he quickly realized the importance of communication throughout the development team so that “everyone’s expectations are understood, and everyone is smiling at the end.”

He reveals it’s always a challenge to ensure everyone’s voice is heard when it comes to ultimate success once the property opens, but he works hard to keep everyone on the same page, especially when aligning the work with all city

Currently, Iannacone is working on the development of Moxy South Beach, the seven-story hotel that is set to open on Miami Beach by the end of the year. This will mark Lightstone’s first Moxy outside of New York, and since each hotel design is dependent on location, this will pose an

“Similar to other Marriott locations, there’s a brand standard so you have the same overall feel when you step on property; however, it will also have its own distinct local flavor,” Iannacone explains. “It has a very welcoming entrance area, with similar room sizes [to the other properties] and spectacular communal features.

“You learn from every project,” Iannacone continues. “You learn a lot about the teams you’re working with and how to interact to get the best outcome. That’s what I enjoy about every project I work on.”

WITH GREG IANNACONE

▲ Gregory Iannacone poses with his wife and three daughters.

A Seamless Evolution

Jerald Estime reveals how his team employs strategic planning to allow Levi Strauss & Co. to flourish, even in an era when brick-and-mortar is rumored to be at risk

By Sara Verdi

Jerald Estime’s entrance into real estate could be called fortuitous. While in graduate school at Emory University, Estime and a fellow student from his real estate finance class used to discuss going into business with each another post-graduation.

One day, while planning an outline for their future business in the university’s career services office, a paper fell from the fax machine to the floor. “We picked it up, and it was an announcement of a real estate company coming to the business school. It was like it was meant to be,” Estime remembers, laughing. He interviewed and was subsequently hired, thus kicking off his corporate real estate career.

All of his experiences since then Estime likens to arrows in his quiver. “You get to a place where all of your experiences and the things that you’ve done before have really equipped you. You pick up these little tidbits and arrows along the way, and one day you look up and your quiver is full,” he says.

From graduate school to his first job to more mature roles, each of his experiences has prepared him for the next, and he recalls one in particular that was especially defining. “At the Gap, I lived through every life cycle. From a recession to downsizing to fast-paced growth and new concept rollouts, every aspect of that has helped me become a well-rounded real estate executive,” Estime explains. “As I live and work through the current state of today, I can reach back in my quiver and pull from all of my past experiences, and all of it has been extremely beneficial.”

As the vice president of real estate for Levi Strauss & Co., Estime is responsible for all of the company’s real estate business in the Americas. “If I simply boil down what my team is in charge of, it’s non-comp store growth. So that would

“You have to be flexible. You have to be willing to adjust with the marketplace. I still believe that there is a really strong need for the brickand-mortar experience.”

include new store growth and optimization of our existing fleet: how do we make our stores more profitable? Whether that’s expansion, retraction, lease renewals, dispositions, relocations, or any other real estate transaction, that is our team’s responsibility,” he says.

The real estate team at Levi’s must be agile about strategic planning by consistently establishing its real estate strategy in conjunction with the brand strategy to assure it maximizes profitability and reaches planned growth targets. “As retail business models and the market dynamics shift, in terms of the way consumers shop and experience the brand,” Estime explains, “our real estate strategy has been critical in making sure that we meet the consumer where they are and that they have the ultimate experience with the brand.” By aligning with brand strategy, his team focuses on providing a seamless experience for the consumer.

“That’s something that we’re all really proud of,” the VP says of the approach. “One great example of this is we had a fantastic marketing installation in [the] Wynwood [district of] Miami. The Levi experience encompassed a full city block that customers really enjoyed. We were there for Art Basel, and then transitioned into the Super Bowl, which then transitioned into our new store opening at the Aventura Mall. And that’s how real estate helps work together with all facets of the business to make sure that the customer experience is fantastic.”

Currently, Estime works with a small yet nimble entrepreneurial team. He attributes the successes of his team to operating with transparency. “What’s important to me is that everyone on my team has a voice,” he says. “I try to share as much as possible and give people the opportunity to voice their

creative ideas. I always look to support my people. Overall, I just have a really great team. They’re totally committed.”

With fluctuation in the real estate market and a rise in online shopping, one would think that physical, brick-and-mortar stores would suffer. “I’ve read all the publications [declaring] ‘death of the shopping mall’ due to things like recessions and retailers going under,” Estime says. “The importance of retail to the US economy and the global economy does change. But we continue to

evolve. You have to be flexible. You have to be willing to adjust with the marketplace. I still believe that there is a really strong need for the brick-and-mortar experience.”

In fact, Levi’s willingness to keep the brick-and-mortar experience dynamic is one of the reasons that drew the VP to the company. “They’re still shaping what the physical experience is like and where their locations are,” Estime says. I can’t think of a better time, now that the market is changing so rapidly, to be able to grow with it.”

Julie Kilpatrick started in San Diego with JLL, using the local outdoor beauty as inspiration for the natural surfaces of wood, marble, and polished concrete against a neutral palette and outdoor space.

I D Studios, Inc.

See It Through

Julie

Kilpatrick

joined the University of California San Diego real estate team to be part of an extensive 10-year campus revitalization plan

By Billy Yost

Julie Kilpatrick spent 20 years acting as the third-party consultant for construction and development projects for Fortune 500 companies of all kinds, delivering best-in-class service to the carefully cultivated list of high-profile clients in Chicago, Indianapolis, and the southwest before returning home to sunny San Diego at the end of 2014.

Kilpatrick was lucky to maintain a stable of steady clients, a relative miracle in the building space, but she was continually finding new ways to reinvent the wheel for other one-and-done clients without being able to view the long-term benefits of these companies she was helping grow.

“It was fun to effect change and deliver successful projects, but the clients would then move on, and I didn’t feel like I was able to have that ability to have an impact from the management or organizational

▼ Julie Kilpatrick formerly worked with JLL to deliver beautiful projects to high-profile clients, before ultimately joining UCSD.

perspective,” Kilpatrick says. That is, until one of her clients asked if she’d be interested in moving to the owner’s side of real estate.

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) was in the midst of a massive $2 billion revitalization project of its Hillcrest Medical Center Campus along with other campus additions. For Kilpatrick, it was the chance to not only see the benefits of her labor play out, but to do so on a truly transformational scale. “A revitalization project of this scale is truly unique, and being a San Diego native, I am excited about the opportunity in my own backyard to stick around for the next decade or so to see the fruits of our labor for these long-term projects,” she says.

Revitalization and Real Estate

As director of real estate, acquisitions, and P3 development, Kilpatrick has moved from juggling a dozen clients at any given time to managing stakeholder

Kilpatrick Director of Real Estate, Acquisitions & P3 Development University of California San Diego

relationships and partnerships that are likely three times that. “These are all transformation projects that involve a multitude of campus departments and end users, so stakeholder communication and management is essential to what I do on these projects,” Kilpatrick explains. “It sometimes feels like air traffic control, but my previous roles have really set me up well to serve this wider net of the university and all the various stakeholders whom we answer to.”

The director was tasked with a two-fold mandate upon her arrival. First, to acquire properties for the support of the Hillcrest medical campus redevelopment project. The five-phase project involves the construction of a new hospital facility, the previous having been constructed in the early ’60s. This acquisition of a number of properties was crucial to ensure the implementation of phase one of the Long Range Development Plan commenced on time.

Second, Kilpatrick is further responsible for the extensive public-private partnerships for

Make Room

Julie Kilpatrick has often existed in a design and construction world where she found herself to be the only woman in the room. “While that’s how it’s always been, I’ve never found it to be a detriment to going to work every day,” Kilpatrick says. “Being a unique person at the table, I feel like playing critical roles on projects and really upholding project executive roles allowed my work and project successes to speak for themselves day in and day out.”

But the director takes her mentorship of future women leaders incredibly seriously. From mentoring opportunities at JLL (including being invited to attend to the inaugural, highly selective JLL Women’s Summit) to more informal mentoring of women on staff at UCSD, Kilpatrick is intent on making sure capable and intelligent women are supported to become future leaders of large-scale, high-profile projects.

Julie

“These are the people that will be living and breathing in these buildings doing their life’s greatest work. I take that very seriously.”

Marcie Bochenek

off-campus buildings used by the academic departments that have defined need for space during the lengthy construction phase.

“It’s important that UCSD preserves its capital balance sheet and borrowing capacity in order to maintain the aggressive growth plan for student enrollment, so these partnerships are vital to the overall campus transformation strategy,” Kilpatrick explains. The Science Research Park on UCSD’s east campus includes at least 850,000 square feet of potential new development for research-based, clinical, and lab spaces to be used by companies aligning with the university. These cohabitation partnerships nurture affiliation with departments, professors, and student programs.

The End User in Mind

While navigating the sea of stakeholders can provide continual challenges, Kilpatrick says she’s always

able to keep the eventual end users of her spaces foremost in her mind. “These are the people that will be living and breathing in these buildings doing their life’s greatest work,” the director says. “I take that very seriously. These professionals are doing amazing things: cancer research, technological innovations, and are often in partnership with wellknown contributors to their field of study like Google Maps. It’s so exciting to not only learn about their work, but to support it in invaluable ways, by developing a building for them to live, work, or learn.”

The additional bonus of Kilpatrick’s former roles is that she’s now able to partner with former colleagues at JLL to support UCSD’s incredible expansion. The director is now able to see just how much she can impact an organization that’s doing groundbreaking work in her hometown. “This has really just been a perfect alignment of the stars,” Kilpatrick says. Or in this case, the best of both worlds.

Bank of America Tower / Houston, TX

The first project in the U.S. — and the highest-rated project in the world (at the time of its certification) — to achieve LEED ® v4 Platinum Core and Shell Certification.

For over 85 years, Walter P Moore has worked with builders to bring sustainable engineering innovations to the communities in which we work.

The Perfect Fit

At Shoe Sensation, Kat

Bielefeld has found a family ready and willing to help her overcome any challenge

By Sara Deeter

Shoe Sensation is “a family shoe store,” Kat Bielefeld says, “known for providing everything from tennis shoes and women’s boots to kids’ shoes.” But to Bielefeld, the company’s family atmosphere extends far beyond the footwear on its shelves. First as an intern and now as director of new store construction, Bielefeld has found in the Shoe Sensation teams a family dedicated to helping her fulfill her goals—no matter what challenges she faces along the way.

“I’m actually an interior designer by trade,” explains Bielefeld, who graduated from the Sullivan College of Technology and Design in 2011. After completing a Shoe Sensation internship towards the end of her time at Sullivan College, Bielefeld stayed on at the company as an assistant store planner and regularly coordinated with construction crews and general contractors.

In August 2011, Bielefeld decided to join Kentuckybased telecommunications company Rainbow Design Services to broaden her engineering knowledge and skill set. But in the five years she was there, Bielefeld continued to keep in touch with her former supervisor at Shoe Sensation.

“I just really enjoyed working there as an intern,” Bielefeld remarks. “And one day when I reached out to her to share some of the work I had been doing with AutoCAD, it turned out that they were actually looking to hire a designer. So after some discussion, I decided to come back.”

Returning as a lead designer and project manager, Bielefeld found the work “really different” from anything she had done before. “There’s no handbook for project management,” she notes, “so it was really a trial by fire. But I love a good challenge.”

In fact, the challenging nature of the work was one of the things Bielefeld enjoyed most about her internship at Shoe Sensation, and one of the reasons she decided to come back. “I also just love shoes,” Bielefeld says with a chuckle. “And after a while, I developed a love for construction too.”

And in February 2019, that newfound affinity for construction won Bielefeld a position as the director of new store construction in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

As director, Bielefeld is responsible for “everything that goes on from lease execution to the moment when we hand the keys over to the store manager,” she says. “We manage all the design drawings, construction, the ordering of the fixtures, laying out the store, and then setting out all the shoes to match up with where the merchandising department wants them to be.”

All of that is obviously a huge responsibility, Bielefeld says. She strives to streamline as much of the process as

possible, constantly questioning how she and her teams can be more efficient or achieve more cost savings.

But efficiency, Bielefeld notes, is just one of the myriad challenges that she and other project managers constantly face.

“In construction, you just plan for things to go wrong,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve seen pretty much everything happen—from our glue freezing in a store in Wisconsin to not being able to put up a store sign because of the regulations in South Dakota.

“But no matter what,” Bielefeld continues, “the store has to open. It’s how you handle things when they do inevitably go wrong that really determines the outcome of the project.”

While frozen glue and strict regulations would mean a headache for almost anyone, some of the challenges she sees are actually kind of enjoyable, Bielefeld admits. When constructing any new Shoe Sensation store, she and her team have to find ways to integrate a number of psychological principles and strategies into the design and flow of the store.

Mike Levin

Kat Bielefeld Director of New Store Construction Shoe Sensation

“When people walk into a store, all they really see is the face value of what it is—a store with shoes. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that this is kind of a Miranda Priestly moment,” Bielefeld says, referring to an iconic scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Priestly describes the nuances of choices that are made by designers in the fashion industry.

“Like a cerulean sweater,” the director says, “everything that we do behind the scenes at Shoe Sensation helps people to find and wear the shoes they love.”

Some of that behind-the-scenes action is a matter of simple product placement, Bielefeld explains. “If we placed the shoes high enough that you couldn’t really see them, you would definitely notice it,” she points out.

But other things are a little more subtle, Bielefeld says, like the neutral colors that are used in the design of all Shoe Sensation stores. “We want the focus to be the product, so the shoes and the marketing are the draw.”

Accomplishing all of that while managing frozen glue incidents might feel like a heavy burden to some, but not to Bielefeld. “Without my team, I can’t do my job,” she emphasizes. “Our goal is always to open stores on time, and their hard work is really what allows us to make that happen.”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

SENSATIONAL TEAMWORK

Stan Morris Construction is proud to have partnered with Shoe Sensations and Katherine Bielefeld as she coordinates Shoe Sensation’s design and construction efforts. In the fast-changing retail world, Katherine’s leadership, abilities, and creative nature combined with Stan Morris Construction’s history of completing highly detailed, complicated, and fast-paced projects have allowed Stan Morris Construction and its experienced team to be capable of any challenge. Stan Morris Construction is excited to see what Katherine and Shoe Sensation dream up next and look forward to our continued relationship.

“Everything that we do behind the scenes at Shoe Sensation helps people to find and wear the shoes they love.”

Have Faith in the Field

By Billy Yost

The weekend before speaking with American Builders Quarterly, Timothy Wise was busy putting up drywall for a housing volunteer project with Habitat for Humanity. He was joined by members of his athletics and facilities team at University of Miami, and anyone that couldn’t make it is set to come along next time.

“I try to lead by example to give back,” Wise says. “We’re here to provide for the community and to stay engaged. We want to see neighborhoods that haven’t always had the most opportunities evolve as a result of programs like this.”

This is Wise, pure and simple. The senior associate athletic director for facilities and event operations at Miami has over 20 years of sports experiences from Michigan State,

Ohio State, University of Wisconsin, and a number of other top-rated sports universities. Wise builds and maintains far more than arenas and fields. He builds trust in the communities where he lives and the professional associations in which he takes part, to be a supportive voice for the minorities in AD positions and those hoping to achieve their dreams in whatever field they may be pursuing.

But make no mistake, on Wise’s watch, there has been massive building as well.

Each and Every Sport

When asked what the past eight years have looked like for Wise at Miami, he has to take a huge breath. By the time he gets done

When it comes to building out the sports facilities at the University of Miami, Timothy Wise doesn’t do it for the game. He does it for the players and for his community.

▲ Timothy Wise devotes himself to construction projects of all kinds, whether or not they are on Miami’s campus.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT A TIMELY TRANSFORMATION

In Coral Gables, Florida, sits the UM Hecht Athletic Center. The center houses all athletics administrative offices, athletics department senior staff, coaches, and the entire University of Miami Football Operations. Vilar-Hoynack Construction Company transformed the 20,000-squarefoot interiors of the Hecht Athletic Center into a modern space for the Miami Hurricanes Football program, along with numerous team meeting rooms equipped with modern technology video/audio equipment. The university required all work to be completed by the beginning of the football season, leading VHCC to accelerate the construction process and complete the project in just 100 days. Vilar-Hoynack Construction Company is proud to have partnered with the University of Miami on this successful construction project.

talking about improvements made to athletics infrastructure, there may not be a single school-sponsored sport he hasn’t mentioned. “There is so much history and tradition here but what people didn’t see for some reason was that the infrastructure in terms of facility foundation wasn’t there when I arrived in 2012,” Wise says. “Through the leadership of the athletic director, we immediately started to improve the infrastructure and the foundation that had been laid.”

In the senior associate director’s first year, an academic center and new football locker rooms were built. Then basketball offices, lounges, and rooms. The arrival of head football coach Mark Richt helped push through the $41 million, 83,000-square-foot Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility which is available to multiple athletics teams at the university to utilize. “That was a game changer for us,” Wise says. “From competition to recruiting, you really saw a shift.”

New football offices were built and the previous were rehabbed and built out for Olympic sports like volleyball, soccer, rowing, and golf to have bases of operation for the first time. “They now have a conference room and theater room where they can watch film,” Wise says of the $41 million project that wrapped up in 2019.

Wise and his team are now shepherding through the building of a new indoor baseball development center that includes a 6,800-square-foot hitting facility with three batting bays for players to work on their swings, with a planned completion, as of press time, for this year. There’s also the opening of a student athlete nutrition center, a half-million-dollar tennis scoreboard, and more on the horizon. “It just never stops,” Wise says, laughing.

The Right Balance

The number of ongoing projects isn’t enough to keep Wise bogged down. He serves on the board of directors for the Minority Opportunity Athletic Association and previously served as president of the Collegiate Event and Facility Management Association. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity

Austin Sapin/University of Miami Athletics

Timothy Wise Senior Associate Athletic Director of Facilities & Event Operations University of Miami

Inc. and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and is a beneficiary and now a mentor for the NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males, NACDA Mentoring Institute, among many others.

“When someone asks me to help out on a board or participate in a selection committee, I absolutely do,” Wise states. “I want to be able to help someone else achieve their dreams. That’s really what I’m all about. I want to help people and act as a resource when I can.”

The sheer amount of time Wise’s dedication requires isn’t lost on him. “I have my calendar and I keep things organized to the point of writing down ‘walk the athletics facilities’ to make sure that I’m making myself visible on campus,” Wise says.

“Between my faith in God, working out, and paying attention to my calendar, that’s how I get through it all.”

In all that Wise has and continues to accomplish, he wasn’t much of an athlete himself. Wise’s brother was the one with hopes of making it to the NBA. When that didn’t materialize (though his brother had a successful decade of Navy service), Wise figured maybe it was his turn to take a stab at sports—but behind the scenes.

What’s most apparent in the athletic department is his commitment to the students Wise serves. “I do what I do for our student athletes,” he says. “To know that what I do provides them a way to showcase their talents and go onto successful careers of their own, that’s one of my greatest passions and happinesses.”

“I try to lead by example to give back. We’re here to provide for the community and to stay engaged.”

Welcome Home

In the midst of both an affordable housing crisis and an era where people are more disconnected, Jon Dishotsky has launched Starcity as a remedy to both

Jon Dishotsky CEO Starcity

By Cora Berg

Courtesy of Starcity

Jon Dishotsky started his career as ambitiously as most other young professionals—with the primary concern being to acquire the trappings of wealth. After a few years, though, he considered where his family had come from and started working towards solutions to improve lives, a goal his parents had instilled in him. “You can’t compromise your values,” he says.

Dishotsky’s parents were educators and social justice advocates, having arrived in San Francisco in the 1960s then living in a few different communes before settling down in Palo Alto to raise a family. Dishotsky reminisces that his childhood home always included university students renting rooms. The students got cheap rent and the Dishotsky kids got Stanford engineering students to help them with science projects.

A few years ago, deeply aware of affordable housing shortages in his native Bay Area, Dishotsky challenged the tech world to “Stop building photo apps. Build housing solutions.”

He even opted to step up to the plate himself. Reflecting on his own childhood, Dishotsky thought that communal housing might interest people navigating the constricted California housing market. “Communal housing was happening underground but not formalized,” he explains.

Dishotsky connected with Mo Sakrani, Josh Lehman, and Jesse Suarez to found Starcity, a global tech enabled real estate brand that seeks to offer communal housing affordable to middle-class renters. “The goal is to make great cities accessible to everyone,” says Dishotsky. “I want to help the middle- and lower-income renters get access to cities with the best opportunities.”

▲ Half of the units in Starcity’s San Francisco SoMa location are affordable housing.

Starcity’s first site went on the market in 2016. When the 6 bedroom-rehab in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood listed, 1,000 people applied to be tenants. Starcity now knew it had a viable model.

Technology is integral to Starcity’s approach, both in managing buildings and building communities, the CEO explains. His team has streamlined the exhausting process of apartment hunting, allowing future tenants to book a virtual tour, apply for a spot, and be accepted for move-in within an hour. Following the trend of easing user experience through tech, Dishotsky sees no reason that renting an apartment should cause any more of a headache than booking a hotel.

After trying various Software as a Service (SaaS) products, the Starcity team accepted that nothing off the shelf could accommodate the complexity of Starcity’s property management needs. It engineered its own software that handles everything from converting leasing leads to performance tracking. Starcity tenants also have access to an interactive app where they discover and interact with other members, RSVP to events, and file maintenance tickets. Unique to the communal experience of Starcity, the app also encourages residents to reach out and create in-person connections.

“The goal is to make great cities accessible to everyone. I want to help the middle- and lower-income renters get access to cities with the best opportunities.”

▶ Each Starcity suite comes furnished with a bed and mattress, nightstand, lamp, and a rug.

Courtesy of Starcity

▼ Starcity’s interior communal space features multiple chef-style kitchens and lounges for its San Jose residents. The city now recognizes “co-living” as its own distinct land-use classification.

“The app is key 2.0 to your home,” Dishotsky says.

An intention of both the app and Starcity’s properties in general is to offset social isolation. Dishotsky knows that, for people looking to stay in his buildings, money is a worry. However, these individuals also seek community and the app acts as a message board for curated events throughout Starcity properties. The CEO reports that, more than bar crawls or TV watching, “The most popular events are ones where people come together and talk to each other.”

After some trial and varying levels of success, Dishotsky has identified a best practice for Starcity properties. The magic balance for harmonious living, he believes, is through ten individuals that each have a private bedroom and bathroom but share kitchen and living space.

As more property managers come to believe that “community is the new amenity,” Starcity has begun to license out its tech. It’s also replicating what has already worked. Currently running 12 properties and offering 413 rooms in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and soon internationally, Starcity is ready to scale.

The company has 1,610 rooms in development, 3,168 in negotiation, and intends to bring the company to many more cities by 2023. One of these properties includes a 16-story building with 50 percent of the units allocated to tenants earning minimum wage. Dishotsky says, “A project where people who make minimum wage can afford to live in the best cities in the world is unheard of. That’s the dream.”

The CEO has no problem admitting they have had some growing pains. The first idea, years ago, was to put shipping containers on the top of warehouse buildings. Dishotsky laughs, remembering how quickly landuse attorneys shot down that idea. Also, very early on,

Starcity received community pushback for potentially converting a single room occupancy (SRO) building into co-living. After listening to community feedback, the company decided that going forward it would only create new housing or convert existing housing. It has committed to not being a part of buyouts. “It’s difficult to know the repercussions your actions will have,” Dishotsky says. Just as he learned from his parents, the CEO is learning to put hubris aside and listen to those who have spent years working to provide affordable housing.

Starcity residents on average lease for close to 12 months, Dishotsky says. They are diverse in age and career path, all looking for community and an affordable place to live. They have found a satisfying answer to complicated question all renters must consider: “What are you paying for?”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

1813 15TH STREET

This beautiful 1908 Victorian originally consisted of 3 units within its 5,000 square feet. The San Francisco Building Department approved an additional dwelling unit in the basement, increasing the area to 6,800 square feet. During the course of 11 months, DKG Construction transformed the whole property from foundation to key in the door. Throughout the project the company worked in collaboration with its clients, the engineers, and a design team. The completed project now has 26 spacious bedrooms, 5 communal living areas, and 12 high-end bathrooms. All this was achieved while preserving its Victorian character.

Building for the People

Bristol Myers Squibb’s Craig Johnson on why it is so critical to keep others in mind in the world of engineering and construction

By Sara Deeter

Craig Johnson Head of Global Engineering & Facilities

Bristol Myers Squibb Company Sophie Dennehy

“This world of engineering and construction—it’s not about the buildings themselves,” remarks Craig Johnson, head of global engineering and facilities at Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS). “It’s about the people we’re building them for.”

At BMS, Johnson builds for many people—the members of his team who inherit the operation of the company’s facilities from his project engineering teams, the employees who spend their days working inside those facilities, and, ultimately, the patients who benefit from the life-saving medicines and products that BMS is known for producing.

After graduating from Penn State University in 1993, Johnson began his career at Merck, working “right on the shop floor” of a vaccine manufacturing facility and soon moving up to a role as senior technical advisor.

“Starting out on the floor gave me a really important perspective on what it’s like to actually be inside of a manufacturing facility and what it’s like to work with that equipment, the people, and those processes,” Johnson says. “It helped me understand that a factory isn’t just a building—it’s also a place where people come to work every day.”

After leaving Merck in 2002, Johnson continued to explore the construction and engineering world—literally. For two decades, he served in global leadership

roles at leading healthcare companies such as GSK, Novartis, Hospira, Pfizer, and Sanofi Pasteur. That kind of global experience is critical to developing an understanding of how to be successful in different cultures, Johnson explains. “As a professional, I don’t think there is an experience that has a greater impact on your development.”

Despite navigating so many different companies and cultures throughout his career, Johnson has been able to maintain partnerships even as his résumé evolves. Steve Eberling, the US principal in charge at international property and infrastructure group Lendlease, says he’s had the pleasure of working with Johnson for the past 20 years. “His leadership and drive are both inspiring and beneficial to creating the most successful projects and positive outcomes.”

And at BMS, Johnson leverages this leadership along with his knowledge of both global cultures and international building standards every single day. In addition to managing the biopharmaceutical giant’s global energy and sustainability operations, Johnson oversees three separate, but closely related, functions: global engineering, project engineering, and facilities operations.

“The global engineering and project engineering functions are focused on designing and constructing new facilities, from manufacturing facilities and office complexes to research sites and laboratories,” he says. “In some cases, our engineering teams function as subject-matter experts. In others, they manage every part of the process, from design to all the way through construction and up to the start up.

Teacher, Leader, Father

Craig Johnson knows that to be a good leader, you have to be a good teacher. “Whether you’re teaching skills or explaining your vision to the organization, you’ve got to be able to connect with people, to teach by example, and share your ideas,” he emphasizes.

But that’s true in any setting, he points out. “When my kids ask me how an engine works, I don’t go to YouTube and download a video for them to watch,” Johnson says. “We go into the garage and take the lawnmower apart so that they can hold the pieces of the engine in their hands and see how they all fit together.

“Of course, my kids are a lot less excited about putting things back together,” he adds, laughing. “My garage is filled with hundreds of different parts and pieces right now.”

“For many of our facilities, once it is completed,” Johnson continues, “we turn it over to members of our own team for maintenance and operation—we’re building the facilities for ourselves, in a sense. So during construction and design, we are always very mindful of what the operation and maintenance of a facility will actually look like.”

But Johnson’s teams have to be mindful of more than just the needs of the facilities operations teams, he emphasizes. First, there is “the manufacturing personnel, the scientists, or any other employees who are going to be working in that space. We can’t underestimate how important it is for people to have an environment that is conducive to work, whether they’re in an office or a laboratory,” Johnson says.

At the end of the day, Johnson knows, it’s all about the patient. “I chose to work in the pharmaceutical industry because I wanted to be involved in work that was geared towards promoting global health,” he says. “And at BMS, whether you’re on the shop floor

or in an office, everything you do helps to improve the lives of patients.”

BMS helps employees keep the patient top of mind in a number of ways, Johnson says, and routinely incorporates patient stories into company communications and meetings. But for him, one of the most powerful initiatives has been something called Patient Week.

“Every year, during a week, we get to meet actual patients, shake their hands, and hear about the ways in which a specific medicine has impacted their lives,” Johnson says. “The patients can meet the people who worked on that medicine, or the people who helped construct the research facility where that medicine was discovered.

“The fact that our construction projects are part of a lifecycle of developing and delivering critical medicines, that is the single biggest motivating factor behind my work,” he continues. “It’s what helps my teams and me get out of bed in the morning. It’s what helps us stay late at work, stay focused on the work. And now that we are a new company with Celgene’s acquisition, we only have further opportunities to bring together the teams of two really great companies and combine our efforts to deliver these incredible medicines to the people who need them.”

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

TRANSFORMING A PLACE TO DISCOVER

Lendlease provided construction management services for Bristol Myers Squibb’s new state-of-the-art Research & Development laboratory buildings, modules M&N, at its Lawrenceville, New Jersey, facility. The project was completed in November 2019. The design consists of open flexible laboratories, open collaborative office space, a mechanical basement, mechanical penthouse, and specialized automated robotic equipment areas totaling approximately 265,000 square feet. Modules M&N are connected in the basement and ground floor to the existing campus buildings, providing uninterrupted circulation flow. The project also includes new surface parking with approximately 270 new spaces.

“The fact that our construction projects are part of a lifecycle of developing and delivering critical medicines, that is the single biggest motivating factor behind my work.”

Kari Ihle Director of Environmental Design, Planning & Maintenance EVEREVE

Erin Smith

Feels Like Home

As EVEREVE evolves its brand, Kari Ihle is at the heart of designing its spaces to help customers experience the same joy she does every time she enters the store

By Cora Berg

“You are coming into our home. Welcome.”

If the walls of an EVEREVE store could talk, that’s what Kari Ihle would want them to say. The director of environmental design, planning, and maintenance for the clothing store wants to create spaces that interact with the customers passing through, and her role affords her that opportunity. From design to construction to upkeep, Ihle has a hand in every step. “It’s fun that I get to do everything,” she says. “To lead the process from start to finish is exciting and invigorating.”

Working across the spectrum helps Ihle be a better leader. Her collaborative team of three realizes EVEREVE’s vision, a reimagining of retail experience and “joy to customers, one outfit at a time.”

While originally aimed only at new moms, the company recently expanded its reach, bringing the promised joy and styling to a wide range of customers. Despite the broader clientele, the company remains

focused on “complete individuals.” Each store is segmented into “shops,” with clothing aligned by color, or “look,” with every area intricately planned. Ihle arranges seating areas by checkout counters and children’s play spaces by dressing rooms to enhance the friendly atmosphere, inviting guests to stay a while. The dressing rooms themselves boast layouts that facilitate shoppers and stylists working together to create looks and manage choices.

Ihle’s profound belief in the happiness that EVEREVE brings to its customers is born of a personal experience she had. The first time she went shopping as a new mom, her baby became inconsolable and she was immediately overwhelmed. “I had these thoughts like, ‘Maybe I’ll never be able to shop again.’ It felt like everyone was staring at me and judging.”

Not long after this, she went into an EVEREVE (then Hot Mama) store. “It was totally different,” she

Corey Gaffer

◀ Kari Ihle also designed EVEREVE’s “home office” space in Minnesota, where she and over 100 others work from.

▼ EVEREVE prides itself on being an inclusive store that welcomes mothers and their children, with play areas in the brand’s iconic denim blues and rosy pinks.

◀ Touches of navy blue are spread throughout EVEREVE’s stores—a nod to the brand’s roots in premium denim sales and a grounding neutral to its design.

Magda Biernat

remembers. Everyone was excited to see her child and offered to help out and hold the baby. The calmness and comfort she felt inspired her to take a part-time job with the company for a while. In 2014, she was asked to move into her current position.

Ihle’s job demands that she stay current on a huge expanse of skills and that she has a hand in all of EVEREVE’s properties. Overseeing the internal process and operations for new store design and layout also means working with external partners, architects, and general contractors. Once stores are up and running, Ihle is on point to make sure everything goes smoothly. When something even as basic as lightbulbs going out or restrooms not functioning, she makes sure problems are resolved. To achieve all this, she recognizes that “our vendor partners are part of the team,” and she fosters relationships to ensure that expectations are clear and met.

Partners that consider environmental impact are essential to Ihle’s team. Since 2010 she has held a LEED

accreditation, and sustainability is a passion for her. She recognizes that her field has a massive impact on the environment. Ihle is in the process of growing a local think tank chapter of architects, general contractors, engineers, designers, property owners, city officials, and other industry leaders interested in considering environmental directions in the profession.

In her own work at EVEREVE, Ihle examines ways to infuse sustainable practices into spaces she designs. For example, EVEREVE no longer distributes plastic water bottles, instead installing or retrofitting bottle filling dispensers in stores. They work with suppliers to decrease plastics on job sites and intentionally partner with companies that have their own environmental standards.

EVEREVE has also made huge changes to their back of house spaces. Instead of built-in cabinets, under Ihle’s direction, the company opts for more mobile shelving and wall systems. This has resulted in an increase in efficiency. It also means that Ihle can have everything

Corey Gaffer

▲ EVEREVE’s home office space reflects the warm culture of home and serves as a connection to the new store prototype.

moved when they shift spaces, instead of ripping out and putting in new cabinets. She says, “We are making new plans for moving and altering,” explaining that the company will continue to look for design choices that increase efficiencies and sustainability.

As EVEREVE continues to remake their image Ihle has partnered in efforts over the past two years to introduce art into store environments. Partnering with artists like Ashley Mary and Kristi Kohut, EVEREVE has added murals and other pieces to the internal and external spaces of some stores. Pictura was a key partner in the design of its custom wallcovering for the fitting rooms.

All of this work happens in partnership. “I am very proud and feel fortunate to be able to support these companies and individuals through the work I do at EVEREVE,” Ihle says. It’s not every retailer that allows and encourages you to look outside of the typical and least expensive avenues for finishes and design work, much less seeking out companies that are womanowned, local, small businesses to help support their own growth.”

For Ihle, her work not only brings joy to EVEREVE customers, it brings joy to herself.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

REFRESHING EVEREVE

EVEREVE underwent a transformative effort in 2019 that challenged Landmark Architectural Signs with the task of rebranding the storefronts for all 84 retail locations in the United States. Additionally, the mandate was to complete the project in only three months. LAS worked with EVEREVE’s design team to produce various prototype signs for the new image. Using the latest manufacturing technologies, LAS was able to take EVEREVE’s designs from paper concepts to 3D reality. LAS obtained landlord and city approvals, then fabricated and shipped the product to each location. Utilizing its national installer network, not only did the company complete the project on-time and under budget, it delivered a new, fantastically branded sign program to EVEREVE.

points of interest

Some of the quirkier takeaways from this issue

No Vacancy

Sonder began in 2012 with CEO Francis Davidson subletting his Montreal apartment over summer break when he was barely a college sophomore. He valeted cars and greeted those subletters with bottles of wine. Today, Sonder has more than 8,000 accommodations worldwide. P27

A Game Face That Gobbles

Virginia Tech’s mascot made his live debut in 1913, when local Floyd Meade trained a large turkey to gobble on command at the university’s sporting events. P62

Firefighter Montreal(Sonder), Jeffrey B. Banke/Shutterstock.com (Virginia Tech)

A Real Catch

The Goodman family lived in a captivating 16-room penthouse above Bergdorf Goodman, but in order to get the zoning rights, they had to list themselves as company janitors. P32

Floral Fantasy

Encore Boston Harbor features a 10-horse carousel made up of equines, a unicorn, a hippocamp, and a Pegasus—but it’s made out of 83,000 flowers and 11,000 jewels P14

Which Guy Is Popeye?

Many people assume Popeyes was named after Popeye the Sailor but this is just a misconception. The famous fried chicken restaurant was actually named after The French Connection’s Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle. P46

The Memphis Zoo treats its visitors to journeys by bringing faraway experiences home to Tennessee. Guests exploring the China exhibit (top) encounter pandas and traditional architecture, and they can even hear sounds that will transport them east. For guests attending the Northwest Passage exhibit (bottom), California sea lions put on performances. Andre the sea lion joined the zoo after washing ashore during Hurricane Katrina. One of his favorite tricks is to stand on his back fins—when doing so, he is seven feet tall!

Brandall Atkinson

PRODUCT/CONCEPT DESIGN SERVICES | SPACE PLANNING | PROTOTYPING | SOURCING | ENGINEERING MANUFACTURING (CASEWORK, MILLWORK, SEATING AND DÉCOR, SPECIALTY METALS, FINISHING, POWDER-COATING, WOODWORK, UPHOLSTERY, GRAPHICS) LOGISTICS | PROJECT MANAGEMENT | INSTALLATION

Creating Better Places

At Lendlease, our goal is always the same – to deliver safe, sustainable, innovative solutions with profitable results for our clients while remaining responsive to the evolving life science industry.

We have built partnerships with the industry’s leading pharmaceutical organizations for over 35 years and bring a collaborative approach to design and execution.