Last month, Kraus-Anderson, the construction management and real estate development firm, announced that it had hired Nate Enger as Design Phase Services Manager to act as a go-between for the firm and its architect partners. Enger, an architect himself, has more than two decades of design collaborative expertise, most recently as a partner and vice president with ESG Architecture & Design. He also worked as a senior design architect with Ryan Companies. Enger and Chad Rempe, Kraus-Anderson’s other Design Phase Services Manager, spoke to BD+C via email about their roles. The following is an edited version of that conversation.
BD+C: In your capacity as design phase services manager, you will act as a liaison between Kraus-Anderson’s precon services and the architect-designers it works with on projects. How do you see the scope of your responsibilities?
Enger: We see this role as an opportunity to educate and align the team with holistic project goals, which include architecture, but also focus on finding ways for the full project team to innovate outside of the constraints of traditional project delivery methodology. My role will be to help catalyze collaboration during the formative phases of the project to realize value for our owners, and to help foster a culture of mutual project ownership among project teams.
Why did the firm feel the need to bring on a design-phase service manager at this time?
Rempe: Prior to hiring Nate, I've been the only Design Phase Services Manager within our Preconstruction Team. With Nate joining our team, we're doubling our capacity to better serve our clients and project teams in managing the design and preconstruction phase of a project. As a Design Phase Services Manager, Nate will [work with] our project architect/design partners to ensure project teams are aligned on the project goals and objectives, while also ensuring the right resources are engaged at the right time to deliver effective and efficient design.
Aside from Nate, does Kraus-Anderson have any other architects or designers in its employ?
Rempe: Kraus-Anderson does have two additional architects on staff. One works within our Preconstruction Team as a Building Science Manager, and another works as a Strategic Facility Planner.
Aligning designers with firm's project team
Nate, your resume includes stints with architecture and construction firms. How might that background color your perspective about projects and team collaboration?
Enger: I believe the key to successful partnerships is context. Working within both [architects and contractors] gives me unique insight into the objectives and values that drive the two sides of the industry. Knowing what defines success for each of these groups (among the many [factors] that contribute to the design and construction of projects) affords an opportunity to identify common ground and context on which to form a partnership of mutual respect, shared passion, and diversity of thought.
The opportunities and challenges we have as an industry will benefit from a true collaboration that harnesses these varied skillsets under a model that encourages knowledge sharing and innovation, in contrast to an approach of accepting partners as a necessity of the process.
We recently posted an article about a cancer center in California that's being designed and built under a Collaborative Project Delivery contract. Does your hire in any way signal what kinds of project contracts Kraus-Anderson favors, now and in the future?
Enger: I cannot speak specifically to contracts, as often we cannot control the type of contract vehicle that is executed. What I can say is that the intent we have through my hiring and many other exciting changes afoot here at Kraus-Anderson is to provide owners with more comprehensive project evaluation, earlier in the process, utilizing flexible team structures to solve challenges unique to each project. We plan to do this through identifying a shared set of values between ownership and the broad project team, breaking down traditional structures between disciplines that roadblock collaboration and innovation, and providing open, transparent, and timely access to project data as it is developed.
What are the first projects Nate will be working on?
Rempe: A few of the initial projects will be for KA's development team working through conceptual master planning efforts.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
News Briefs: GBCI begins testing for new LEED professional credentials... Architects rank durability over 'green' in product attributes... ABI falls slightly in April, but shows market improvement
News Briefs: GBCI begins testing for new LEED professional credentials... Architects rank durability over 'green' in product attributes... ABI falls slightly in April, but shows market improvement
| Aug 11, 2010
University of Florida's traditionally modern graduate building
The University of Florida's Hough Hall Graduate Studies Building was designed by Rowe Architects, Tampa, and Sasaki Associates, Boston, to blend with the school's traditional collegiate gothic architecture outside, but reflect a 21st-century education facility inside. Tallahassee-based Ajax Building Corporation is constructing the $19 million facility, which will have traditional exterior detai...
| Aug 11, 2010
Florida International University's cantilevered design
Suffolk Construction's Miami-Dade business unit is serving as GC for the $14 million School of International and Public Affairs building at the University Park Campus of Florida International University. Designed by Arquitectonica, Miami, the five-story, 58,408-sf building will have a café and three auditoriums on the ground level; the largest auditorium will have a 40-foot cantilever abov...
| Aug 11, 2010
Restoration gives new life to New Formalism icon
The $30 million upgrade, restoration, and expansion of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles was completed by the team of Rios Clementi Hale Studios (architect), Harley Ellis Devereaux (executive architect/MEP), KPFF (structural engineer), and Taisei Construction (GC). Work on the Welton Becket-designed 1967 complex included an overhaul of the auditorium, lighting, and acoustics.
| Aug 11, 2010
Best AEC Firms to Work For
2006 FreemanWhite Hnedak Bobo Group McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. Shawmut Design and Construction Walter P Moore 2007 Anshen+Allen Arup Bovis Lend Lease Cannon Design Jones Lang LaSalle Perkins+Will SmithGroup SSOE, Inc. Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. 2008 Gilbane Building Co. HDR KJWW Engineering Consultants Lord, Aeck & Sargent Mark G.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Business Management
22. Commercial Properties Repositioned for University USE Tocci Building Companies is finding success in repositioning commercial properties for university use, and it expects the trend to continue. The firm's Capital Cove project in Providence, R.I., for instance, was originally designed by Elkus Manfredi (with design continued by HDS Architects) to be a mixed-use complex with private, market-...
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA Course: Historic Masonry — Restoration and Renovation
Historic restoration and preservation efforts are accelerating throughout the U.S., thanks in part to available tax credits, awards programs, and green building trends. While these projects entail many different building components and systems, façade restoration—as the public face of these older structures—is a key focus. Earn 1.0 AIA learning unit by taking this free course from Building Design+Construction.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM adoption tops 80% among the nation's largest AEC firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 survey
The nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction companies are on the BIM bandwagon in a big way, according to Building Design+Construction's premier Top 50 BIM Adopters ranking, published as part of the 2009 Giants 300 survey. Of the 320 AEC firms that participated in Giants survey, 83% report having at least one BIM seat license in house, half have more than 30 seats, and near...
| Aug 11, 2010
Integrated Project Delivery builds a brave, new BIM world
Three-dimensional information, such as that provided by building information modeling, allows all members of the Building Team to visualize the many components of a project and how they work together. BIM and other 3D tools convey the idea and intent of the designer to the entire Building Team and lay the groundwork for integrated project delivery.