Making the worst task slightly easier for all Countless times last year, architects were called into a principal’s office and told they were being laid off: the depressed economy brutalizing the blameless. That thousands of professionals have lost their jobs is bad enough, but the psychological harm to the firm and those lucky enough to remain can also be damaging. With the possibility that more layoffs will occur this year, how can firm principals make staff cuts less painful? To what extent can and should you delay the inevitable? When everyone knows the ax is about to fall, how do
When President Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law in February 2009, hopes ran high that architects would get a boost.
If Rip Van Winkle, AIA, awoke today with no knowledge of the near collapse of the economy last year, and he decided to start catching up on news of the profession by checking architectural record’s Top 250 Firms list, he might be skeptical of the rumors that we’re in one.
If the new federal stimulus package fulfills one of its promises—greening the built infrastructure in the United States—it will generate a huge amount of work for architects. Even while the depressed economy means fewer new construction projects, there will be meaningful work in building assessment and subsequent renovation, especially in the public sector. Much of the energy analysis of existing buildings will relate to HVAC systems and therefore be more in the domain of engineers than architects. But owners may still see architects as their first point of contact for any work related to their facilities. And architects can deploy
Intensification of collaborative practices within the office may result in novel outcomes that can significantly enhance cost-effectiveness as well as project quality.
Building trust, goodwill, and respect among all the multidisciplinary players is also essential to integrated project delivery. How do you do that? “Transparency, openness, and a willingness to share information,” states Jim Summers, an associate in the Boston office of Burt Hill, “will enable the change of focus from individual to project.” Their team members will spend a significant amount of time together to understand a clear scope of responsibilities, design objectives, degree of risk, and bottom line; this “fleshing out” is part of the discovery process resulting in a contract that supports a unique work flow. Summers is amazed