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5 Built Works That Epitomize Architect Fay Jones

Along a 100-mile stretch through the Ozarks lie several of the most significant buildings in American architecture, all designed by Arkansas native son Fay Jones

Diana Kightlinger
August 13, 2024

Tips to Survive a Hot Construction Summer on a Jobsite

People, Projects
Domonic Diaz-Weston

The summer heat can pose severe danger to construction workers. Here’s how to beat the heat and stay cool and productive over the next few months (from 2022)

For most people, the promise of a hot summer day after a frigid winter and a fickle spring brings thoughts of beaches, lemonades and short shorts. But if you’re a construction worker, summer can look like swamp butt, heat exhaustion and the dreaded thigh chafing. So, how do you survive a hot construction summer?

Clothes

Simply put, overexposure to heat, while doing laborious work, can lead to decreased productivity, illness or even death. Even acclimatized workers who are “used to” extremely hot temperatures in places like Las Vegas or Dubai still suffer deteriorating motor skills necessary for construction activities. Since buildings are constructed year-round, there’s got to be some tried-and-true ways to beat the heat.

There’s not a lot of cutoff shorts and tank tops on jobsites, so tradespeople wear the next best thing—lightweight fabric. New technology has made more air-permeable clothing that is 10% to 20% lighter than its predecessors while still being an effective barrier to workplace hazards. There’s also moisture-wicking socks and summer boots that are more breathable and lightweight than their winter counterparts. You can even put a cooling skull cap under your hardhat to stay dry.

While protective gear is essential for construction safety, the summer sun makes it tempting to skip it. But what you should not skip is a good SPF protection. Many safety gear suppliers now sell clothes with SPF protection of 50+, detachable UV protection hard hat brims and anti-fog UV protection safety glasses. Pair this with a good UV protective sunscreen and lip balm, and your skin will be as smooth as your cement.

Water

No amount of external protection can override your internal cooling system. Here’s where good old water comes in. While your morning cup of coffee or after work beer can be a lifesaver, both beverages are diuretics that make you dehydrated.

Dehydration on a construction site is so dangerous—known to reduce cognitive function and impair decision-making—that some worksites in Australia conduct hydration testing during the summer months to make sure employees arrive hydrated and ready to work.

To combat the sun, drink 300 ml, or 10 oz., of water, sports drinks and electrolyte juices like cherry watermelon and orange every 15 minutes. Then find a bathroom. It’s better to drink frequently throughout the day than large quantities occasionally. Remember, by the time you feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.

In addition to liquids, low-salt snacks, like fruits and veggies, can also boost hydration. If broccoli’s not your thing, try specialty electrolyte replenishing freeze pops. These are good for hydration and getting in touch with your inner child.

Thigh Rub and Worksites

OK, so you’re dressed in light clothes, you’re hydrated, but ouch—there’s a rash on your legs. Welcome to thigh rub. Even the most seasoned professional can still succumb to a summer heat-induced chafing on thighs, legs, chest and/or back. To combat it, you can wear compression or tight-fitting athletic shorts. You can also try some medicated powder or chafing crème. In a pinch, you can use some regular cornstarch-based baby powder, petroleum jelly or lip balm.

Heat isn’t the only thing workers have to worry about. Here are the hidden dangers posed by jobsite contamination.

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The Group Advocating for Greater LGBTQ+ Representation in Construction

People
Hilary Daninhirsch

Build Out Alliance, started in 2017, has grown mightily in cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, with the goal of building community and advocacy around the changing demographics of those working in the construction industry

The construction industry continues to change for the better. While women and other traditionally underrepresented groups have evolved to make up a greater share of the overall construction workforce, so have the ranks of those who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In an effort to promote construction’s continued inclusion, a group of individuals in 2017 formed Build Out Alliance, a volunteer advocacy and awareness organization for members of the LGBTQ+ community working in the industry as well as related fields such as development, planning and lighting design.

The group, which has branches from New York to Los Angeles, aims to promote representation and inclusivity in these industries as well as provide opportunities for members to socialize and network. Its initiatives are centered around key pillars like visibility, mentoring, networking, leadership, outreach and impact.

Andrew Torres, an architect and project manager for a development company based in Brooklyn who serves as Build Out’s president, said the organization was born out of the recognition that the industry wasn’t overly LGBTQ+ friendly.

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“We looked around and wondered why we didn’t have support, or a vehicle to advocate for ourselves,” Torres said. “It was a response to biases inherent in the construction industry and part of the design industry that if you are not conforming to a certain stereotype—which is often a heterosexual, middle-aged man—you may not be receiving the promotion or attention you might otherwise.”

The initial chapter was based in New York City, which was where the founders were located. During the COVID-19 pandemic, chapters formed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco; the latest branch is in Washington, D.C. The February 2024 launch in DC was a result of a need in that area, Torres said, and the group hasn’t ruled out expanding into other major construction hubs, like Chicago or Boston.

“The goal is to be smart and intelligent and be sustainable with how we are growing,” said Pauline Barkin, the group’s vice president and an architect and East Coast regional director for Heitmann & Associates. “As much as we’d love to be in every single city and small town, we are trying to make the biggest impact.”

She added, “It’s very impressive what has happened since our early days of being a scrappy new organization. We get people reaching out to us, wishing things could be different. There’s a need. Since our founding in 2017, more than 4,000 people have joined Build Out Alliance for our numerous events across four cities.”

Meeting likeminded individuals

A major component of Build Out Alliance is that it offers a vehicle for people to get to know each other with inclusive, in-person events. “It’s another avenue for professional networking for people with a different set of affinities,” Torres said, adding that this is especially important for younger members. “That is a reason we have grown and maintained membership—people feel really welcomed and really seen.”

For Barkin, some of the primary perks have indeed come from the social elements, by being able to meet so many bright and talented people in the industry who she views as role models. She added that she endeavors to help future generations be their free and authentic selves, without a separation of who they are personally and professionally. Group events have ranged from happy hours to game nights to Pride parade marches and career workshops.

And in 2023, Build Out Alliance was an event partner for New York Build Expo, the largest tradeshow for construction and design in New York City. The inaugural springtime soiree was held in March, with the description: “While many people still live each day like a closed flower, the soirée is all about recognizing what we can do when in full bloom,” a sentiment that encapsulates Build Out Alliance’s mission.

Besides networking, mentorship is a key component to the group. To that end, Build Out Alliance has partnered with multiple universities in New York City to provide mentorship for college students entering construction and related fields.

As the alliance has grown, so have its supporters and sponsors, with a number of organizations (including Bluebeam) recognizing its work and helping with fundraising. Volunteer committees within the different branches of the organization contribute to everything from events programming to community building to fundraising and communications.

Changemaking

Torres, the group’s president, has noticed a positive change since becoming involved with the nonprofit, both for the LGBTQ+ construction industry community and personally.

He said it was pretty isolating at his former job in a medium-sized design firm, which was compounded by the nature of architecture, where he worked long hours, often alone. “There was a certain moment when I need to find other people who have similar interests. I don’t know how I searched for it, but I somehow stumbled across Build Out Alliance,” Torres said, adding that his affiliation has been transformational.

“As I became more involved in Build Out Alliance, having it as a platform and as a soapbox to stand on and advocate for myself within the office has really been beneficial in how I think about my place within the organization,” he continued.

Obstacles and challenges for LGBTQ+ members cannot be erased in one day nor with one organization. But those affiliated with Build Out Alliance are seeing noticeable and positive changes on a larger scale, with more visibility and challenges to the notion of the accepted demographic makeup of people in the construction industry.

Torres said the partners in his previous firm had no idea he was involved with Build Out Alliance and asked how they could help support it. “Putting this out into the world has ripple effects, even if there is no direct impact in a particular firm or office,” he said.

An eye toward the future

Barkin and Torres are optimistic that strides are being made and will continue to be made long term. “LGBTQ people are here,” Barkin said. “We’re not going anywhere; we will be part of the industry, and the Build Out Alliance’s goal is to be a place where we can share our voice, collaborate, be role models and mentor.”

Barkin’s hope is that companies take a more active role to support the community, and that support will become the norm. “That is the direction we see things going: more welcoming and supportive and a general understanding that LGBTQ+ people are a vital part of the AEC industry.”

Learn how this structural engineer paved her way in construction.

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The Graying Workforce: Contractors Work to Cultivate a New Generation of Workers

People
Larry Bernstein

The industry is notoriously older, so construction companies are testing newer strategies to attract and retain the future workforce

The aging of the construction workforce has been well documented. To counter this trend, construction companies are going to great lengths to recruit and retain younger workers. What can construction companies do to ensure these workers are successful in the workplace and mesh with workers of other generations?

Integrating new generations into the workplace isn’t a new challenge, but construction in recent years has had its share of headwinds. Trades careers haven’t traditionally been compelling for young people, many of whom opt to attend a four-year college or university instead. The industry may not appear as lucrative as careers in technology or finance. And the culture of working on a construction jobsite hasn’t proven great in terms of worker mental health and general well-being.

“Competing for and retaining talent has changed over the last 10 years,” said Nicole Patel, chief people officer at RNGD. The mid-size firm headquartered in New Orleans specializes in commercial building, infrastructure and industrialized construction and serves the Gulf Coast.

“Younger, less-experienced employees are hungrier for rapid growth and meaningful impact,” Patel said.

Such hunger is an opportunity—and a challenge—for employers.

Day One Mentorship

To foster the growth of younger, less experienced employees, RNGD developed Renegade Academy, a series of workshops that help develop the next generation of construction professionals. In the past, employees would go through the academy after being with the company for 12 to 24 months. “Now, new employees ask about it on day one,” Patel said.

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They ask because they’re eager to improve.

“Understanding their desire to learn and grow quickly gives us the opportunity to unlock their full potential through coaching, development plans, training and giving them challenging work to expedite their experience,” Patel said.

McCarthy Building Cos., the St. Louis-based national employee-owned general contractor, places great emphasis on the employee-manager connection. “We want our employees to think about, ‘Do I feel a connection with my manager so that we’re aligned on my goals and how I can develop,’” said Lindsay Wilson, the company’s vice president of human resources.

“This motivates employees who are interested in growth and a recognition that not everyone follows the same path—it’s a jungle gym approach,” she added.

Learn Differently

Many older, more experienced workers learned the trades from family members, grew up on jobsites or learned on the job. The new generation seeks out apprenticeships because they want to learn and see them as a means to an end.

“They don’t want to stagnate and do one thing,” Wilson said. “They’re driven, want exposure and, ultimately, promotional opportunities.”

“We lean into their ability and love of learning while also giving them the support they need to thrive,” Patel said.

One of the ways they learn quickly is through technology. As digital natives, the younger generation consistently looks to technology to increase efficiency. Their willingness to learn new technology helps them make up for their lack of experience.

Moderate Expectations

It can be challenging to retain younger employees who are eager to learn, grow their skills and be promoted. Add another element to the equation and things get trickier.

Worker shortages have left companies vying for talent. Hiring and maintaining talent is a challenge for all companies, but it carries a greater impact on small to mid-size companies. This can create a dilemma for employers: promote employees or risk losing them.

“It’s an era of immediate satisfaction, so we have to coach our employees about expectations,” Patel said. She and her team strive to empower employees by offering growth opportunities while simultaneously setting realistic goals. “Sometimes this requires hard, honest conversations and making sure employees know their employer has their best interest at heart.”

Personal development is very individualized at McCarthy. “Individual focus has been a best practice that our young employees appreciate,” Wilson said. “It feels more genuine to them—and impactful.”

Part of the Culture

“As a 100% employee-owned company, we’ve created a culture of development,” Wilson continues. “We expect everyone to develop the people around them, so in the end, we’re all successful.”

In fact, employees are encouraged to develop their replacement. “Because one generation pours knowledge into the next generation, our younger people get experience faster and know they have someone willing to invest in them.” The knowledge transfer also ensures continuity and success.

To make this atypical process work, McCarthy emphasizes cultural fit in the interview process, and the company believes it sets them apart. Attrition is low.

The emphasis on “all in” at McCarthy also simplifies the challenges related to meshing a diverse workforce. “Our approach to building team culture mitigates the challenges of having different generations working alongside each other,” Wilson says.

RNGD strives to mesh the generations by creating an empathetic, inclusive environment. It forges this environment by having each employee recognize that no job is too small, honoring promises and building relationships.

“We recognize that soft skills are as important as technical skills, which is why we make sure to foster a social and inclusive environment that integrates all teams and generations of workers as much as possible,” Patel said. “This not only fosters development, but also creates a culture where everyone feels valued and empowered to succeed.”

The workforce challenge of integrating new generations isn’t new. Ensuring new, less experienced employees are in sync with older, more experienced employees, and that workplaces are new-employee-friendly, is particularly important in construction. Giving new employees learning opportunities, a path forward and mentors goes a long way toward retention. Creating a culture of respect, development and social opportunities encourages employees of all generations to work well together.

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Inside Michelle Mongeon Allen’s Evolution as a Leader in Architecture

People
Pat Olsen

Built spoke with the JLG Architects CEO about the advice she has for those who want to follow in her footsteps and what keeps her up at night

JLG Architects, which began in 1989 as a small company with big ideas, has become a highly respected design firm. It specializes in education, health care, sports and community and civic projects, and has more than 200 employees and nine offices in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota.

The company has been employee-owned since 2014. A sampling of its awards speaks to its talent: Top 100 Design Firms in the U.S. (Building and Design); Top 20 Design Firms (ENR Mountain States); 50 Most Admired Firms in the U.S. (MSN Money); and Best Ice Hockey Arena Architects 2022 and 2023 (Global 100).

CEO Michelle Mongeon Allen started at the company as a project architect 24 years ago, rose through the ranks and was promoted to her current position in 2017. In 2022, she was named Most Admired CEO by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), an honor that only 3% of members have achieved.

Built: How did you get your start in architecture?

Allen: I grew up in a small town in the middle of North Dakota and was the oldest of five. On Sundays my family would load up the station wagon, attend church and then go to the local Tasty Freeze. We didn’t have the internet, but we had the Fargo Forum newspaper, which we’d buy and tear apart. My brothers would take the sports and the comics, and I’d grab the lifestyle section. I couldn’t wait to see the floor plan of the week. I innately understood how to read one. I’d close my eyes, picture the room and think about what I would do differently. Looking back, it’s obvious what I was meant to do.

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Later, an older friend I looked up to was studying architectural drafting. I started to research architecture and did a senior paper on it. It was the post-Cold-War period, when there was a push for women to go into engineering, and I was good in math and science. I enrolled in North Dakota State University for engineering, and at one point I took a class in the history of architecture. The first day of class the skies opened and the angels started to sing, and I knew that architecture was going to be my vocation. I felt it viscerally. I changed my major, and after graduating worked for YHR Partners in Fargo for seven years.

Built: Who is someone who inspired you to work in the industry and why?

Allen: Lonnie Laffen, one of the two co-founders of JLG. I met him at AIA and was drawn to his work. Even though I was settled and had a job, I loved the firm he was building. I sold my house, packed up my dog and moved to Grand Forks to work at JLG. I wanted to be part of that energy.

Built: What’s the best advice you’ve gotten about the field?

Allen: What we do is complex. We gather a lot of information from a lot of stakeholders, and we have to interpret and interpolate that for our clients. What we bring to our clients is our gift for interpreting it all. I had a client who was a former classmate. I don’t know if we were being over-diplomatic in how we were trying to explain something, but he just said, “Michelle, we hire you to have an opinion.” (As in, don’t be apologetic about it.) “We want you to lead and guide us. Yes, you may have to sort through all this stuff for us, but your advice is valuable.” That was very impactful to me; it was a reminder that we are hired to be advisors.

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

Allen: In this role, it’s crafting the growth of the company as a design problem, taking those innate design “thinking” capabilities and talents and applying them to a building problem or a “company” problem.

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

Allen: Be positive and helpful. We all depend on others for our success, so supporting others is in our own best interest. Also, know that there will be seasons of sacrifice, which is not true just of architecture. You have to push through. Try to measure what you’re doing through a sense of satisfaction vs. trying for an equal parsing out of minutes.

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

Allen: Commoditization, the sense that the field is relegated to being simply a necessary means to an end; that what we do is build, or design, a building, vs. the view that architects are design thinkers who partner with our clients in driving successful mission and business outcomes. As an industry, we need to make sure we continue to be elevated and seen as really important strategic partners to our clients, not as this commodity, vendor-type service.

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

Allen: Making sure that we are sustainably growing the company. We’ve worked hard to build a firm that attracts top talent and gives them a place to build a career with unlimited opportunity without having to flee the upper Midwest. Growth creates opportunity. So, continually thinking about how we grow our company in a way that aligns with our vision and values as an organization is definitely what keeps me up at night.

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

Allen: Through planning. I take the time to identify priorities. I set really clear goals and expectations, and then I schedule my time and make sure I’ve got time blocks to actually put the energy and the effort toward advancing those solutions. In a growing company, there’s a big difference between being in a constant state of change, which is what we are, and being in a constant state of chaos. Methodical, intentional planning is the difference between the two. I’m an exceptional planner, and I try to use that to my greatest advantage and the company’s greatest advantage.

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5 Questions with Bluebeam’s New Director of Government Affairs, Parth Tikiwala

People
Frank Kalman

The Michigan native comes to the private sector after several years serving at the highest levels of government

The first Friday of each month is a big deal for Parth Tikiwala. Or at least it used to be.

That’s typically the day the US Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its monthly jobs report, a marquee economic event that provides perhaps the best measure of the health of the domestic job market. Anyone with an interest in the stock market knows this report well, as it is one of only a few Principal Federal Economic Indicators that drive the performance of the market up or down and showcase the health of the economy.

Tikiwala, Bluebeam’s recently hired director of government and academic affairs, is deeply familiar with this report—because for several years he was among the people in charge of compiling it.

For a senior economist at the BLS, jobs report Friday is like the Super Bowl. However, producing highly influential work at the highest level of government didn’t stop there. Tikiwala would eventually serve in several other impactful roles in the White House across multiple administrations.

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Now, he’s trying his hand in the private sector, in an industry—construction—he says is of critical significance given the major legislative investments being made to improve US infrastructure in the coming decades.

Built talked with Tikiwala about his time in government, his role at Bluebeam, as well as what he enjoys doing in his free time. Edited excerpts follow.

How did you first get involved in government?

I am an economist by training, and it all started with my academic advisor in college forwarding an email to me for an economist position at the US Department of Labor. It was my first job post-undergrad, and I was quite lucky that I found something that I really liked in the realm of economics but also something that tied back to my roots growing up in Michigan. As an economist, I led the state’s employment statistics for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. From there came leading the entire Midwest region.

Then, as opportunities presented themselves at the BLS I organically came to the role that was at the center of national employment statistics, the job numbers that come out every month. As an economist, working on the nation’s Employment Situation report was a thrill. I was one of the principals on that report for a number of years.

Being in that role and having exposure to political leadership such as the commissioner of the BLS and the secretary of labor I saw firsthand how data was talked about from what we produced at the BLS, the data, the reports, the indicators and how that actually guided and influenced policy decisions and legislation that would come up in nuanced ways from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other.

Eventually, that led me to exciting work that was happening at the White House at the time, first in the form of a fellowship for the United States Chief Information Officer’s office. As a fellow, I led the implementation of the first ever United States Federal Data Strategy. And that work resonated not only to me, but with leadership.

Tikiwala with his wife, Catherine, and two rescue canines, Molly (left) and Luna (right), near their home in Rockport, Mass.

I was lucky enough to have federal roles that weren’t political appointments, which gave me the opportunity and the flexibility to carry on the work in a nonpartisan fashion. This gave me the ability to transition from one presidential administration to another while still carrying on with initiatives I was passionate about. One thing led to another, as they say, and I was most recently the director of technology modernization and data policy for the US CIO at the White House.

Why are you at Bluebeam? What inspired you to make the leap into the private sector?

I found that I became comfortable with where I was, and that feeling was uncomfortable. I needed to embrace new challenges. The pivot needed to happen because I wanted to explore more into the private sector, mainly because I hadn’t taken the leap yet and I wanted to go into an industry that could press more onto the benefits of putting data and the customer at the center of the conversation and building that infrastructure out with an overlap of my expertise. Bluebeam matches those things and more.

How would you describe your role to a Bluebeam customer who is not privy to the important intersection of construction and government?

I think that the thing that they should know is government is ubiquitous in things that many people may not be aware about. Everything from the road that is being paved to the water streaming out of a faucet—it all actually has a string from the local side to the state and to the federal level as well. Customers should know that my role is threading that entire vision together in the perspective of how Bluebeam can actually serve that customer better and more efficiently.

What sort of activities are you going to be engaging in that are going to comprise your days and weeks in this role?

We need to frame out an infrastructure for Bluebeam that is hyper-focused on the pulse of legislation at the federal, state and local levels, and how that impacts our posture in those spaces. We’re in very much a once-in-a-generation moment where critical funding is being allocated to essentially rebuild critical infrastructure in this country. That just means that we must work even more in digging into the details and where Bluebeam is present, where Bluebeam can be of help and where we need to talk to our customers, known and unknown. For me, it’s about Bluebeam being part of this moment, this story. Exciting times ahead!

Who’s somebody that you’ve modeled your professional life after and why?

There are many. The common theme that I see across the individuals I look up to and that I have modeled from is their ability to mesh passion and purpose with hard work.

This was seen most clearly by me from Raoul Minetti, my undergraduate economics professor. His ability to show up consistently, day after day, to a back-breaking schedule of teaching, researching, mentoring students, me included, speaking engagements, and still not wavering to the goals he put forth for himself resonated with me. In those moments of uncertainty, I look to his example of pushing and driving through to the other side, as it were.

What do you do when you’re not working? What are your interests outside of your professional life?

My two rescue canines keep me plenty busy throughout the day. But if I had one interest that I don’t share that often with people is that I’m an avid vinyl collector. I’ve been collecting for 25 years now. My collection has broadened up a bit as I’ve dabbled through genres. But being that I grew up in Michigan and near Detroit, Motown is close to my heart, but so is jazz. Living in D.C. and in the neighborhoods where jazz was so relevant, a force of nature really, that’s the core of my collection. I make it a point to add and curate my collection when I get the chance. It keeps me busy in the best way.

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First Nation Engineering Hosts Blood Drive for National Reconciliation Week

People
Caitlin Davidson

In an effort to support cancer patients and strengthen community ties, First Nation Engineering's blood drive during National Reconciliation Week aims to recruit 30 new donors and promote the importance of blood donation

Human blood is something we all share and can’t be discriminated against—it transcends age, race, sex, orientation and all manner of community and individual differentiators. Each of us shares a need for blood to survive and the opportunity to offer it to save others.

For Western Australia’s First Nation Engineering, this commonality is the key to bringing people together for its first Blood Unites event—hosting a blood drive in partnership with Lifeblood (formerly Red Cross) as its key activity to participate in National Reconciliation Week in Australia.

“Blood is something that unites us all, and highlights our shared humanity, plus is a really practical activity,” First Nation Engineering General Manager Joanne Abraham said.

“Critically, the greatest users of blood products are cancer patients, and there are very few people who, either personally or through family, haven’t been touched by cancer.”

“Here in WA, stock of whole blood products covers about 7-8 days of demand,” Abraham concluded.

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In 2024, National Reconciliation Week—held May 23 through June 3—is focused on the theme of “Now more than ever.” The dates for the week remain the same each year and mark two significant milestones toward reconciliation, the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision, respectively.

Reconciliation Australia’s work during and beyond the week of reflection and celebration seeks to strengthen relationships between the wider Australian community and our First Nations peoples.

For First Nation Engineering, an important way to build shared value and respect is through shared commitment to a common cause—blood donation.

The blood drive will be held June 4, the day after Reconciliation Week. “The goal of our blood drive is to recruit 30 new donors,” Abraham said.

“We have also established a dedicated donor team within the company, and external donors can link their profiles to support FNE’s efforts,” she added.

From midday on June 4, a contingent of the #BloodUnites group will attend LifeBlood’s Perth CBD donor centre at 140 William St. to give their blood.

To join the efforts of the First Nation Engineering #BloodUnites initiative, people should register on the LifeBlood website as a donor and then email [email protected] details including donor name, phone number and donor registration number. First Nation Engineering will then welcome you to their donor group.

According to LifeBlood, each blood donation can save up to three lives. Red blood cells only last 42 days from when they’re donated. Australia needs more than 1.7 million donations every year to meet demand, or three every minute.

About First Nation Engineering

First Nation Engineering is a joint undertaking established by the Carey Group and CPC Engineering, who share a vision for sustainable business and Indigenous participation. Offering 75 years of combined experience across mining, engineering and project delivery to Tier 1 miners in Australia, First Nation Engineering works to establish and manage strong alliances with clients, employees and suppliers.

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Inspiring the Next Generation: Angelo Perryman of Perryman Construction

People
Pat Olsen

The construction executive also talked to Built about what keeps him up at night and how he structures his time

Angelo Perryman, second generation CEO of Perryman Construction and Building Services in Philadelphia, made the Fortune magazine list of fastest-growing “Inner Cities 100 companies” in 2016. The following year, he was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. And in 2018, the Philadelphia Tribune recognized him as the SBA Eastern Pennsylvania “Small Business Person of the Year.”

Perryman credits his success largely to his drive and continual learning; when he was in his 30s, he took a break from the Alabama business his father started in 1954 and worked for three other construction companies, picking up new skills along the way. He’s also comfortable with first-of-a-kind projects. “We take on the responsibility for the total project. Some construction firms step away from the risk. They manage the project, but they don’t hold contracts with the trades. We do,” he said.

Perryman’s daughter is vice president of administration, and his son is superintendent of construction. He’s mentoring his daughter to take over company leadership, but he plans to remain involved alongside the company’s current senior advisors and advisory boards.

Perryman talked to Built about what keeps him up at night and how he structures his time, among other things.

Built: How did you get into the construction industry?

Perryman: When I was 8, I was stocking for the tradespeople on my father’s projects, or bringing them material. As I got older, I saw that they were the ones people catered to because they did the work, and that probably spurred me on to learn as fast as I could. I’d watch the bricklayers, and when they left off, I picked up some bricks and kept going. They saw that I was doing it correctly and were surprised. I was always watching and learning. There were two things I wanted to know: The path I should take and that I understood everything from the best tradespeople.

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Built: Did someone besides your father inspire you?

Perryman: My father taught me customer relations, but I had two mentors as well. I once worked for Winton Blount, a former postmaster in the Nixon administration who owned a large construction company and also advised that administration on procurement policy.

He played a role in ensuring that opportunities for underrepresented businesses were created, which I found inspiring. Kemel Dawkins was another inspiration. He selected me over several others to head part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center renovation 30 years ago and convinced me to relocate the family business to Philadelphia.

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

Perryman: If you can’t visualize what’s on a drawing,there’s a right way to approach the problem. People will say “All you have to do is …” but it doesn’t always help. Draw it in actual form, real materials and real sizes, or actuals. Then you can see the architect’s vision, what the person was trying to create.

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

Perryman: Be prepared to learn.This industry is going to test your preparation from your first day on the job to your last. You need to be excited about learning.

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

Perryman: There are two. First, attracting the best and brightest talent from across the country, not just locally; and second, the cost of construction.

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

Perryman: Confirming that our team is fulfilling the promises we make. Often, an architect can’t put everything on paper; a contractor takes the result and creates the vision. So when we make commitments, I want our people to be sharp enough and forward-thinking enough that we make promises we can execute and keep the client satisfied.

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

Perryman: The key is experience. So many of our issues repeat themselves, and now that we know that, as a team we need to break the issues into pieces and make sure each team member is responsible for one. If we have a safety issue, we call on our safety officer; if it’s an administrative issue, we assign the administrative officer; and so forth. Each person takes the lead for their area so we make sure every promise gets fulfilled. My role is to understand what people have offered, suggest what is executable and then see that we do it in the amount of time we’ve promised.

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The New Zealand Architect Who Built a Movable, Stunning Studio Home

People, Projects
Emily Beyda

With traditional housing prices abhorrently high, William Samuels and his partner devised an unconventional, inspiring alternative

The rising cost of housing is a concern for many young people around the world, and New Zealand-based architect William Samuels and his partner are no exception. Looking for a starter home, the duo was faced with a national cost-of-living crisis that seemed to make their dreams unattainable—until they came up with a creative solution.

Built spoke to Samuels about the compact, relocatable and eco-friendly studio home system he designed and built on a slim $150,000 New Zealand budget, and how taking a creative approach to building living spaces can help make homeownership more widely achievable.

A modern approach to the starter home

Samuels and his partner came up with the idea of studio houses while brainstorming more accessible pathways to the traditional starter home. “We were interested in the idea of alternative approaches to housing, and in particular alternative paths to homeownership,” he said. “Housing in New Zealand is extremely expensive, and there’s a lack of supply, which is exacerbating a national housing crisis.”

The country’s property bubble is one of the most significant economic and political issues facing the nation, and Samuels knew he needed to be creative if he was going to find a way to own his own home. This approach allowed him to do things a little differently.

“We wanted to consider how to live in a manner that was sustainable, had high levels of amenity yet is also affordable,” he said. “The studio house is a response to that, and was based on three key principles to achieve the affordability requirements: build small, build on leasehold land and build ourselves.”

Samuels and his partner decided to take the additional step of completing the construction process for their home themselves, even though neither is a construction professional.

“Undertaking the construction process ourselves was difficult as we have limited building experience,” he said. “However, that is part of the value of this process as it enabled us to learn a lot about construction and building techniques, which we are now applying to our work. It also enabled us to experiment during the construction process with different types of details, construction methods and materials.”

This hands-on approach meant the project had to be both practical and personal, Samuels explained.

“The studio house is reasonably bespoke and is an experimental exploration into the nature of ‘home,’” he said. “The value that we feel it brings is that it raises some questions about what we value in our homes and that it questions standard approaches to homeownership, such as through the use of leasehold land. Our hope is that this may encourage others to explore different approaches and models of housing and find ways to live that are in keeping with their particular needs and desires, rather than resorting to a standard housing model.”

Minimal footprint, maximum impact

Getting their house completed under budget meant the couple had to be creative in their approach to construction, but it also required them to be flexible when it came to the definition of ownership. To keep the project affordable, Samuels and his partner needed to build on leased, rather than owned, land.

“Building on leasehold land was a key driver for achieving an affordable home, but it also was significant in that it defined the design parameters for the home,” Samuels said. “Being on leasehold land meant that the house needs to be relocatable, enabling it to move locations if the lease ever runs out, or if we want to purchase land elsewhere in the future and take the house with us. That defined the physical constraints as it needs to be able to fit on the back of a truck.”

The need to create a movable home inspired the duo to take a modular approach to construction. “We used two conjoined modules to give additional space, with the option of adding a third later,” Samuels said. “The use of the curved barrel vaulted ceiling was to create more volume within the space through added height, but to do so in a manner that felt gentle and considered.”

But this isn’t any ordinary mobile home.

“We used timber and natural materials wherever possible to give warmth and comfort to the space,” Samuels explained. “Smaller, intimate spaces such as the loft over the bathroom creates comfortable breakout areas, which have a different spatial quality to the rest of the home. We also created a series of ‘shared volumes,’ where each space such as the living area, bedroom and study are all clearly defined individual areas, but they share volume with the other spaces to create the feeling of a much larger space.”

This creative use of shared space was made possible by a unique radiant footprint. “Rooms are created as a series of interconnected nooks that pinwheel off a much larger central shared space,” Samuels said. “This allows each room to feel independent while also sharing volume with the other rooms. We have the option of adding a third module to the house, which would create a second of these larger central shared spaces.”

A new way to move house

Samuels and his partner had to keep mobility in mind as they created the studio house, which led to them seeking some unlikely sources of inspiration.

“Some of the design inspiration came from tiny homes on wheels, which disconnect the house value from the land value,” he said, “and there is a lot of thought that goes into the spatial efficiency of those homes. However, we felt that the tiny house typology was too small for our needs and required compromising too much on the livability aspects that were so important to us. So we have taken some of those ideas and adapted them to suit our particular needs.”

One of the ideas Samuels took from tiny homes: the idea of an alternate material basis of the structure.

“We used steel framing rather than timber to reduce the overall weight of the house to make it easier to move,” he explained. “The two modules are bolted together so if we ever decide to move the house it would be relatively straightforward to disconnect everything and unbolt the house from the foundations. The use of natural materials came from a personal interest in the aesthetic properties, as well as a desire to be considering sustainable design principles in the construction process.”

Although Samuels said he doesn’t currently have any plans to replicate the studio house, he hopes the project will continue to serve as a source of inspiration.

“We are undertaking a number of projects at the moment where we’re able to apply the lessons that we learned from the studio house, such as building small, beautiful spaces and innovating housing approaches,” he said. “We’re also exploring ways that the design of the studio house could be refined into something that is easily replicable and could be applied into other locations.”