Manish Sharma Bluebeam

5 Questions with New Bluebeam Chief Product Officer Manish Sharma

  • People & Project Spotlights
Bluebeam’s new CPO sat down with Built to discuss customer centricity in technology, his new love for pickleball and what yoga has taught him about business

Manish Sharma, Bluebeam’s new chief product officer, is passionate about outdoor activities and learning new sports like pickleball. He’s in good company—outdoor pursuits often involve setting goals and working diligently to achieve them, whether it’s completing a hike, mastering a yoga pose or picking up a new sport. This goal-oriented mindset translates directly to professional environments, where perseverance and vision are key to success.

Pickleball, a fast-growing paddle sport played with a wiffle ball on a smaller court resembling tennis, has taken the world by storm. Sharma, who has recently joined the craze, is equally dedicated to making construction technology just as ubiquitous. At Bluebeam, he has a front-row seat to the latest innovations in digital collaboration software.

Built caught up with Sharma to discuss his fascination with technology, his love of nature and—of course—the lessons pickleball brings to his role at Bluebeam. Edited excerpts follow.

What inspires you about working in technology, and what excites you about being in this space?

By training, I’m an engineer, so technology has always been a natural path for me. But as I’ve delved deeper, I’ve realized the tremendous problems we can solve through technology—the impact we can make on the world. Technology touches people’s lives in ways that make things simpler, faster and more enjoyable. I believe technology is foundational; it’s the key to unlocking a better future.

Manish hiking with his family.

Is there someone, either professionally or personally, who has shaped your life? 

There are several people. First, my previous company’s CEO, Vimal Kapur, is one of the greatest leaders I’ve worked with. He has a unique ability to think strategically on a big-picture level while also being incredibly operational. That combination is rare and inspiring. 

Second is Steve Jobs. I admire his relentless drive for innovation and his refusal to give up. Another is Satya Nadella. I truly appreciate how he’s steering Microsoft with such vision and empathy. 

When you’re not working, how do you like to spend your time?

I enjoy a range of activities. Yoga is my passion—it helps me stay centered and focused. I also love hiking, especially in the mountains, where I can reconnect with nature. Sports are another favorite, and I recently picked up pickleball—it’s such a fun and engaging game. Finally, I cherish time with friends, whether it’s socializing or celebrating together.

Do you find lessons from yoga, hiking or pickleball that apply to your professional life?

Absolutely. Outdoor activities and sports teach preparation, vision, continuous learning and adaptability to unexpected challenges. These skills mirror the professional world, where strategic planning and flexibility are vital.

Manish practicing yoga.

For example, learning pickleball taught me that I can pick up new skills—even in an unfamiliar domain. Similarly, I’m confident I can dive into this industry, understand its customers and adapt to their needs. Yoga, with its emphasis on flexibility and pushing boundaries, reinforces the importance of agility and openness to new environments and ideas.

What message do you have for Bluebeam customers who are just getting to know you?

Bluebeam is an incredible product, and I’ve heard countless positive remarks from customers. They love its simplicity, ease of use and the immense value it provides. Bluebeam is more than software; it’s a cornerstone for innovation in construction and design. It bridges the gap between vision and reality.

The future with Bluebeam is not just digital—it’s smarter, faster and built to last. I’m thrilled to work alongside our customers to continue driving innovation and creating solutions that transform their industries.

New to Bluebeam? Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD
Art Deco Calcutta

How Kolkata Became a Hub for Art Deco Architecture—And Why It’s at Risk

  • People & Project Spotlights
While the Indian megacity’s Art Deco structures captivate locals and tourists, demographic shifts and modernization threaten their survival

When you think of the beauty of Art Deco architecture, there are likely a few cities that spring to mind. Miami, of course, with its historic Deco district, and the stunning historic apartment buildings of Paris’ 16th arrondissement.

But what you might not know is that the Indian megacity Kolkata is home to some of the most interesting examples of vernacular Art Deco architectural style, blending influences of both traditional Indian and European style.

Bluebeam spoke to writer and Art Deco architectural enthusiast Parni Ray about her attachment to her hometown’s Deco style—and why this often-overlooked example of Deco excellence is garnering attention both at home and abroad.

An emotional connection

Ray said she’s always felt drawn to the built environment of the city she grew up in.

“My connection to architecture began young,” she said. “Kolkata, many would tell you, is a walking city. As a young person I walked around the city a lot and got lost a bunch, and buildings I admired were my markers to find my way back. In that sense you can say my introduction to my city, my individual claim on it, was through the built environment.”

But it was only when she left her hometown to study that she began to develop a deeper understanding of Kolkata’s built world.

“Since I was studying “Arts and Aesthetics,” an interdisciplinary liberal arts course rooted in the social sciences, I got interested in their history,” she said. “Then I worked in contemporary art for about a decade and later moved to London to do a research degree, where I was introduced to design history and design research. All of this added to my interest and understanding of architecture.”

Returning to her hometown to live and work as a writer, Parni found herself discovering more inspiring examples of Deco design.

“As a resident of South Kolkata, I am most familiar with Art Deco buildings in my neighborhood,” she said. “Despite the houses not being designed by the same people, and the recent intrusion by very ugly apartment buildings, the design language feels very cohesive. It feels like people were looking at what was being built around them and responding in accordance, and that creates a sense of style and community.”

Modern style for the modern era

So when did Deco come to Kolkata?

“Art Deco buildings in India started being built during the 30s and well into the 60s,” Ray explained. “Perhaps the most famous among them, the most regal ones, were film theaters—Roxy, Elite, Metro. With the slow demise of the single standing cinema halls in the country, these have become almost redundant today. Elite was demolished, the latter two are somehow holding on. There are several other buildings, and the Instagram account Art Deco Calcutta, which I love, is a great place to see and know about them.”

Ray said, in her opinion, the most influential of the cinemas was the Metro, which she said “clearly made an impression on cinema goers of the time and appears to have inspired so many residential buildings here in South Kolkata. So taken were people with everything it represented—the magic of cinema, the decadence of the moviegoing experience and a luxurious ‘modernity’—that they built homes inspired by its design and the term ‘Metro bari,’ or metro house, became a common code for builders.”

One thing that makes these buildings so unique is their deeply personal roots. “In my conversations with the owners of some of these houses, I have found that several of them were built by the homeowners who were structural or civil engineers,” Ray said. “India had about three architectural schools at the time of its independence, and the modern architect figure emerges as important much later here. In fact, even today most residences in India are ‘designed’ by mistris, or builders.”

While architecture is a more recent arrival, engineering has had a long history in the nation after its introduction by the British. “Perhaps it is this long history, which earned engineers considerable reverence—a status they still enjoy in communities, especially in Kolkata,” Ray said. “The reverence, I think, translated to considerable confidence, which can be both good and bad. I think this is what allowed some of them to just design a whole house for their families, alongside their day jobs. Engineers today aren’t doing the same, I assure you.”

Preserving history

Unfortunately, Ray said shifting demographics make the future of Kolkata’s Art Deco homes uncertain.

“The city is changing and shrinking in size as the number of people increase, and space, like in most big cities in the world, is getting sparse,” she said. “The Art Deco houses with their balconies, their gardens and two-story structures have, to many, started feeling like a waste of space. The area they cover can often accommodate multiple tall, narrow, claustrophobic buildings, so many of the old buildings are being pulled down to make space for these.”

As the owners of these houses age, buildings are often sold by the younger generations, who arrange for their relatives to have a floor of their own in the new construction that will replace them, while maintenance challenges mean that even owners who want to keep these structures in use often struggle to keep them functional. Ray also said movements to preserve these buildings, which aren’t recognized as “heritage” by the government, find themselves limited by the power of the real estate industry and red tape.

Ray said the fact that so many of these structures were built by the people who inhabited them means that documentation about their history and construction can be hard to come by.

“It is one thing to learn from merely seeing existing structures, walking past them, taking their pictures, but a culture of informed appreciation, criticism and further development of thought about a subject is possible only when creative endeavors are discussed in the community,” she said. “And in this I think the home designers of the past have failed the city; they didn’t share their knowledge with the coming generations like they should have, only left us examples of their work to admire and enjoy. Perhaps if they saw how the city is changing now they would reconsider and be more forthcoming about sharing their design choices and experiences. We would have all benefited.”

New to Bluebeam? Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD
Curt Bramel Bluebeam

From Sailor to Mentor: Bluebeam’s Curt Bramel on Military Service, Leadership

  • People & Project Spotlights
Bramel’s five years in the Navy shaped his career and life, paving the way for a successful corporate journey and continued service to fellow veterans

In Curt Bramel’s family, military service is something family members just do. Bramel served for five years in the U.S. Navy and two years in the reserves in the 1990s. His father fought in the Vietnam War. His grandfather and great-grandfathers served. And so did Bramel’s son, who spent six years in the Army National Guard.

“Nobody ever told me to go,” Bramel said of enlisting while still in high school in rural Kentucky. “My dad didn’t want me to go. But I felt there was a calling. I can’t tell you what it is, a little voice that said, ‘You might enjoy the military,’ and it was one of the single best pivotal things I ever did in life.”

Across his service, Bramel embraced opportunities to work hard on shared missions with his fellow sailors, who all hailed from diverse backgrounds. Aboard massive ships, no different than “floating cities,” as he called them, Bramel mastered how to think and act quickly and strategically.

He learned how to lead from exceptional military leaders, who continued to mentor him even after he returned to civilian life. And he had the opportunity to explore the world where he found that most people, no matter where they’re from, just want to live productive lives surrounded by family. “The military is where I saw, firsthand, that 98% of the world is great,” he said.

Now senior director of global channel sales for Bluebeam, Bramel is navigating a successful decade-long corporate career. But he continues to serve by mentoring members of the military as they prepare for civilian life. It’s a way to return some of the benefits he’s received over the years.

“I can’t point to a single event that shaped my career,” Bramel said, “but rather I was fortunate that many great people stepped into my path to help coach and guide me along my career.”

Always volunteering

Bramel’s willingness to raise his hand supercharged his military career. After completing a two-year mechanical engineering program in the Navy, he volunteered for a big leap—taking an assignment in Japan.

After just a couple of weeks in Japan, he was deployed to the Middle East, where he continued to volunteer whenever new needs arose, including serving on a flight crew for helicopter operations. “Anytime there was a volunteer opportunity, whether it was security patrol or [something else], I volunteered for it,” Bramel said.

Bramel and family

After more than two years of shuttling between Japan and the Middle East, he continued his service in San Diego and then Bremerton, Washington, where he took more engineering and program management classes through the Navy. He finished his active duty in 1996, staying in the reserves for two more years. The GI Bill paid for his undergraduate degree in finance and much of his MBA. “It 100% set the trajectory of my life,” he said.

Bramel’s career includes time in the Japanese automotive industry, as well as a financial planner and stockbroker, before moving into global sales roles, where his work gradually began focusing on technology. Now at Bluebeam, he works with reseller partners who take Bluebeam technology, adopt it into their portfolio and resell it to their own end users.

Bramel credits his background in the military in part for helping him pivot from selling tangible products to the theories, ideas and processes of software. While in the Navy, what he was doing wasn’t called artificial intelligence, but he was working in predictive modeling as he looked for trends in an engine room or with oil and gas chemistry. “Before AI was cool, you were using AI then, but you used it with a lot of paper and pencil,” he said.

Giving back

These days, Bramel, who is married with two adult children and two young grandchildren, lives in Lexington, Kentucky, and doesn’t have all that much spare time. “My kids give us a hard time. We just work,” said Bramel of himself and his wife. “We work when we’re not working.”

Bramel is involved in local politics, runs a real estate business with his wife and tends to a farm and weekend cottage outside of Lexington. And through a New York-based program, Bramel continues to serve, supporting members of the military as they prepare to return to civilian life.

Bramel during his military service.

Most of his mentees have never held a public sector job, negotiated a salary or bought a house. They’re typically bringing a spouse and kids with them. “There’s a lot of stress and anxiety on them coming out of the military,” he said. 

Bramel serves as their professional coach, preparing them for life after the military—from how to interview for a job to advice on selecting retirement plans and health insurance. “I’ve had everything from intelligence officers assigned to me to pilots to infantry leaders,” he said. “It’s afforded me the opportunity to stay involved with the military community.” Looking back on life so far, he’d do nothing differently. “I’ve had an awesome life. My career’s afforded me more opportunities. I’ve met great people,” he said. “I’ve got friendships that go way beyond just employment. The experiences I’ve gotten in the military and in the public sector over the last 25 years are endless.”

New to Bluebeam? Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD
Church Conversions Bluebeam

Reviving Abandoned Churches: The Challenge and Opportunity of Adaptive Reuse

  • People & Project Spotlights
As more churches fall into disuse, architects and community leaders face unique obstacles in preserving these historic structures while giving them new life

Over two decades ago, the late Rev. Wendell Williams and his wife Donna purchased the abandoned 40,000-square-foot St. Agnes Church in Cohoes, New York. They bought the 1890s Gothic Revival cathedral for $50,000 in the high-poverty area that was once a bustling textile manufacturing center.

Initially a home for their congregation, it also now houses the Connect Center, a youth-oriented community center. When purchased in 2001, it immediately needed a $1.1 million roof renovation. Five years later, the ceiling plaster, as high as six stories, began falling in.

Work is about 75% complete and more renovations on the building are needed, ranging from steeple repairs to rotting window frames housing 132-year-old handcrafted stained-glass windows. But progress is slow because of funds and challenges associated with repurposing old churches.

“It’s been a journey to renovate this church and create these safe spaces for youth,” said Ben Williams, Rev. Williams’s son. Ben now serves as the director of the Connect Center for Youth. “It is important to me to preserve the legacy, and it is very important, and it’s part of our story even though it’s a pain in my wallet most of the time.”

Look around any neighborhood, and chances are you’ll see at least one, if not more, abandoned churches as congregation populations decline. Experts predict that as many as 100,000 churches in the United States will close in the coming years.

“Most communities don’t want the buildings themselves torn down but adaptively reused rather than replaced with something new, and that is where people run into design challenges,” said Andrew Torres, a licensed architect in New York City working with Gemini Rosemont Development.

But there are success stories. In St. Louis, skateboarding enthusiasts converted St. Liborius Church, a 150-year-old church, into an indoor skating park. Other abandoned churches are now roller rinks, bars or restaurants, professional offices, Airbnbs and even a future cultural arts facility for a public school.

A look inside the offices of Overit.

Repurposing churches presents unique architectural and building-related challenges even though it offers the opportunity to preserve a historic structure. Steeples, soaring ceilings, outdated plumbing and heating, and cooling system repairs are costly. Often, the materials and expertise needed to fix features like stained glass windows and steeples are hard to find.

“A lot of churches have deferred maintenance and neglect by the congregations selling them. It is a lot of work to bring these back to life,” Torres said. “Churches are highly customized, not repeating designs or details existing conditions to contend with, and with that people can run into many challenges, especially when converting a church to residential use.”

Meeting Americans with Disabilities Act standards can also be a challenge depending on the church’s design. Williams had to build a new egress and install ramps, but so far, he’s only had the funds to do so on one floor.

“There’s a time cost too. I’m spending money and energy fixing my space and not working on the mission of my organization,” Williams said. “I love that we saved this building and can give it back to the community, which provides more safe space and safer streets, but I would only get into something like this again if I knew I had the bankroll behind me.”

Transforming churches into modern use spaces is capital-intensive and requires vision. But for the right customized project, it’s an opportunity to preserve a community landmark and architectural style that a new build can never replicate.

Michelle Dinsmore sees it as her mission to transform historical buildings with architectural history into modern-day spaces. So far, she has transformed two churches—one into a vacation rental and the other into offices for the marketing studio she co-owns with her husband.

A look inside the offices of Overit.

Comparatively, the church Dinsmore purchased was better maintained than the one the Williams family purchased. With a good roof and structure, they could focus on the interior, which included reusing pews for molding, desks and conference tables. Their adaptive reuse won a Historic Albany Merit award.

One of the biggest challenges in transforming the church was designing the agency’s recording studio. The couple needed to identify architects with expertise in insulating and isolating sections of the 12,000-square-foot church and updating the air conditioning and heating system so that its operation doesn’t interfere with recording.

“You have to have a very clear purpose and understanding to get a budget to create a plan that honors the lineage of the building,” she said.

Repurposing churches may be more viable for private owners than commercial developers. Torres points to the ancient notion of spolia, the idea of repurposing cut stones or decorative elements from old buildings in new construction, as a potential opportunity. One example he points to is the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, once a Christian church, then a mosque, a museum and now again a mosque.

“Many churches have column capitals in carved marble that need to be removed for spaces to be opened up. You can save some of those stone elements and use them elsewhere in a different format,” he said, adding that it’s great “when people take what was there before and put it in a new context and celebrated instead of having it be hidden or demolished.”

New to Bluebeam? Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD
Gordon Lansford JE Dunn

What Keeps Gordon Lansford Up at Night: Leadership Insights from JE Dunn’s CEO

  • People & Project Spotlights
Dive into JE Dunn CEO Gordon Lansford’s leadership style, key challenges in construction and how he balances growth with workforce capacity

As head of JE Dunn Construction, the eighth largest construction firm in the United States, Gordon Lansford is the first non-family CEO of the 100-year-old company. Under his leadership, revenue has grown approximately four times over, from $2 billion to $8 billion. The company’s markets include aviation, semiconductor contracting, education, health care and historical preservation, among others.

As might be expected, JE Dunn has won numerous awards. Fast Company chose the company’s innovative pre-construction tool Align, a project budget estimator, as a 2024 winner of the magazine’s Innovation by Design Awards. That same year, Kansas City Business Journal named the company a Champion of Business.

Lansford said he’s especially proud of winning the Deloitte Private and WSJ Best Managed Company award again in 2024, because “it speaks to how we run our business, how we plan and execute projects and to our employee engagement scores.”

Built spoke with Lansford about his leadership style and what keeps him up at night as a construction executive. Edited excerpts follow.

Built: Why did you choose the construction industry?

Lansford: I didn’t initially. I had planned to be an accountant. After getting my accounting degree, I worked for KPMG for three years and got my CPA while I was there. I fell into working with quite a few construction and engineering clients, which piqued my interest in the industry. I left KPMG and joined JE Dunn, which, while smaller at the time, always had a significant presence in Kansas City and a fantastic reputation. I felt that if I wanted to enter the industry, coming to the company would be a great move. Two years later I became CFO. When the family’s third generation CEO, Terry Dunn, retired in 2013, I assumed someone from the construction side would become CEO, but the board asked me if I would consider the position.

Built: There was something in your background that helped draw you to the field, correct?

Lansford: Yes. My grandfather was an electrical contractor in Wyoming, and I worked with him for a couple of summers when I was in college. I enjoyed working outside on the jobsite with hard-working people and building something.

Built: What’s the best advice you ever got about this industry?

Lansford: William H. Dunn Sr., the second-generation CEO, always said, “Never take on a project if you don’t have the right talent to execute it.” I’d have to say it’s that.

Built: What advice do you have for people looking to follow in your career footsteps?

Lansford: The construction industry is exciting; you get to work with a lot of great people and build amazing, beautiful buildings, but what is most rewarding is seeing the end users—whether they’re students walking into a new school, patients being treated a new hospital or employees entering their new workplace. There are so many different roles and opportunities in the field that you may not be aware of. There’s a place for people with almost every degree in our industry, whether it’s finance or HR, or law for example, or no degree.

Built: What’s your favorite part of the job?

Lansford: We give our employees a lot of responsibility at a young age, and I love getting out and seeing our people, our projects and our teams. I try to get to all of our 26 offices at least once a year.

Built: What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the construction industry?

Lansford: The obvious one is the shortage of labor in the skilled trades, especially on mechanical and electrical sides. We rely on these people that we partner with. Beyond that, construction costs have continued to rise with the high interest rates. It’s a tough market for our developer clients right now. Our tech sector data centers, semiconductor work and advanced manufacturing markets are robust right now, but it’s an ongoing challenge to figure out where to focus our limited resource, which is our people.

Built: What keeps you up at night as an executive?

Lansford: It’s the balance of the opportunities with the capacity and mobility of our workforce. We’re an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), family-first company, but we need people to travel to where the work is, so it’s the conflicting values that keep me up at night.

Built: How do you structure your time to fix the most important issues you face in your role?

Lansford: I think we can all be better at that, but I really try to control my calendar because it can get away from you. I deliberately block out time when I can get work done vs. go to meetings. I tell our younger leaders that it’s something they should do as well because if you let your calendar control you it’s hard to have time to think, especially about the long term, when you have issues coming at you every day.

New to Bluebeam? Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD
Australian Cabins

These Australian Hiking Cabins Are a Sight to Behold

  • People & Project Spotlights
Roughing it in the great outdoors is a little more luxurious in these cabins, which underwent a painstakingly detailed and complex design and construction process (from 2023)

When it comes to roughing it in the great outdoors, most of us would be excited to spend the night in a simple log cabin or lean-to. But in Australia, which boasts thousands of miles of hiking and camping trails throughout its many national parks and wilderness areas, they do things a little differently.

So when it came time to design and construct the campsites along the challenging 13-day Grampian Peaks Trail route, planners knew they needed something special to match the natural scenery. But how could they create breathtaking structures in remote areas, many of which are unreachable by road?

Nick Griffin, Melbourne Co-Studio lead and associate director at McGregor Coxall, and Justin Noxon, architect and studio partner at Noxon Giffen, were ready to rise to the challenge.

An unmatched location

For Griffin and Noxon, the natural beauty of the site inspired an expansive creativity in the team’s approach to the design process. Also known by its aboriginal name, Gariwerd, Griffin described the area as “a significant landscape,” adding, “The environmental and cultural significance of Gariwerd drew us to the project.”

A look inside one of the cabins. Photo: Adam Gibson.

One of the most biodiverse places in Victoria and home to about a third of all native area plant species, there’s a reason this remote trail has been so perennially popular with ambitious hikers from all over the globe. “With such diverse terrain and unique natural resilience, the landscape and its systems form the primary inspiration for our design response,” Griffin said.

For Griffin and his associates, taking the time to truly immerse themselves in this landscape was an essential part of the design process. “The design team made multiple trips out to Gariwerd to spend time observing and documenting site conditions,” he said. “Immersion in each individual site took place to gain a holistic appreciation for and knowledge of the landscape in different weather conditions and at times of day.”

After spending time within each site, Griffin said the team created structures that mirrored the natural landscape that surrounded them, drawing both visually and materially from the park. “The form and placement of the architecture were inspired by the large-scale sandstone uplift evident throughout the Grampians; this is echoed in the single pitch of roof elements,” Griffin explained.

A cabin overlooks the local scenery. Photo: Adam Gibson.

Each structure even makes use of materials drawn naturally from the landscape. “The design vision included a robust and natural materials palette, considered in response to each individual site’s nature, colors and textures,” Griffin said. “For example, all rock was sourced from within each campsite.”

Designing with hikers in mind

The team knew how its structures needed to respond to the landscape—but what about the people who would be using them? Griffin said that throughout the project, the design team kept the specific experience of hikers at the forefront of their processes.

“The experiential design of all campsite elements was mindful to be specific to that of a hiking experience, therefore the comfort target for architectural elements sought to elevate only slightly from that of a tent,” he explained. “The aim was to feature architecture that would grow in parallel with the nature that surrounds it, minimizing harm to environments and keeping Gariwerd’s stunning landscape as the hero.”

Noxon said this commitment was clear from the moment the team read the key parameters that would define the project. “The brief called for the campsites to ‘touch the ground lightly,’ minimizing the impact on the environment and maintaining Gariwerd’s iconic, biodiverse landscape as the hero,” he said. “The structures were built to provide comfort and amenities for hikers, using materials that would blend into the landscape over time. Structures provide the essentials of weather protection and basic shelter, collect water, treat wastewater on-site and provide solar-powered battery charges for hiker safety for mobile phone navigation and safety within the context of a remote hiker trail experience.”

Photo: Adam Gibson.

Where and how the cabins were constructed was as important as the amenities they contained.

“Off-grid campsites are designed with mindfulness to guidelines and tracks—intuitive circulation allows for more sustainable campsites that minimize public access to dense vegetation,” Noxon said. “Accommodating to a variety of users, abilities and intensities, the walk will conserve and protect Gariwerd’s beauty, achieving the highest possible grade of environmental sensitivity through the protection of site-specific conditions such as biotope preservation, overland flow management and microclimate.”

Construction complexities

Once construction began, Griffin said the complexity of the project became clear. “The remoteness of the 11 sites represented a lot of obstacles,” he said. “One of the major challenges was to ensure a consistent quality was achieved across several sites under construction concurrently.”

Collaborating closely with their contractor and Parks Victoria, which backed the project, Griffin and his team made regular visits to the Gariwerd sites throughout the construction process, which used a modular approach that allowed for the prefabrication of all of the elements, which could then be transported via airlift or vehicle to their designated sites.

Several sites were constructed concurrently as part of a prototyping process whose lessons would be applied to the next batch of sites—a unique method that allowed the team to meet their timing and budgetary goals. When lockdowns made in-person site visits challenging, the team figured out how to do virtual inspections from afar, so construction could stay on track.

Photo: Adam Gibson.

Now that the project is open to the public, Griffin and Noxon say the response has been enthusiastic. “The feedback that the project team have received on the project has been largely positive,” Griffin said. The campsites provide a great level of amenity for hikers without inhibiting the sense of nature. The campsite interventions are true to the brief of being subservient to the natural landscape; they simply add a layer of comfort to those seeking to immerse themselves in the magical Gariwerd landscape.

Noxon added that he hopes the structures will enhance hikers’ appreciation for the beauty of the region. “The campsites are designed to support the hiker experience of Gariwerd; to become part of the landscape; to promote connection and understanding of Gariwerd,” he said. “The architectural response fosters a slow, gentle and quiet interaction, an elemental experience of place.”

Stanley "Dirt Monkey" Genadek

Contractor. Landscaper. YouTube Star? Go inside the wacky world of this industry internet sensation.

SHOW ME
Anton Zangl Bluebeam

How Mastering Bluebeam Transformed This Civil Engineering Student’s Career Path

  • People & Project Spotlights
Anton Zangl explains why mastering Bluebeam is a must for engineering students

As a fourth-year civil engineering student at Monash University in Australia, Anton Zangl knows a thing or two about preparing for the workplace.

Joining clubs, studying for classes and completing academic projects are all part of the ordinary life of any engineering student, but Zangl added another task to his list: mastering Bluebeam.

Zangl let Built in on his Bluebeam journey, explaining how mastering this foundational software has served him and sharing steps fellow students can take to do the same.

Learning the ropes with Bluebeam

Zangl learned about Bluebeam when he was looking for an alternative to the non-professional software he was relying on to complete class assignments.

He found he kept running into problems, saying, “You can’t upload big files or they just take a very long time, so it was pretty finicky. I was looking around, and I heard that Bluebeam was a software that’s used pretty broadly in the industry, and I thought I’ll see if they’ve got a student program.”

Zangl received further encouragement at a Civil Engineering Club event in his second year. “They were reviewing the sort of software that’s necessary that you should be putting on your resume, and probably came across Bluebeam that way,” he said.

When asked what Bluebeam functions have been the most useful to him, Zangl had a lot to say.

“The whole measurement and tools that exist are pretty handy,” he said. “Recently I’ve been doing an assignment where we’ve got some architectural drawings and they have very limited dimensioning on them, so it’s been very handy to use the scale or the calibrate tool to get some extraction dimensions out of that and get the design process rolling a lot faster.”

An academic leg up

Zangl said he saw fellow students who don’t use Bluebeam struggling to complete the same assignments he mastered using the software.

“I saw on one unit forum that other students needed some guidance on how big things were because they couldn’t actually tell that from the drawings, whereas I found that it was very easy just to use the measurement tool to just draw it and quickly get the area or volume calculations,” he said. “It’s a snap to do any markups on existing drawings.”

He also uses the tool on online exams. “Recently I had a lot of online exams where we take a photo of our work and then we have to upload it within 10 minutes or 15 minutes, so just being able to drag pages around has been good,” Zangl said.

Overall, Zangl said Bluebeam has had a big impact on “the way I go about doing assignments and grid projects.”

Starting his career off strong

Zangl has begun doing internships, one with a contractor and another with a design consultancy firm, and he has been happy to discover how useful his Bluebeam skills are already proving to be.

“We used Bluebeam quite extensively in both those jobs,” he said. “On the contractor side I was extracting volumes and doing design drawing management, a lot of markups creating permits.”

Overall, Zangl said coming into these roles with an understanding of Bluebeam has given him a leg up. “I’d say that having knowledge of the software before meant that when I started from day one, we were speaking the same language already, or at least there’s one less software that I have to learn,” he said.

Zangl said this kind of knowledge is important, but often not taught explicitly in universities. “That’s why our club often tries to bring some of that software into the university campus and host events,” he explained. “It probably would be advantageous to know about it before applying for certain roles, internships, etc.”

He emphasized how useful Bluebeam in particular has been so far, and said he imagines it will continue to serve him well in the future. “It seems like it’s used pretty extensively throughout the industry, so I would imagine that other companies that I’ll be applying to in the future would also use this software,” Zangl said. Because of that, “Bluebeam goes on the resume.”

Advice for fellow students

When asked what advice he would give his fellow students, Zangl said he thought it was a good idea to get acquainted with Bluebeam. “Because it is used pretty extensively in the industry, it is a good idea to become quite accustomed to it,” he said. “Especially just with the whole layout of the software itself —what all the icons mean, what features are out there.”

Zangl advised fellow Bluebeam novices to start slow when they first begin learning the software.

“Obviously it’s software that can be used for basic functions, but also for more industrial complex functions,” he explained, “so it’s probably a good idea to start with the basic stuff. You just use it as a PDF editor so that you can write text on PDFs. You can rearrange files, extract files, the basic sort of file management is probably a good, good way to start.”

New to Bluebeam? Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD
Reclaimed Materials Detroit Bluebeam

Reviving Detroit: How Woodward Throwbacks Turns Abandoned Architecture into Custom Design

  • People & Project Spotlights
Bo Shepherd and Kyle Dubay are crafting a more sustainable future for Detroit by turning abandoned building materials into bespoke furniture and interiors

Detroit has always been famous for its stunning and architecturally significant buildings.

Between the 1910s and 1940s, the city’s millionaires created an architectural legacy that was rich in art deco splendor. But as local manufacturing began to decline on the heels of offshoring, those beautiful buildings declined, too.

By the time Bo Shepherd and Kyle Dubay moved to the city in 2014, seeing discarded scraps of once-majestic structures on bike rides through the city was a common sight. Determined to reclaim the architectural heritage of the city, the duo began creating furniture out of these materials—and Woodward Throwbacks was born.

Starting from scratch

“Neither Bo nor I have a proper background in furniture design or building,” Shepherd said. “I was fortunate to have a woodshop class in high school, where I learned a decent amount about basic woodworking. And Bo grew up working with her dad on construction sites. So we both had early knowledge of working with tools, and both have a creative sense.”

What they lacked in professional knowledge, however, they more than made up for with enthusiasm. Inspired by backgrounds in woodworking, Dubay and Shepherd first turned to creating their own furniture out of necessity.

“We started WT as a way to furnish our own homes,” Shepherd said. “We were just out of college and didn’t have much money, so we figured we could make something with the materials we were finding on the streets.”

Fortunately, there was no lack of materials waiting to be reclaimed. “At that moment in time, illegal dumping was a big issue in the city, and we would find it all over the city as we were biking around,” Shepherd said. “So we used those dumping sites as our hardware store, and would create small pieces of furniture and decor for our houses. That was 10 years ago.”

The Woodward Throwbacks business has evolved considerably since. “Now we still use reclaimed materials but the operation is a bit more sophisticated,” Shepherd said. “We operated in an old 24,000 square-foot-car dealership that is our showroom, warehouse and workshop all in one. And we are designing full house interiors as well as building custom millwork and furniture.”

Capturing a city

For both Shepherd and Dubay, honoring the grandeur of Detroit’s architectural history became a subject of fascination.

“Bo and I didn’t grow up here so we weren’t as aware of the architecture until we moved here,” Shepherd said, “but both of us were immediately drawn to the city because of the architecture. It’s such a beautiful city, and the buildings here are amazing in their detail and craftsmanship.”

By transforming forgotten architectural materials into new pieces, Shepherd hopes to honor those roots. “It’s a great feeling giving new life to the materials we find in these buildings around the city,” Shepherd said. “Lots of times, if it wasn’t for us the materials would be getting thrown away. But it’s also a great creative experience. We are generally using materials in ways they weren’t intended to be used. So it’s almost as if our brains have been trained to think about what else could this material be transformed into. It’s always a challenge, but it’s also super rewarding.”

As they’ve grown, the WT team often organizes its furniture releases into collections that honor the buildings that their materials were sourced from.

“We just launched a collection made with materials salvaged from the Michigan Central Station,” Shepherd said. “For the last 40 years, the building had sat in disrepair, and was a cultural landmark.”

The duo opted to honor that history in the design decisions they made. “We tried to keep the materials a little rawer and more unpolished, keeping materials with that distressed and honest wear,” Shepherd said. “This building, and the city as a whole, has been through some tough times. We wanted those imperfections and scars to shine as opposed to polishing them. We think it made for a really cool finish as well.”

Beyond the aesthetics, Shepherd said that creating a greener way to build new pieces is central to what inspires them. “Sustainability is at the core of what we do,” he said. “It’s not something we advertise, but the whole business is about saving materials and finding new use for them. It’s become almost our life’s mission to find and save these materials. It’s important to us because being on the inside we see how much gets thrown away—it’s really mind-blowing the amount of waste in the construction industry.”

Just as important is honoring the rarity and beauty of the materials they find. “Saving some of these materials that would be hard to replicate today is almost as important, whether that’s hand-carved railings from the 1800s or Mankato gold limestone. It’s so important for us to save these treasures from being thrown away.”

From reclaiming materials to building spaces

Shepherd explained that the team’s interest in furniture has led to a passion for interior design, understanding the way that well-selected pieces can bring an architect’s vision to life.

“We feel that furniture can really amplify a space,” he said. “The furniture has to complement the architecture, too. It can really make or break the overall design of a space if they don’t speak together.”

Perhaps this is why, as Shepherd said, “The future of WT seems to be more in the interior design space. Bo and I have developed about 5-6 properties over the last 10 years. And over the last year or so we started designing spaces for clients. At the moment we have eight interior design jobs throughout the state of Michigan. As well as doing the interior design work, we are also building most of the millwork for these spaces.”

For Shepherd and Dubay, this evolution feels like a logical next step. “It’s really a natural progression for the business and us as designers and artists,” Shepherd said. “We love working on a whole room or house scope, as opposed to just one piece of furniture. And it also allows us to save so much more material and to reuse that material in some really interesting and beautiful ways.”

New to Bluebeam? Give it a try!

DOWNLOAD
Featured Guides