No Cookie Cutters

Architects say no two design/build jobs have to be alike

The State of Wisconsin's Adminstration Building in Madision above, designed by Potter Lawson Architects, and built by J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. is a design/build structure. Photo: Potter Lawson Architects

By George Piper

With its roots in the pre-engineered building industry, it's easy to see how the design/build concept is associated with an assembly-line product.

But architects in the design/build field say the method doesn't have to sacrifice originality. In the final analysis, they say, a project's look stems as much from the owner's specifications as the architect's creativity.

Design/build clients are opting for better looking buildings, says David E. Lawson, president of Potter Lawson Architects in Madison.

"That wasn't true not too long ago," he said.

Lawson says his customers are inherently competitive. Each wants a building that's more attractive than the one next door.

Go team

Tom Sawyer, director of marketing for Green Bay-based Somerville Inc., an architectural, engineering and construction firm, says he spends a great deal of time trying to dispel the myth that design/build techniques yield bland buildings.

"If you've got a top-notch quality firm, it doesn't make difference," Sawyer says.

Customers buy Sawyer's pitch that Somerville brings not only architects to the project, but a highly trained cadre of engineers and construction contractors. This "team approach," he says, guarantees ever more efficient methods and higher standards.

Mark Herr, a partner with Milwaukee-based Plunkett Raysich Architects, says he believes his company's design/build projects are among its most efficient.

He points to the American Motors Credit Union in Kenosha as an example. Working with Redmond Construction Corp. of Waukesha to construct AMCU's headquarters and main branch, the project's team negotiated its way through the rezoning process by paying special attention not simply to the building's look, but the city zoning board's concerns about engineering.

"Design/build doesn't impair creativity by any means," says Tom Sawyer, director of marketing for Green Bay-based Somerville, Inc., an architectural, angineering and construction firm. Such diverse projects as the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee (above) designed by Kahler Slater Architects is an exmaple of the diverse range of design/build projects. Photo: Pettit National Ice Center

"We were able to make sure that the utilities and all the things that the city was requiring were in the budget," Herr says.

On the Maritime Savings Bank in West Allis, Plunkett Raysich and The Bentley Co. of Milwaukee teamed up to renovate a 1970s era building into the bank's corporate headquarters and main branch.

With renovation projects, Herr says, you never know what "surprises" you'll find behind existing walls, so Bentley ran tests to find out what lay beneath the surface. Incorporating this knowledge into the design process allowed Plunkett Raysich to alter the project at the outset.

"We used that expertise to uncover unforeseen things and help make changes to the design without having to go with change orders later in the project," he says. "Those things tend to get worked out between the design team and the owner. Since the team is committed to a guaranteed price, we really have to work it out and make due without going back to the owner for more money."

Same approach

Virtually any project can be design/build, regardless of architecture, Sawyer says. At Somerville, company officials discuss the pros and cons of various methods and let the client make the decision. The notion that design/build stifles creativity doesn't enter into that equation.

"Design/build does not impair creativity by any means," Sawyer says. "Creativity is just part of the project."