The People Side of Technical Decisions – GO BEYOND THE PROCESS

Successful projects all involve many factors that lead to that success.  Some include good quality design, proper coordination, finding cost effective solutions, efficient execution and the ability to compensate for unforeseen challenges.  

But the single greatest factor for the success of any project will be effective engagement of people in the decision making process.

Decisions take place constantly and are found at many different levels in the design process.  Low level decisions can frequently be made by an individual person who is involved in the project without input or scrutiny from any of the other team members. For some of these decisions there is often times an obvious choice. 

So what happens when the decisions become more critical and will affect the project outcome?

For most projects, the success or failure of the end result is largely based on managing and meeting client expectations.  I know it's hard to believe, but often the client's expectations don't match the reality of the situation or available project budget.  If that is the case, then one of two things need to happen, otherwise there will be problems. Did I say that loud enough? There WILL be problems. Either the expectations need to change or the budgets need to be appropriate for the expectations.  Sometimes there ends up being a combination of both as this alignment occurs.

So what is the best way to manage this people side of the process?  Information and communication! As champions for the project, I would suggest that there are several prerequisites to helping clients make better decisions.  These might include:

• Gather appropriate data regarding the decision. What is the cost, how does it affect the schedule, is there an impact to facility infrastructure, how will this decision affect related aspects of the project, and what might be some unintended consequences of this decision. 
• Once all the prerequisite information is gathered, present, discuss and allow the appropriate people to make a fully informed decision.

Through the years I have found that the success of most projects can be directly correlated to how well this process was managed.  The dynamics may be different and my ability to influence varied, but engaging stake-holders and communicating the elements that impact expectations leads to great results!

-Vance Breshears

The Unexpected Difficulties of Acoustic Testing | GO BEYOND THE BALLOON

Acousticians have a challenge that few outside the industry may be aware of…and it involves a starter pistol.

During acoustic testing, sometimes you need a big omnidirectional sound source to measure the reverberation time of a space. The noise needs to be louder than absolutely everything else. It needs to be impulsive. (No time to escalate.) And it needs to stop almost immediately.

In testing smaller spaces, you can blow up a large balloon and pop it. As you might imagine, this is no fun if there isn’t any compressed air handy. (Or an intern—as some of our crew remember from their college days.) But in a large space—say an auditorium or an arena—the popping of a balloon, simply isn’t loud enough.

Enter the starter pistol.

It is loud, omnidirectional, impulsive and the sound falls off immediately. Seemingly, it is a perfect solution…except that storage is awkward, you can’t own one without a license in New York, you can’t take it on a plane, and apparently—as we learned this week—you can’t order “blanks” in Texas.

On the upside, testing with a starter pistol has a Mythbusters sort of charm. We used it in our testing for Christ United Methodist Church. If you look closely you can see the “smoking gun.”

And if you think using starter pistols present an interesting dynamic, don’t even get us started talking about the use of yachting cannons… (No, that is not a punchline.)

- Cathy Hutchison

Details, Priorities and Making it Work | GO BEYOND THE DECOR

United Palace, NYC

The United Palace in New York City was built in 1929 and opened a year later as one of the Loew's Wonder Theatres for vaudeville and movies.  Designed by Thomas W. Lamb, it is a World-Class Architectural Treasure described by the AIA Guide to New York City as "Cambodian neo-Classical" and by David W. Dunlap as "Byzantine-Romanesque-Indo-Hindu-Sino-Moorish-Persian-Eclectic-Rococo-Deco."    It is located 6 miles north of all those theaters people associate with its Broadway address (Broadway and 175th Street).  Today, The Palace is a place of worship for a multi-denominational congregation and serves as a performance venue for artists like Dave Matthews Band, Adele and Bob Dylan.  The NBC television show, SMASH, shoots episodes there too.

While The Palace is not an AD client, I couldn't help but think of it during a conversation with an architect who asked for advice.  A client had just purchased a historic theater and was in the process of converting it to serve as a performance venue and mixed-use development.  In addition to the auditorium, they envision leasing spaces for offices, retail and renting out its ballroom for special events.  "Why," they queried, "is it important to address acoustics and lighting systems when we are just trying to get it up to code?"  Those details could be addressed later - after things were up and running and revenue started coming in.

It seemed like the classic "build it and they will come" approach.  Problem is, we cautioned, people are picky and they have a lot more choices than ever before.  While the "romance of the space" may serve as an initial draw, if it is not equipped properly, they will go elsewhere.  Investing in a well thought-out plan will help identify and phase upgrades and features that will attract the caliber of tenants and leasers that will pay their rent, honor their contracts and establish the revenue base.  A reliable revenue base can better subsidize the incremental improvements to make it an even more vibrant and attractive setting to draw more tenants and patrons for entertainment, cultural and special events.  In short, having a solid understanding of how people experience space – beyond aesthetics - is very much a business choice vs. an incidental luxury.

Reflecting back on The Palace, the conscious choice was made to erect a building of great distinction - a building that would capture the attention and imagination of the public - to create a memorable desirable experience of wonder.  Despite the changing tides of the last 8 decades, it has survived due in large part to choices to adapt and be flexible to the needs of diverse user groups.  Upgrades to system infrastructure for lighting and AV systems are a large component of the Palace’s ability to survive. 

-- K Haas 

I walk by the Palace everyday - one of the perks of living in NYC

 

Why the next big thing isn't the next BIGGER thing | GO BEYOND BIG

The past 20 years of venue design have been defined by the values of a broadcast world. We can see it in the size of venues. Scale matters. Think ratings. You need a "big hit" to make things commercially viable.

But in a digital world, you can connect at a smaller scale. Accessibility becomes important. 

As our culture moves from broadcast thinking to digital thinking, we are seeing the desire for an accessible user-defined experience over the large-scale "one-size-fits-all" that has shaped the past two decades.

This is good news for clients (after all, BIG gets expensive), but it requires different thinking to the types of planning and technology that have gone before.  If clients follow their competition, they will find themselves in a "bigger is better" technology arms race; however, if clients follow the culture, they will find that the scale of the technology isn't nearly as important as who controls the experience. 

The experience has moved from presentational to interactive and is evolving again to user-defined.

Augmented reality technology, handheld apps, and RFID are allowing individuals to have a customized experience. And new technology combined with people culturally wired to use it requires new business models. (Because the old ones stop working.) 

- Craig Janssen

Creating a Frame of Reference | GO BEYOND THE SIMULATION

We all work within some sort of frame of reference every day that is based on our personal experience. For example, I could say that it was REALLY hot today – that it was 38 degrees outside – and depending on who I was talking to, I might get different reactions. If your frame of reference was degrees Fahrenheit, then you’d think I was a nutcase. But if your frame of reference was degrees Celsius, then you wouldn't even think twice about it as 38 degrees Celsius is equal to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whenever you work in a specific engineering field for any length of time, you adopt and function using specific jargon that outsiders (especially clients) often do not understand or relate. A common example in the field of acoustics is measuring background noise levels. Without any sort of frame of reference, it’s difficult to know if NC-50 is quiet or really loud. (It’s actually very loud for most functions and programs.)

The acoustics of any room, while very complex, can be described in various quantities of reverberation, reflections, and so forth. If we recommend putting in a certain amount of sound absorption into a room in order to reduce reverberation, how can we know what sort of subjective improvement will be realized for the amount of money spent? The answer is that just like a visual computer rendering of a building, we can develop and play a simulation of the acoustical characteristics of the room and compare it to the existing condition.

The audio file above does exactly that. As you listen, you will hear the music switching back and forth between the simulation of the existing condition and the resulting condition based on the design recommendations. (It is best to listen on a good pair of headphones.) In this case, this file provided a great subjective reference point and allowed our client to make an easy decision – now knowing how much improvement they would get for the money spent.

-Vance Breshears

Portable Video Conferencing | GO BEYOND "OFF THE SHELF"

One of the things about having a flexible workspace is that it is well…flexible—which means that fixed systems aren’t always ideal.

When we began setting up our existing video conferencing systems, we decided it would work better in the space if it were mobile. While there were some 'off the shelf' units, we didn't want to spend a fortune. So, Steve Reed—one of our senior consultants (and our own local MacGyver)—assembled a portable video conferencing system using items we had around the office.

The parts were an IKEA cabinet, 1”x2” 80/20 aluminum modular framing from Grainger, casters from Harbor Freight (no job is complete without a least one trip) and miscellaneous screws and hardware. He mounted our 40” flat screen monitor to the IKEA cabinet using the modular framing and enclosing the Polycom system within. The camera is mounted on top of the video screen and the Polycom microphone and speakers sit on top of the cabinet. Total cost for the parts that we didn’t have were about $50. ($200 if we had started from scratch and of course the cost of a monitor and Polycom system.)

The result is a simple, elegant solution that can be rolled into any conference room and quickly connected to power and the network.

- Cathy Hutchison

The Future Follows the Clients Interest | GO BEYOND THE CURRENT CONSTRUCT

Business history shows that entities which serve their clients best interests will most effectively dominate the market – and sometimes change the course of history. From the Dutch East India Company of the 1600’s, to the Ford Motor company in the 1920’s, to Walmart in the 1970’s, to Google in the 2000’s, new approaches have dominated the world markets, changed industries and created enormous wealth for their owners, often leaving a wake behind. At each period of opportunity, changes in culture, economy, political context and technology have given new rise to radical new industries, relationships, business structures and products. The once successful is always ignominiously kicked aside to make place for the new dominant force.

Most of us are finding our industries at an intersection point, where we are able to choose a path to great success and renewed dominance in our field of interest - or maintain a path to atrophy and eventual subservience to other industry masters.

If the question is “what’s next, and how do we prepare for it?” then the bread crumb trail to the answer is clear:

The future follows the client’s best interests.

So, what are our client’s best interests?

- Better solutions to their needs
- Delivered more rapidly
- With less “hassle”
- At lower cost

What changes are possible in your context to more closely align your industry with your client's best interests?

--Craig Janssen