Before, During, and After
I made a visit to the Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville this past week, which I haven’t been into since before COVID. It’s always nice to look back at projects with a little distance, and it’s remarkable how much the memories change over time.
That project was incredibly exciting. We started working on it in 2011 or so, when I was just a few years out of graduate school, working as an Architect in Boston, and reintroducing my then 30+ year old body back into climbing at a reasonably high standard. It’s only 10 or so years later, but it certainly feels like a lifetime ago.
Farley Ledge, 2011
The beginning:
When we started the project, most of us working on the BKB team were doing other work full time. It was a moonlighting gig, working on nights to get things designed, and using these early images to walk the site and raise funding.
Screenshot of original 3d design model from 2011/ 2012
After some zoning approvals and such, yadda-yadda, the project kicked into construction, and off we went.
During:
We immediately had issues. The lessons learned were numerous. Both on site, and more importantly, in retrospect, looking back at the hiring and vetting process for the GC that we would eventually have to remove from the jobsite by changing locks and negotiating their return for tools etc.
BKB Somerville under construction in 2012
There’s a moment, when you realize that the project is not going to be cured (a limited time window that a GC has to “correct” deficiencies), and that’s a disappointing and serious realization that necessitates immediate and massive action.
The realization that your project is in trouble…
Further lessons were learned, when we had to mediate the final payments and work through that whole process with our new best friend, our construction Attorney.
Lessons on lessons upon lessons were learned. Some of which were related to my work, and some of which were related to decisions that other people were responsible for making, and ended up jeopardizing the completion of the project.
Watching decisions being made that you can’t control but don’t like, is never an easy position to be in, since we can’t see the future so how can we be sure what will actually happen? Still, this is why we stack the deck in our favor with the pre-construction decisions that we make, at the beginning, to minimize that risk.
Eventually, we fought our way through the firing of one GC, the hiring of another, picking up the pieces, finishing the project, and closing out the legal baggage.
After:
Looking back, these years later, it’s amazing how much I still remember and reference from that project and all of the different issues that had to be dealt with and resolved to close that chapter officially.
These are the types of lessons that round out my education and experience on what happens when things go wrong. Projects are pretty straightforward when things go well, and that’s partially why people hire and hope for the best, but when they go wrong, it’s another playbook altogether.
This is also the reason that I feel completely constrained when my work is just about making drawings. So many times, Architects have an extremely limited window of participation in projects.
My focus for the last decade has been on setting things up properly, designing projects, then guiding and advising clients from ideas to completed projects.
This type of complete project lifecycle involvement is more development than pure Architecture, and has proved to be the most helpful and most gratifying, because the work isn’t just about making shiny and pretty things, it’s about delivering results that make a difference for clients, and yes, perform as remarkable Architecture as well.
Zombieland; rules to live by
A few takeaways, Zombieland style (above), for clients and folks that may not have witnessed a project go bust, but to be aware of. More detail at another time.
Set things up properly at the beginning. At the beginning, people are excited and happy to sign agreements and ponder the potential downside before it’s a very real downside that looks like a train about to run you over, and everyone retreats into their protected corners.
Don’t ignore your gut, and verify character on your own. There are legal documents that can be requested from commercial contractors, to have some reassurance to fall back on. Residential work can be a lower degree of professionalism, but knowing the story behind a contractor and their company is important. Further, the recommendations from friends and acquaintances aren’t enough. Do the work, and realize that the trust you put in a contractor is very real, and it’s pretty much impossible to oversee with true transparency, so trust is not to be underestimated.
Projects can ruin your life. It’s no joke, so take it seriously, and spend enough money to have a degree of confidence on what you’re doing and who’s doing it. Marriages and businesses have been ruined over even completed projects, so the potential anxiety and uncertainty is very real. To cheap out upfront, can lead to disastrous results, when things aren’t set up properly.
Referencing the contract is a bad sign. When things go wrong, or begin to go wrong, or you get a sense that something’s not right, it’s the wrong time to go back to look at what the contract says. In fact, looking at the contract in general probably means something is going awry, so you want to have confidence that you set things up properly at the start.
If things go wrong, you will want help. Construction Attorneys are a unique breed of experts that are used to butting heads with other construction Attorneys, and shepherd you into the best negotiating position. They aren’t your friend who does some other type of law, these are contentious situations with a lot on the line for people, so they need to know the unique rules that govern the “gray” world of construction.
When things go wrong, nobody wins. Very rarely, unless you’re talking about the most malevolent of individuals, does anyone want a project to sink. There are so many different individuals and companies involved, that the knock-on effects are punishing up and down the line. Nobody wins.
The world is gray. As the character “Ritter” says in Clear and Present Danger, “the world is gray Jack, the world is gray”. What does that mean? It means that things fall apart over time, often despite the various parties trying to figure things out, issues compounding on each other, to the point where it collapses. In most cases, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing, or one person, so resolutions are solved with some sort of a mediation/ negotiation to reach a settlement that everyone can live with, despite feeling a good deal of pain.
What I can say, and what I will expound on at another time, is that as a project owner, if you minimize changes mid-project, pay people on time, and realize that a jobsite needs to have everyone pulling in the same direction rather than looking for change order opportunities, you’ll have a good chance of success.
Always grateful,
Chris
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P.P.S. If you would like to talk about a project, my specialization is working on early stages of projects with owners, to get their ideas figured out upfront quickly, then guiding you through the rest of the project, step by step. Reach out to book a free strategy session with me directly.
