Architecture & Design
4/17/2007 8:36:00 AM - "Please move me to an upstairs unit," I demanded of the manager of an older motel, where I was checked in for a five-day workshop. The booming TV and footsteps in the unit above could be heard long after midnight. I could have tolerated it for one night, but five nights? No! Fortunately, I did get moved. The structure, as you can guess, was wood-framed with plastered walls and ceilings — and no sound insulation.
2/21/2007 1:16:00 PM - This year, I see staffing as the largest problem design professionals face. Designers are busy, business development opportunities from past years are paying off and business owners are finding themselves short on time to design and manage their other obligations. Recruiting for all design and office positions needs to be a recurring theme in your business plan. If you are going to be successful in the years to come, you need to pay attention to retention, recruitment, and succession planning.
9/6/2006 6:23:00 AM - Luxury markets have expanded to include high wage earners and the emerging 'mass affluent' market of households with $100,000 to $1 million in assets (excluding real estate). This market crisscrosses all gender, wage, income, and lifestyle categories. After gaining a better understanding of the breadth and complexity of the luxury market and the importance of focusing, then designers should concentrate on two interrelated topics: word-of-mouth promotion and customer power.
6/12/2006 9:16:00 AM - For many years, trade professionals had exclusive resources available to them from manufacturers. However, manufacturing efficiencies have yielded better quality products at lower prices, while the Internet has made these "trade" sources available, or at least known, to consumers. To stay relevant in this evolving marketplace, design professionals need to
unbundle their services and products and return to an
à la carte menu for the public.
5/30/2006 7:36:00 AM - What do the "Big Box" stores have over you? As an ever-increasing chorus complains about the perceived threat of the large chain stores offering "free" design services with purchase, I’ve discussed how you can differentiate yourself by the service and custom detail that you offer. Now, here are some tips on how to actively work to challenge the "perception" that the big box stores have more to offer.
4/17/2006 8:05:00 AM - A survey of my clients has revealed that, despite a high approval rating, there is a fair amount of my advice that is not getting implemented. If I don’t make sure that my clients can execute the tools that I teach them, it really doesn’t change their situations. I now realize that my advice needs to include an
action plan that I am part of. There is a direct application here for design professionals and their clients.
3/14/2006 1:54:00 PM - What comes first, the chicken or the egg? This same question applies when it comes to finding new clients in the construction industry, except the chicken is the contractor and the egg is another industry professional. More specifically, who has contact with a potential client first? In trying to determine an effective course for design and build professionals to follow, it is necessary to get some different perspectives.
10/29/2005 10:07:00 AM -
10/17/2005 6:58:00 AM - PNC Bank wants 'volume LEED approval' for all its new branches, but hurdles remain for retail rollouts seeking one-stop LEED shopping. By Jeff Yoders, Associate Editor
July 1, 2005
Building Design and Construction
10/17/2005 6:45:00 AM - Dave Barista
September 1, 2005
Building Design and Construction